New-York tribune., 1912-04-07
THE PASSING OF THE MAINE
BY RICHARD HARDING DAVIS
T. .cfraFI .r page .7

tr, were picked dry and IN the end the plan adopted
which succeeded where, g. now known, the "thtrS
would have failed, not 10 hit the Name out o inc
wafer but 10 build an island around It and then dlg II
n u the island An engineer will tell YOU that tech
nicaly that is a perfectly incorrect and absurd state
mont. but in words Of one syllable that Is what was
done. .t,,
were made Of iron This iron cut in strips or plankS
b,lf-nch thick scvcntv-iiyc feet long, and about
foot and a half broad. one edge Of cach plank aIo8 i"
entire length was bent like hook IN hook ana eye
,car 400 Al some thirty or forty feet distant from uc
Maine a pile driver hammered one OF these lIilka 'l"
tbc mud and another iron plank driven next 10 IT,
the bent edge Of each claspng the other as ciluI'n
bend their fingers to form circle III rlilR ."ouI,u q
rosy Better 10 meet the pressure OF the water IrSc
nlanLs were Campcd in circles 50 that they formed great
hnosbcd, with the iron lanks Tor slaves;
and for still greater safety these hogShcaiS were pai-
lasted with earth and limestone ana rocks NIcl, 'IJic
were enough Of them TO surround the wreck CoctcH'
the work OF digging it out began. .,..,,
The water inside the walls Of ron was pumped htO tc
b,rbor from around the wreck by machinery, ana later
by hand labor; was lifted above the layers ol I,u ''
snothcrcd it, and then, after thirteen years G darK''
the bottlcshp twisted and distorted, her bow plates
driven in her back broken, and, with thG SCI'e'co
bones Of seventy skeletons between hcr dccKS was
posed to the sunshine and the sight OF man. 10 look
seemed impcrtincnt; not alone because the skeletons
Of the scamcn made YOU feel you were intrudn8 upon
burial place. but because in the distortc' inlRtu
ton of the ship herself there was such tremendous h
Harbor had seen her white as wcddi''H C1he' ~,
bright work flashing, her awnings lutlrH I@iy' anu anu
c;cl,inq ont in superb inSOcnCC her great DIdCk guns
caDablc Of hurting thundcrbot nine miles, oi 'ynh
waste the entire city Of Havana And noW StaDeu III
the darkness she lay helpless and shapc'''' 6''"!'
dismembcrcd corpse. t1f
In the thirteen years since she plunged into the udo
Havana IIarbor carrying with her tirtc m ,hc araf
fifty sailors the Maine had become one 0 'il' blo"'
mysteries of the world And 50 no doubt WiIi Sc
he That part of the mystery that conCcalcd II' I'"
Of her destruction she has set at rest 10 90 80 sc
from the grave TO show her wounds; but VINO II "'2 %
struck the blow may never be Determined III spl:.
the largest rewards ever offered to discover Ni, ,
in spite OF the most earnest efforts OF one boVCIlo'
IN Gv the blame and Of another 10 clear herself OF SuS
nicion the guilty man has never been iound; ana I"U
now he ever will be is improbable. 1t OF niue coiS
oucnce At sight OF the great rum he caused, tle per
,al;ty Of the one who laid the mine became OF niue
consequence. Instead, one turned IN admiration 10 tc
ro man who had carried out the plan OF the cngl-
ncrc and had accomplished what for years had been
decared an impossbility, one hand to lit pat
Ibn ont Of twenty feet OF mud, and with the oter 10
tJ bal the waters of the harbor 1t was pleasant to
fd that Major H. b. Ferguson OF the Engineer IorpS
g the limited States army, was IN character WIN tc
hq work he had accomplished II was pheasant 10 iu
that he was young modest, wltl MS tlcusli.S Hn vi m
I and not on the man who had carried 1t to success
Hd IN Havana where an honest American oitcial mas
t o cscaDe without charge against nm oi graft
E cIf advertisement it pleasant to ma that III tc
ee If Major Ferguson Cubans, Americans ana opah-
;ards combined in speaking his praises
II will be a poor return Tor the "ork Iie 'lS H.
od % e tbc War Department does not recognize 1t by
P Pse rrr1ot;on and if the same Congressman who at
~ nvpense of the Maine widely advertised them:
selves do not now honor the man VINO renewed us oi
,oob and gave peace and decent burial to the bones
~ American fighting men and an American warShlp