The Ocala evening star., 1911-06-27
NEVER WILL Be KNOWN
fTampa Tribune, 26th)


That the secrets of the destruction
OF the battleship Maine win never be
known was declared last night by
General w H. Bixby, chief of L. S.
engineers upon his return here from
Havana.
IF an explosion came from with
out" said General Bixby, ''the force of
1T was but about one-tenth as great as
the explosion of the forward magazines
from within. The greatest destruction
came from the force within, for for
ward decks were hurled back thirty or
forty feet and the ship was broken on
in the middle. which could never have
been done by the force of torpedo
from without.
Unless a fragment of the torpedo is
found declared General Bixby. lit
will never have been proven that the
forward magazines blew up the ship in
sympathetic explosion from the force
of a torpedo from the outside. The
real cause for the explosion may for
ever remain a mystery"
Relics found in the officers cabin,
which was aft, consisted for the most
part of rubber goods. Rubber door
mats look as though they had just
come from the factory. Rubber bands,
rules, triangles have been recovered in
fine state of preservation. The ad
miraPs cane has been taken from the
wreckage. All these will be turned
over to the navy department.
No human remains have been found.
due to the fact that the crews cabin
was forward in the part of the vessel
which has been blown away. Victims
were evidently scattered in the harbor
and their bones may forever rest there.
No signs of them have been found. ac-
cording to General Bixby.
/ General Bixby declares no further
revelations of consequence are expect
ed. He will leave tomorrow for Wash
1 sEington.
Ship BADLY Shattered
All with the exception of the officers
cabin in the stern has been badly
shattered. The detached bow is eighty
feet from the middle of the ship, where
lit was broken Off Part Of the forward
upper deck was blown back a distance
of eighty-f1ve feet and landed upside
down on the superstructure. Pieces of
iron are twisted and bent, The top of
a turret on the port side was blown
completely off. A turret on the star
board side was blown some distance
when the engineers were building the
cofferdam.
;, space of eighty feet between where
the detached bow lies and the middle
of the ship is bare of wreekage. This
is where the forward magazines were
and where the sleeping Victims met
their. fate The bottom here has beer
raked, but no fragments have beer
brought up.
This is one revelation of the ship
made known when the water in the
!. cofferdam was lowered. The fact tha
the forward magazines were blowr
away indicates that an explosion wa:
from the inside. Had there been on,
from the outside. the force of a tor
pedo may have blown In the Maine:
hull. but Ii would never have caused
the wreckage that has been found.
a At depth of ten feet, the name
plate of the Maine on the stern. be
came visible. 1t is so indistinct that /
can be read only with difficulty. View
ed from the starboard side, the aft /
the only part of the wreckage tha
bears any resemblance to a battleshir
. The shape of the hull, the hole thr,
!. which the anchor passed and the por
: holes of the officers cabin. with
mastpole rising above 1t, gives one bu
a faint suggestiveness Of how tn
Maine looked over thirteen years age
The cabins were five feet in mut
This had to be shoveled out and tn
cabin washed with streams of waite
- from large fire hose. In the forwar
. end of the officers quarters is a mas
of wreckage, which makes it imposs
BILE to recall its arrangement thirtee
years ago.
r No Human Remains Found