Norwich bulletin., 1911-07-21
More Bones Of
Grew of Maine.
FOUND NEAR THE OVERTURNED
COMING TOWER.
NO HOPE OF IDENTIFICATION
All Water Removed from cofferdam
and Work Of Drawing Out Soft Mud
Will Require About Four Months.

Havana, July 2o.-Al1 the water in
the cofferdam surrounding the Maine
has been removed, and all visible por-
tlons of the wreck are now shown en-
depth of 81 feet, around the after r..
of the vessel, to an indeterminable
depth. That portion of the ship i'm
mediately forward of the central SUI
perstructure, which was totally demol-
ished, has completely disappeared ex-
steel protruding above the slime.
To Draw Out Soft Mud.
The engineers intend to begin to-
morrow the work of drawing out the
soft mud by suction, but as the lower
ing of the mud level proceeds they
probably will be compelled to resort to
other methods, such as the slow pro-
cess of digging and hosting the ma
terial out in buckets. simultaneously
they will begin the work of diSSecting 8
the great confused masses of steel
Bow Section Stands 20 Feet High.
The bow section, represented by the
plates and beams of the bottom. of the
ship, is now Standing upwards Of 20
feet high. All portions of this section
have been fully identified. including
the remains of water tanks originally
emily not affected by any possible re-
suits of the explosion of the maga-
zines.
All Parts Photographed.
All these parts have been carefully
photographed for future examination
and to confirm the Identification pieces
to the dissection of the wreckage
which will be accomplished by hydro
acetelyne bias as soon as the appara-
tus is installed and derricks for the
removal of the dismembered parts are
erected.
Mud Level at Water Line.
AS the wreck now has exposed part
of the armor belt of the amidship sec
ton on the starboard side, it indicates
that the mud level is about equivalent
to the normal water line of the ship
Hope to Find Assistant Engineer
Merritt.
The aft amidship section of the berth
deck, on which are the wardroor'a> and
the officers staterooms, is fully cN-
posed, but is almost entirely filled-NTith
mud, especially on the port side the
removal of which will be slow and dif
ficult Hopes are entertained that in
this section may be found the body Of
Assistant Engineer Merritt, who is be-
lieved to have been in his stateroom at
the time of the disaster.
Fire Scorched Bones Found.
Some fire -scorched bones were dis
covered this afternoon in the vicinity
of the overturned coming tower, where
the remains of probably four bodies
were previously found 1t is believed
that these were members Of the crew
who at the moment of the explosion
were sleeping in hammocks suspended
from the ceiling of the forward berth
deck. which was blown up and folded
back over the central superstructure,
so feet aft of its original position.
No Hope of Identification.
No doubt all of the men perished
instantly. None of the remains offer
the least hope of Identification. In
view of the total demolition of the
crew berthing space, hope diminishes
that any considerable number of re-
mains will be recovered.
Four Months to Clean Out Mud.
From present indications three or
four months will elapse before the
mud surrounding the wreck is re-
moved and all portions of the ship
made visible.