Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1911-04-10
RAPID PROGRESS IN
WORK Of RAISING
THE MAINE
FIRST STAGE OF GIGANTIC
| UNDERTAKING COMPLETE
Copper Dam Built Around
Wreckage Of Inflated Bat
tleshipi Bodies of Seamen to
Be Exposed Soon.
lBy Morning Jourpa, Special Leased wirei

ny Morning Journa, Special Leased wirei
Havana, Monday. April 3.-In the
driving OF the last few interlocking
steel piles of the last of the twenty
caissons forming the enclosing wall Of
the huge basin or Golfer dam sur
rounding the wreck of the battleshin
Maine, the first stage In the work OF
removing the shattered remains of the
warship has been brought to sue
cessful conclusion.
The work was accomplished with
rapidlty and its progress was un-
marked by a single mishap or hitch
until the introduction OF the final pile,
/ which failed to interlock properly with
those on either side. This gave rise
to a rumor that the stability of the
f, caisson was endangered but exami-
| nation showed the trouble resulted
| from the pile being slightly deformed
| By an accidental blow from the iron
| bucket of dredge working along
| side The removal and replacing OF
| three piles served to repair the dam
! age
The second stage OF the work, that
| OF filling the caisson, as fast as com
| pleted. with mud. clay and rock
| dredged from the harbor bottom has
! been going on for some time, and now
! that the ring Is completed. II Is being
! pushed forward with the utmost RAJ
1 pidity The steam dredge Norman
| David" loaned to the government by
| the Huston-Trumbo Dredging com
! pany. and the United States army
| dredae Barnard are dumping hum
| dreds of tons of material into the
| caissons. 1t Is expected that the
filling of the caissons will be com
'pleted by the end of April, and after
that the most interesting stage OF the
work. that of pumping out the great
basin and leaving exposed the hull oil
the battleship. In practically the con-
dition she was In on the morning after
her destruction 10 years ago, will be-
! gin. AS guarantee of the security
Of the retaining wall around the basir
It is probable that rifraf will be
dumped around the exterior of tbs
ellipse of caissons before the pumpinf
begins. The wreck itself win have tc
be carefully watched as the watel
level Falls, there being some tlangel
that, as the support of the water AM
I the mud in which II rests ~ with
drawn. the hull will careen, Just a
ships have been known to do in DIR,
dock when insufflciently secured. Al
soon as the wreck Is fully exposed the
work of exploration in search of hu.
man bodies will take precedence. i
Is practically certain when this stage
of the work Is reached, United
States man of war viii be ordered te
Havana and will lie close TO the wreck
to receive the bodies as fast as they
are recovered and transport them to
their resting place.
After that will come an exhaustive
scrutiny OF the shattered wreck b,
| experts who in the opinion of engi-
| neer officers, will be able to deter
| mine beyond all question precisely the
character of the agency whereby the
destruction of the Maine was effected
Probably MANY months will .elapse
| before the final stage of the work
the extraction and disposition OF the
wreck.
1t is known that the forward part
| of the ship, about one-third Of her
length, Is practically detached from
the rest, and is 80 shattered It will
have to be extracted plecemeal When
the after part has been stripped as
| far as possible OF all heavy weights,
| including the two turrets. weighing
with their pairs of l0-inch guns about
| 200 tons each, II Is hoped II will be
| possible to build hulkhead across
| the shattered end and float the bulk
| out of the basin to be sunk. In all
| probability. hundreds of fathoms deep
| in the straits OF Florida. Finally VIII
come the extraction OF the thousands
| Of steel piles composing the twenty
caissons and the dredging of the ma
terlal with which they were tlled.
This may not be completed before
the end of the year.