Evening star., 1938-01-16

but the first OF a series OF incidents"
that may plunge the Nation into the
whirlWind of war.
SURVIVORS Of the Maine testified
that there were two explosions
aboard the vessel. Comdr. Hughes
said that the Panay was struck di-
rectly about "a times and he could
not believe 1t was possible for such
a small ship to receive such damage
and still float"
The flag Of the Maine had been put
away for the night. but the Stars and
Stripes aboard the Panay were still
the waters of the YangtZe. A tele-
gram from the commanding officer of
the Maine was the first official word
that Washington had that the tragedy
had occurred. Although the Panay
had radio, it was put out Of commits
sion by the first bomb and it was
some hours before Washington was
advised of the disaster by Admiral
Harry E. Yarnell. commander in chief
of the United States Asiatic Fleet,
aboard his flagship, the U. S. S. Au-
gusta, at Shanghai, China.
The commanding officer of the
Maine was writing q letter to his
family when the explosions took place,
while the Panay's commanding officer
was on the bridge, watching the Cir
cling of the planes, and was badly
stunned, with my head covered with
blood and my right leg painfully in
jured at the hip, making it impossible
for me to rise to my feet" The
Names lights went out with the ex-
plosion, but her commanding officer
escaped unscathed, while in a genial
Oriental sun the Panay's chief was
wounded in the first blast.
When the Maine was lost the movies
radio. but these two have combined
to tell graphically the story Of the
Panay's sinking. Officers and enlisted
men aboard the Maine knew nothing
of planes, which nearly 40 years later
were to sink the Panay. The Maine
went down bow first, while the Panay
sank with her colors still flying at
1854 pm, turning over to starboard," "
her commanding officer wrote.
THE Maine was named for the most
easterly State in the Union, while
the Panay got her name from an is
land in the Philippines, the WESTERN
most area under the flag of the United
States.
The blast that sank the Maine
came like stiletto out Of the black
ness, while the Panay sinking was lit
orally bolt from the blue.
Il had no idea whatsoever that the
planes intended to attack u.s. pithlly
wrote Comdr. Hughes in his official
report to the Navy Department.
Filipino experts say that in the
Islands. when one speake Of "Panay"
1t means the equivalent Of maintain
ing an even course"
Out OF Key West, Fla, on friendly
visit to Cuba. the Maine steamed into
the harbor of Havana on January rs,
1898. She was officially saluted and
the customary ceremonial visits were
paid. But she was towed out of that
harbor a mere derelict, after lying for
IA years in the midland the story
in the interim is a glowing chapter of
American history.
In return for the visit Of the Maine
to Cuba, the Spanish government sent
the cruiser Viscaya from Las Palmas
in the Canary Islands to New York.
She arrived on February 18, 1898, and
it was necessary to maintain rigid
guard over her, for the Maine had
been blown up just few days before
and American popular feeling was
rising to white heat.
T 1NEVENTFULLY, the Maine had
~ remained in Havana Harbor from
latter January. Everything was Sc
cure at pm. on that eventful
February Is, 1898. Two hours later,
tragedy had shaken the world. At
$40 pm, the ship was destroyed
suddenly and the survivors recalled
that they heard "two distinct explo-,
sions, with brief interval between
them" The first lifted the ford
part Of the ship and smashed 1t,
while the second explosion was attrib-
uted by the court of inquiry to the
partial explosion of two or more of
the ford magazines. But let the
vessels commanding officer, Capt.
Charles D. Sigsbee, who had taken
command on April 10, 1897. tell the
story, as he unfolded it to the court:
1T was calm and still night" he
recalled. II remember distinctly that
the echoes of the bugle at tattoo we're
singularly distinct and pleasant"
The captain said that he was writ
ing letter at the time Of the
explosion, dressed, at his port cabin
table, on the after side. He was just
closing the letter when he felt the
crash.
"It was a bursting, rending and
crashing sound or roar Of immense
volume, largely metallic in its charac-
ter" declared Capt. Sigsbee. 1T was
succeeded by metallic sound-prob-
ably of falling debris-a trembling and
lurching motion of the vessel, then an
impression of subsidence, attended by
an eclipse of the electric lights and
intense darkness in the cabin. I knew
Immediately that the Maine had been
blown up and that she was sinking.
I hurried to the starboard cabin ports,
thinking it might be necessary for
me to make my exit in this way.
upon looking out, I decided that
I could 60 by the passage leading 10
the superstructure. I therefore took