Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-17
Col. Blacks View as to Ex-
pIosive Under the Maine.
TELLS OF INVESTIGATIONS.
Lectures Before Warrington Society
Of Engineers.
AcoU1Ts BLANCo OF BLAME
Graphically Describes Work Of Rails
ing the Battleship and Consign-
ing It to the Deep.

Ihat the slow explosive charge in the
torpedo mine held to be accountable for
the wreck Of the battleship Maine indi-
Gated to him conclusively that 1t was not
military mine and that his personal
investigations discovered that such a
slow explosive as was in this torpedo
was frequently made by residents in
Cuba Of charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter,
when more potent agents were not avail
able, was the new message regarding
the catastrophe in Havana harbor Of
February 15, 1898, conveyed In the lee
ture OF Col w. NJ. Black, u. s. A., Corps
OF Engineers, in the Pan-American Union
building last night before the Washing
ton Society : of Engineers and their
guests.
Col. Black suggested that this practice
In Cuba of making an explosive whose
regarding the known conditions on the
hull of the Maine, testifying to outside
force having set off the inside magazines
seemed to him to offer plausible ex-
PLANTATION Of what had happened. This
opinion of the expert engineer, he said.
was not official. and therefore had not
been included in the report Of the board
headed by Admiral Vreeland.
Beginning with scene showing the en-
try of the Maine into Havana harbor
January rs, 1893. on "a visit Of courtesy"
and ending with photograph depicting
the remnants of the wrecked vessel
plunging down into the depths of the
ocean for eternal sleep upon its bed, the
stereopticon views. Col. Black gave q
graphic account not only of the work of
raising the Maine, but also of the tragedy
and of the investigation Of the Vreeland
board to determine the cause.
Capt. Gen. Blanco, In the opinion OF
Col. Black. should be free Of all suspi-
cion that he participated In the project
to destroy the Maine, or conniyed at or
knew anything regarding it. The char.
acter of Blanco, he declared, should ac-
quit him of entertaining such q design.
and his evident grief when the tragedy
was made known to him Is regarded as
confirming and conclusive evidence Of his
innocence.
The Maine Consigned to the Deep.
Col. Black applauded the sentiment that
consigned the Maine to the bed Of the
deep, a proper mausoleum for a warship,
rather than to become an object OF GU
riosity on exhibition. That the Maine
should be a memory seemed to him and
to those who dictated her end, he said.
most fitting.
The Maine was foated, the American
flag raised upon her, the cofferdam OPEN
ed to give her egreSS, and under tow or
tugs she was towed out to sea, escorted
by a. United States cruiser. After pass
ing the three-mile limit the gates above
water line, prepared for this purpose,
were raised. Then the water cocks In
her bottom were opened and the famous
battleship was abandoned by all living
things to go down into the sea.
For forty minutes the Maine struggled
like a strong man against death. For q
time she seemed not to be filling. Then
she appeared to sink a few inches. At
times she staggered and listed. Then she
would rise to an even Keel ana even a MI
line, so that it seemed that she could not
go down to DEATH
Suddenly her great bow lifted out Of
water the stern was awash. going under
slowly. pulling the bow after ner unuI me
sea covered the last of the battleship
Maine. The wreck lies on the bed OF the
ocean $50 fathoms deep.
Pride of the Navy.
The Maine was in her day the best bat
tleship in the United States Navy. Capt.
Black said, and the first of the big ships
to enter the American fleets made from
foreign designs. While dwarfted by the
size of present-day dreadnoughts, the
Maine was then big vessel. the biggest
and best armel under our flag.
into Havana harbor because Of the
known eficiency of her officers. This
estimate OF the thoroughness Of her naval
Officers went far, following the tragedy,
to give weight to the general confidence
M fault or oversight OF theirs.
The tell-tale plate, upon which rests
the determination Of the fact that an
outside explosion wrecked the Maine.
heionaing to the lowest layer Of armor
on the battleship. had been turned in
and backward into the interior Of the
ship, SO that the surface Of the plate
which had offered its face to the water
sh I It was crumpled up in many con-
yolutions, an indication that the explo-
sion which had caused its condition had