The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-03-14
BURIAL OF maine
Hulk of the Old BattIeship Will
Be Sunk
In the Gulf of Mexico Next
Saturday Afternoon
WITH ELABORATE CEREMONIES
The Bodies of the Dead Will
Lie in State.
History of the Ship and the
Havana Tragedy.
WITH ELABORATE CEREMONIES

Havana, March 14.-Burial at sea of
the old battleship Maine next Satur-
day will be accomplished after cere-
monies announced here as follows:
Thursday, March 14-Bodies of the
Names dead removed from Cabanas
to CITY hall.
Friday, March 15-Maine dead viii
lie in state from p. M. till 10 a. m.
Saturday.
Saturday, March 16-Under full hon
ors, bodies will bs escorted to wharf
and taken aboard armored cruiser
North Carolina.
At 2 p. m. bulk of Maine will leave
harbor under tow. escorted by North
Carolina and scout cruiser Birming-
ham, four Cuban gunboats and hotilla
of steamers carrying cabinet officers.
diplomats, societies, etc.
Outside maritime limits escort will
stand by and Names sea valves Will
be opened.
With 16 men of war as an escort of
honor the wreck of the Maine will Oe
toWed from Havana harbor and given
the most impressive sea burial in the
history of nations.
A torpedo boat destroyer will tow
the Maine to the sea. The old ship will
fix it's ensign and commission pennant
as in it's useful days. The Cuban forts
will salute as the Maine leaves port.
Outside the harbor at a place selected
in the Gulf of Mexico the 16 battle
ships comprising the United States
Atlantic fleet, Rear Admiral Hugo Os
ternauS commanding, will be aligned
in two squadrons of eight ships each.
The torpedo boat and its historic tow
will pass in review between these lines
A Chi &c
man the rails, the ships guard will
come to attention, the officers in spec
ial full dress uniform will draw their
swords on the quarter deck, the ma
tional ensign will be half masted, and
the ships band will play a requiem.
On each of the 16 ships this unusual
honor will be repeated.
Salute of Twenty-One Guns.
When the towing ship reaches the
end of the line the flagship of Reas'
Admiral OSterhauS will fire the first
gun of the national salute. Then for
81 minutes, at one minute intervals, the
guns will be fired. On each ship the
three volleys will be fired by ma
rine guard, and a buglar will play
taps.
At a safe distance from the escort
ing ships men from the torpedo boat
will place explosives on the Maine,
officer the Maine will be returned TO
the waves that have held it for IA
years. Only a few relics will be saved.
These will go to cities, patriotic soci-
cites, and relatives of the Names dead.
This impressive ceremony of burial
for the Maine has been arranged as 3
fitting end for a ship that played such
an important part in latter day his
tory.
Launched in $780,
The Maine was launched in 1890, a
sister ship of the old Texas. Viewed
from a 1912 standpoint they are puny
little battleships, but at that time they
held a worlds respect. On January q.
1898, the Maine steamed into Havana
harbor. Capt. Charles D. Sigsbee, its
had orders to stay month
But shortly before 10 o'clock on the
evening of February Is an explosion
wrecked the Maine and was the direct
cause of the Spanish-American wal
Two hundred and so men lost their lives
in that explosion. Only 30 escaped,
and all except 16 of these were in
jured. 1t was one of the most terrible
disasters of peace.
Blown Up just After Taps.
The bugler had barely sounded taps,
the last for many of the Names sailor
men, when the explosion came. Capt
Sigsbee was writing in his cabin. The
ship buckled in the center at the first
report. Then a magazine blew up and
the Maine settled quickly to the bot
tom.
1T was bursting. rending. and
sound of immense volume.
largely metallic in character writes
Capt (now Rear Admiral Sigsbee.) "It
was followed by a succession of heavy.
ominous, metallic sounds"
There was no chance to save many |
Of the injured men. A few were hus-
tied into small boats. Capt. Sigsbee was
the last to leave. In 20 minutes the |
Maine had been transformed from a |
trim looking craft into a tangled mass
Of debris in the harbor mud.
New Feat in Engineering.
The raising of the wreck marks an |
epoch in marine engineering. The plan |
Of building a Golfer dam around the |
sunken ship and pumping out the wate2 |
was devised by the officers of the Uni |
ed States army. Wreclxing contractors |
the world over pooh-poohed the meth /
ID and said it could not possibly sue
,eed. Even army officers feared the |
dam would break and cause disaster /
before the work was finished. 1t was
carried out, however, without mishap |
and without interruption, except for /
ack of money when the first appropri- |
alton was exhausted.
The uncovering of the wreck failed |
20 disclose definitely the cause of the /
explosion. The theory that it was |
caused by mine placed under the snip
md the idea that the first explosion
was internal both still have adher-
sntS-