Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-03-28

ashore. They believed that your
country would lend its whole strength
to help their losing cause if only your
people could be aroused. They were
near to complete surrender when the
Maine came, and every day 1T was
harder fer them to hold out. They
could not last much longer. Yet your
people seemed contented to send only
the Maine, which did nothing And
sc, they made a plot which was to re-
suit in arousing your people to hght
us.
, ''Unluckily my poor brother-1n-lawl
was carried away by patriotic feeling
at one of their meetings. He lost ms
sense. Even more. sir. He broke his
word and lost his honor. He-God for
give him,-told them of the mine and
of the box in his house and how. no
use of it was to be made unless the
captain fired a gun. | had been COM
PEELED to explain it all to him when
brought the men with the box because.
he was so frightened. And he had
sworn by the memory of his sister, my
dead wife, that he would never tell
But SO it all was. The schemers saw
the one chance they We're looking for.
When the Maine was swinging away
from the mine and was quite clear of
it, they would press the key.
1.-THE mine would be exploded and
useless. The Governor General could
not plant another under the captains
sharp eyes The watch was too sharp
for that. The captain could write
notes TO the Governor General without
fear and compel him to do his bidding.
The Governor General would be pow
erless. Everything would happen as
he had feared before he had the plan.
And there was yet another advantage
to The rebels. 1t would seem to your
people as if an attempt had been made
to destroy the Maine while she was in
the care of our government and our
honor was responsible for her safety.
Her clean sides and decks would be
spattered with the filthy mud of the
harbor. She would be defiled and you
would all be angry and rush TO help
the rebels. No one could know that the
mine would explode the magazines.
THE schemers did not mean to hurt
single hair of the head of one of
your men. My brotherin law told me
this as he was dying | know it is
true. The schemers We're without
honor. They were foolish, but they
expected those very men on the Maine
to fight for their cause and they would
never have done anything to kill or
even injure them. That is common
sense. They needed them too badly.
They needed the guns of The Maine in
the harbor. where they were, and as
long as the mine WAS there the Gov
ernor- General could use il if the emer-
gency arose. But the calmness of the
captain and the sluggishness of your
people kept the emergency from aris-
ing. And the schemers plotted to make
things move faster.
Their plot was carried out the very
same night. They thought they knew
just where the mine was and where
the Maine would be lying. The eX-
plosion would be quite clear of her,
but 50 near as to look like an attempt
to destroy At any rate, the mine
would be out of the way. The cap
tain would be very angry and the gov
ernor- general without a resource to
check him. \ boat crossed the harbor
after dark. II paused on the ranges
of lights that | had described to my
brother-inlaw. Either he did not give
them correctly to tile sehcmrrs or else
the Maine swung more than half her
length within an hour. There was an
awful mistake.
You know the rest, sir The worst
happened that could possibly befall in
! the most unIucky hour. 1t was worse
for our honor and for the governor
generals reputation than if the cap
tain had inundated us 1t was abso-
lutely not What the scheming rebels