The evening times., 1911-08-18

sas Seen aas sasfs Il %,sht s~e eaear aaxs
red that withfaety ~, must have
been the first. son,Gp not many.
Americans, hold tc- the opinion that
the wreck was caused solely by an
explosion Of the vessels magazine.
Lends Color to Theory
But the fact that the destruction of
the vessel was celebrated on Calie
Cuba in Havana, before it occurred
and that that celebration was parti-
cipated in by Spanish royalists has
a decided tendency to lend color to
the theory that the wreck was plan
ned.
Lurid stories of all sorts to new
discoveries" which are calculated to
clear up the mystery" are on con-
stant, daily tap down here. Within
a week a circumstantial yarn to the
effect that a wire cable leading from
the bow Of the Maine to Cabanas had
been discovered went the rounds. All
such stories are myths. But the i'm
pressiveness, the weirdness, the
creepiness. the oppressive uncanni-
ness Of the wreck itself is by no
means mythical. 1t gets on ones
nerves.
Two hundred and sixty-six men per-
ished when the Maine went down.
About twenty-five skeletons, or parts
of skeletons, have been recovered. AS
this is written, three skulls CLEAN
their ghastly welcome from the slime
that covers the tangled wueckage.
The bodies cannot be reached until
the tons of twisted metal that lie up
on them are cut away and removed.
Here thigh bone, there a rib, over
yonder part of hand, these are the
grewesome finds that the workmen
make every day.
Expect to Find Bodies
Although the explosion occurred in
February. thirteen years ago by the
way, the night was hot and many Of
the crew slept out on the port side of
the berth deck. Most of the bodies
recovered have been from this part
of the ship. Down in the engine room
when that is reached, from twenty
five to thirty bodies probably will be
found, bodies Of the poor devils who
worked down below the water line,
who hadn't a condemned mans
chance to get away when hell broke
loose.
In the captains cabin and in the
other quarters that have been uncov-
cred and mud-relieved articles Of va
rious sorts in most remarkable state
of preservation have been found. The
most striking thing in this line is
a box of rubber bands in perfect
state of elasticity and preservation.
Their. immersion In the intensely salt
water of Havana harbor appears to
have improved them II anything. Bits
Of leather sword hilts, shoes, caps,
have come out practically uninjured.
All metals, however, show the effect
of the immersion. Swords have been
found so corroded that. the blades fall
apart. Strangely the finest steel ap-
pears to have been the first of mater
ials to succumb.
There is,' roughly, twenty-five feet
of mud to take out yet before the
Maine can be raised" The piling
that forms the exterior of each Of
the caissons composing the cofferdam
| is so feet long. Between twenty-five
and thirty feet of water was pumped
out. There is nothing but mud re-
naming. But it is glue-like mud and
is ten times harder to get rid Of than
the water was. Hydraulic pumps have
been installed, but the work put up
on them is so unusual that they have
not been successful as yet.
Oxygen-acetyline apparatus was US
ed for the first time on August 2 to
separate-'tcut up'-the steel and iron
Of the ship where it was necessary to
remove those tangled portions ham,
pering the further work OF excava-
ton. This apparatus resembles in a
way a plumbers blow lamp. Only
the intense heat cuts through metal
as knife would through butter. A
five inch square piece Of steel was
severed SO quickly that the operation
appeared to be almost magical.
The method Of cutting away the op-
posing metal parts will be continued
until the wreck is entirely removed.
Incrusted With Oysters.
The whole part Of the ship so far
exposed is incrusted with oysters and
barnacles-mostly oysters. Hundreds
of thousands Of the bivalves have at
tached themselves. to the hulk. The
incrustations appearing in the pic
lures are all oysters. When the wa
ter was being removed from the cof-
ferdam thousands of fish and cells
splashed and struggled in the in
closure. There were many OF the
several hundred workmen employed
by Mai. Ferguson who took home
strings of fish every night when they
quit work. Now, Of course, there is
nothing but Shiny mud within the in
closure.
The work of constructing the cof-
ferdam, and, in fact practically all
of the executive labor connected with
the raising has been conducted by
Maj. Harley B. Ferguson, who is one
Of the main board. Col. William Black
and Col. Mason Patrick are the other
two. The cofferdam has been repeat
edly tested and in several places re-
inforced and while It is. the first one
of the sort ever constructed the COM
plete success Of It has marked place
in the history Of engineering. Re-
markably successful as the work has
been. the cold fact remains that the
work o fraising the Maine is probab-S
ly not more than half finished. And
a. hln,,,~ a., xI,o .ao1n,,