The Key West Citizen Newspaper, February 15, 1943, Page 4

PAGE FOUR Story Of Sinking Of Battleship Maine And Raising Of Historic War Ship Is Vividly Described * The story of the U. S. S. Maine and its connection with the U. S.! Naval Station here is vividly told by W. Ekin Birch, an ex-Gob, ex- Marine and ex-Doughboy, World War I Regular Army officer who | } is now serving in ihe Civil Guard | of the Naval Operating Base while trying to arrange to re-up in the Marines. A former Chief of Bureau of the Associated Press in Havana, he served aboard the U. S. S. North Carolina at the time moval of the Maine from Havana! harbor on February 15, 1912. The | story follows: | Today, Febru 45th annive which shook the ally and effectively did the Jap sneak at on Pearl Harbor that so unexpectedly broke the] Sabbath calm of December 7,} 1941. At a little before ten o'clock on that calm, black night in 1898 a terrible blast occurred in Ha- vana Bay which shattered thou- sands of windows all over Havana, damaged fronts of many buildings along the waterfront and left the) United States Battleship Maine a twisted hulk filled and surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of dead and wounded members of her.crew of 354 officers and men. The dead numbreed 261 and there were less than a dozen left without wounds or injuries of any kind. Key West, furthest south spect} of United States soil, has always, y 15, 1943, is the of an event! orld as tragic- Official US. Navy Photo} THE “MAINE” MONUMENT Thousands visit this spot in | the city cemetery each year where this monument stands to pay tribute to the officers | and men who lots. thefr lives on the U.S.S, Maine. t role in the played an import i tions of the | Pearl Harbor” ‘from the world our children are} | furious when the Maine | twisted" hulk | pointed toward the sky. of the re-| > still waves over the remains of th as a religious institution and turned into an emergency hospital to care for them. l The monument in Key West} 1Cemetery marks the spot where a‘number of dead from the Maine were buried, and one of her tur-! rets, set up in the yard of the} Harris School, at Southard el Margaret streets, is an interesting | relic for Navy men of today to || spect. “Remember the Maine” be- came the natinoal watchword for! the recruiting of an army dedi-! cated to driving the remaining ves-| tiges of Spain’s power out of the} Americas, just as “Remember! has spurred the} nation to a new crusade to out-} law such treacherous aggressions | to live in. When the Maine sailed from Key West for Havana late in Jan-} uary of 1898 relations between the; United States and Spain had al- most reached a breaking point, and Key West had long been a! center of the Cuban revolutionary movement, Spain charging that it; was a point of departure for many of the armed expeditions taking! men and arms to the island. To put | a stop to any such activities the Maine and other ships had been based at Key West during 1896 and 1897. The Maine's visit to Ha- vana was, officially, a courtesy visit, but the Spaniards, and es-} pecially the Cuban “Voluntaries,” | —violently pro-Spanish and anti-| United States Cubans “came iled in- to Havana Harbor. Three weeks later almost three-fourths of her men were dead and she was a with parts of her} decks barely awash and her bow ‘ | That it was a submarine mine, | exploded near her keel at about; frame nineteen, which caused al- most simultaneous internal ex-} plosions and destroyed the Maine } and nearly all her complement, is | in Ha W i espec: establishment country. struck Key the Naval with especial force, since it was | from Key West that the U. S. S.| Maine had sailed for Havana only } three weeks earlier! it was in K West that the Maine had coa and it was here she had been sta- tioned for f the time during the | two previous years, the families | of many of the offi and men | of the Maine being residents here} at the time. Most of the wounded and many of the first bodies: ne- covered in Havana were brought immediately to Key West, a num- ber of the deaths actually occur- ring at the local Convent of Mary Immaculate, which was vacated Official US. Navy Photo} THE “MAINE” TURRET i Taken from the Maine when | she was raised from Havana Harbor. Mrs. Elsie Mae Ber- nard, wife of Don F. Barnard, ARM&c, Naval Air Station, adds @ joyous note to the sad memories, i i mo | Harbor, for the three-fold purpose | | bluish mud | Maine, but the offer was refused | was towed about six miles to sea | the official and almost universal- | ly accepted version, although Spanish — and many Cuban — extbooks claim it was solely an internal explosion and imply that it was instigated by the United! States or some political element | of the United States to provide a! pretext for the conquest of Spain’s colonial emipre. Early in 1911 the United States | Government contracted for’ the | raising of’ the Maine and the re- | of her remains from Havana | of getting rid of a menace to na- | vigation, of recovering the remain- | ing bodies of her dead and to per- mit a more complete examination of her hull. Cofferdams were built around her; the water inside | was pumped out, leaving her on| the dry bottom of the bay; her | forward section, about forty per- | cent of the ship, was cut off} squarely, taken to sea and sunk | | in deep water after careful meas- | urements and study. All her decks | were covered by inches of foul from which skulls, | bones and the more resistant items } of equipment were carefully re- | moved. One or two of the crania | recovered and a few handfuls of | bones were put in each casket, the | end of each box being stencilled, | Before—THE MAINE—After The U.S.S. Maine at the top approaches the Morro Casile at the entrance to Havana Harbor February 14, 1898. Below. Old Glory towed out to sea for its final resting place, THE KEY WES' Throughout the whole morning and part of the afternoon alter- nating bands played the Dead March from Saul, punctuated at half-hour intervals by the firing of a single gun from each ship and battery ashore. As the procession started sea- ward the sun, which had made the Marines’ quilted, leather-col- lard full-dress coats a misery throughout the day, was merciful- ly hidden by a mantle of of clouds. When the ships, including Cuban Navy units and passenger vessels, had taken their positions to form, with the Malecon on the landward side, a sort of hollow square with the Maine towed to its center, a group of officers put off from the Birmingham in a _,small-boat to open the sea-valves of the old warrior-ship, on .which a jury- mast had been rigged to carry a 40 by 60 foot flag, her decks being covered with flowers. Her bow, the cut-off end, set- tled lower and lower, and the long-hidden sun suddenly drop- ped below the cloud-wrack light- ing the whole scene with that strange reflected light which seems to come from everywhere and cast no shadows. The Maine's} stern heaved up and she almost went under, but rebounded like a fisherman’s cork almost pulled under by a fish, to make another plunge, a column of dust and rust rising high in the air as her giant flag spread along the surface of ‘the sea for a moment, as though painted there, before following her down to her last resting, place. Three volleys of rifle fire from the Marine Guard of the old North i“C” crackled out smartly _ and | their bugler.played his softest and | clearest “Taps,” which was echo- |ed across the now empty square by bugles and cornets, in unison, playing on the deck of the Bir- | mingham. The Navy units pres- }ent, Cuban and United States, | fied past the North Carolina and jher stack of dead, firing their 21- un salutes as they passed: then her bow pointed northeast-by- dress, and a picked division of Cu-} north and she was off on her voy- |} ban Navy sailors, flanked the} age to the Chesapeake, where, af-| Caballeria Dock, where the bodies,i ter a transfer to the shallower- ie once proud battleship as she is 15th, 1912, the armored cruiser North Carolina, the scout cruiser Birmingham, and the seagoing naval tug Osceola, all from Key West, arrived off ‘Morro Castle, Havana, being received with 21- gun salutes from the Morro, Ca- banas and La Punta fortresses, and from Cuba’s men-o'-war in the harbor. Columns of Cuban army troops bore the more than seventy boxes containing the bones of some 160 dead recovered from the hulk of the Maine and which had previously been deposited in the Cathedral. The Marine Guard from th North Carolina, in ~ special full | placed on her quarter-deck andj and tons of flowers sent from all over the world, were loaded on the North “C’s” boats and taken across the Bay to her side, to be| covered with flowers and a Union Jack 40 by 60 feet, ready to lead! the funeral procession’ to sea. draft Birmingham, the returning sailors of the Maine continued their voyage, up the history-filled valley of the Potomac, to their final rest in Arlington, ranged about the mainmast of their old ship, from which their flag still flies. | Classified Column FOR SALE eee MOTOR SCOOTERS, Mercury} Convertible Coupe, ‘Trailers. Skating Rink. ee FOR SALE—Twelve white por-; celain Counter Stools. Price, | $18.00. Apply Manager Jeffer- | son Hotel. feb3-tt} HELP WANTED MARKERS WANTED in Laun- dry, 50c per hour. Apply at Building 131, Navy Yard. feb4-tf oe WAITRESS WANTED. Side- walk Cafe, Duval and Fleming | jan4-tf FOR SALE—One pair Fairbanks-| Platform Scales. All metal. Capacity, 250 lbs. $20.00. Man- ager Jefferson Hotel. feb3-tf | FOR SALE—1935 Ford. This car| has 5 good 600x16 tires. Excel-} lent mechanical condition. Price $95.00. Apply Manager Jeffer- sen Hotel. feb3-tf FOR SALE—50x20 tent, com- plete with side poles. This tent has never been used. Half price. Apply Manager, Jeffer- son Hotel. feb3-tf | FOR SALE—One two-ton chain hoist. $35.00. Apply, Manager, | Jefferson Hotel. feb3-tf FOR SALE—Smith Type D Port- able Automatic Acteylene Gen-} erator, complete 50-ft. hose cutting and welding torch.} Slightly used. Priced to sell. } Apply Manager, Jefferson Ho-! tel. feb3-tf | i FOR SALE—1936 Packard 4-door | Sedan, 5 700x16 tires. Very) good. This car worth twice} asking price. $125.00. Apply} Manager, Jefferson Hotel. | feb3-tf TECHNICAL BOOKS — New| Shipment weekly. A look at! our Technical Shelf may save | you dimes of postage and weeks of waiting. PAUL} SMITH, bookseller, 334 Simon- | ton St at Eaton St. | feb13tomar27 | “l—or two—Unknown Dead—j U. S.S. Maine.” | This: f rd. transverse sec- | tion ois Sait ‘a bulkhead of timber deals “gyri canvas, so that when pe wate was let in by the removal of sectidn$ of the dam the old hulk floated again at bay level. A private concern was said to have offered the United States $400,000 for her as she floated, to use most of the materials in her in the making of souvenirs. The buttons and medals of the Span- ish-American war veterans are made of metal salvaged from the | | { | | | | | as not in keeping with the dignity | due the martyred ship, and she | for formal burial. On the morning of February JOHNSON OUTBOARD MOTOR, | 412 horsepower and about. $30} extra parts for $75.00. “James | H. Pinder, 1217 Petronia’ St. feb13-6tx | { AN 11-Tube Table Model RA-} DIO. $35.00; one 24-inch Punch Bowl with Stand $20.00. Can} be seen at 928 Pauline Lane feb13-3tx HOUSE TRAILER, two-room, porch. Barber, Mastic Trailer Park. feb15-3tx | j FOR RENT OFFICE SPACE or STORE. Johnson. 419 Duval Street. feb6-tt |COAT HANGERS WANTED — Fountain Counter Girls and Waitresses. Gagd salary. Southernmost City Pharmacy. janl-tf WANTED WANTED, $1.00 a hundred. White Star Cleaners, 701% Duval St. jani-tf WE BUY OLD RECORDS, whole or broken. Factory needs scrap. J. R. Stowers Company. feb12-tf | FURNISHED or UNFURNISHED House, Apartment or Room, preferably furnished and near Section Base. Mrs. M. Bicke; 1206 Duval, phone 263-W..., febl2;3tx | ! OLD RAGS. Apply Thé Citizen Office. feb15-tf LOST LIBERAL REWARD for return of red and gray Western Flyer Bicycle taken by mistake. Call 594-J after 6 p. m. feb11-6tx RED and WHITE CLOTH HAND- » BAG, containing Navy Com- missary Card, Identification Card, Car Keys, License and Ration Books. Grace Lem- mons, Cottage Courts, No. 17,|/ Division Street. feb15-3tx T CITIZEN SOCIETY Albury-Fitzpatrick Naptial Event At a nuptial mass, January 23, in St. Patrick's Catholic Church, in Miami Beach, Miss Rose Mary Albury, daughter of Mrs. Hilary Albury, of Simontén street, Key West;"became the bride of Lieut. Em I. Fitzpatrick, U.S. N. R. in a double ring ceremony r by the iRt. Rev. William Barry. The bride wore a navy serge suit. similar to the bridegroom’s! unjfoym,: navy and white acces- sories and a corsage of white but- terfly orchids. Miss Dorothy Al- bury attended her sister and wore a tailored gold suit with yellow rosebud corsage. Lt. Ray S. Burke, U. S, A, was best man. The bridegroom’s mother, Mrs. James A. Fitzpatrick, attended the ceremony from Milwaukee, Wis. The former Miss Albury is a graduate of the Convent of Mary Immaculate, Key West, and at- tended Holy Name College, Windsor, Qnt. Lt. Fitzpatrick was graduated from the Marquette university school of, medicine, Milwaukee, and until his entrance into the service was a practicing physician in Miami Beach. Following a wedding trip through Florida the couple return- ed to Miami Beach for a brief visit. Lt. Fitzpatrick will leave shortly for the Caribbean area where he has been stationed for the past six months. U REBEKAH LODGE PUTS ON PROGRAM ((Contributed) Qn last Tuesday evening at the close of their regular meeting, Sparkling Waters Rebekah Lodge | presented a program in playlette | form, on The Educational Foun- | dation Fund, which was enjoyed by all present. The Educational Fund is a project of the Rebekahs all over the country, and funds SCOUTS SOLD MANY BONDS LAST WEEK GREAT INTEREST MANIFEST- ED IN ACTIVITIES CARRIED ON Monroe County Boy Scouts sold | $5,877.15 in war bonds and stamps jin twelve hours work over a period of four nights during Boy Scout | Week, it was announced by Hun- |ter Harden, Scout Committeeman {in charge of.the sales, at a Scout | Rally held Friday night at the | Parish Hall. The Rally was held as the final event of Boy Scout Week which} ended Friday. Attendance at the} Rally was as follows: 15 Scout! | leaders and officials, 48 Boy | Scouts, 25 Cubs, 19 new Scout |cruits, and 2 visitors. The grand | total of attendance was 109. Scout Leader Archie Potter acted as chairman for the meet- jing. District Chairman Wilbert J | Moehrke, Isadore Weintraub, | Charles Ketchum, Victor Larsen, James De Land, and Hunter Har-, Mr. Larsen, former Scoutm: of Troop 52 for three ye returned to this city to take up res- | idence after having lived ina cen-, | tral Florida city for the last four | | years. Mr. Larsen is expected to | be active once in local! ' Scouting. | |" Advancement Chairman James| De Land presented some recently ; | acquired Scout awards. Second | Class badges and awards went to |Donald Pearlman, Buddy Wil-! |liams, Thomas Swicegood, Jack ! ; Currie, and Raul Perez. Merit} | Badge awards went to Donald! | Pearlman for Reading and Path-j finding. } Mr. Harden, i war stamps and bond: ed prizes to the top salesmen for; the four-day sale. For the sale of | War Bonds it was considered a tie between Thomas Swicegood | and Robert Archer, who sold inj the thousand dollar group. The | again ge of the| ward- j | Troop | Lastres and H. B. Moss, Assis MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1943 REV. KEIS WILL CONDUCT SERVICE Rev. W. D. Keis will the Baptist Church on Wednesday evening at 8 o'cloak im absence of the pastor, it was announced today. Rev. Ted M. Jones will return to Key West in time for the regular services next Sunday conduct Germans failed to g n field at Maikop playing of T: of the cSroytr as led by Sc The follow present: District bert Moehrke, Isadore Weintraub, Co. Charles Ketchum, Com James De Land and Hu den, president of the Rot: Howard Overlin, William F Committeemen A: Scoutmaster Archie Pott master Ray Atwell, C Allen Hampton, Sc | Larsen, and two visite Tillsen, former scoutm Arlington, Virginia A. L. Fabrick of Ga ida, both are office Navy. prayer service at the First), war office stated 185.008 Axis the Dneiper. are llisly to be For the purp the several precincts im. Wednesday, 1 Gardner's 2 No. No. Precinct Precinct ‘Notice To Taxpayers Bei Pharmacy Gomez Furniture S 720 Duval Street No. No. 2 3 4 Precinct Precinct Pierce Bros. Store Standard Oil Filling Sta Corner Division and Duval Streets No. No. Precinct 5 Precinct Harris School 6 Standard Oil Sta Fleming and Grinnell Streets Corner Precinct No. 7 Paul's Tire Corner White and Fleming Streets Precinct No. 8 Paul's Filling ‘ Foundation ! taken in are used to help the sons; and daughters of Odd Fellows Rebekahs everywhere, whe they need help. Each Lodge is re- quested to send an offering ev-i ery year to the Rebekah Assem- bly. Sister Irene Miller, President of the Rebekah Assembly of Flor- ida, has made as her goal for this year, 1941-43, a small amount from every member, for this Fund. Mrs. Miller appointed her District Deputy Pres. Edna Albury to work toward this end in the Lo- cal Lodge. Sparkling Waters went up and over their goal, the mem- bership being thirty-five, and the offering amounted to $8.50. At the close of the program Sis- ter Albury thanked every meni- ber for their co-operation in this year’s offering which is a Special) Project on Sister Miller's —_— Effort Chart for the year. On February 23, the Lodge will have a pogram celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of the Local Lodge, and also a George Washington Birthday program led by Mrs. Edna Albury. JUNIOR CLUB TO MEET TOMORROW There will be a business mect- ingef the Junior Woman’s Club hekLstomorrow afternoon, begin- ning at 5 o'clock, at the club- house on Duval street. All. members are requeste be in attendance. VISITING HERE d to Mrs. Paul Kleyla, land, Ohio, arrived here last eve- ning for a visit with her par- | Edward | ents, Mr. and Mrs. Archer of 1402 Olivia street. McNutt says American techno- logieal superiority spells victory. STRAND THEATER CHARLES BOYER in TALES OF MANHATTAN Coming: “SUNDAY PUNCH” BLACK LEATHER BILLFOLD, containing currency and small check. Lost in. Hotzberg’s Store about 2:45 Saturday. Finder please call Mrs. R. F. Phillips, Central Hotel, Phone 9153. Reward, feb15-2tx I REWARD FOR RETURN Yellow | Gold | Band Ring, engraved J.A.C. and C.L.P. 4/22\17. Be- lieved lost between Adams} Lunch, White Street and Eliza-| beth Street. Return to Citizen Office. feb15-3tx REAL ESTATE | Business or Residential Lots all Parts of the Island; Terms } J. OTTO KIRCHHEINER Realtor i Phones 124 and 736-R 505 Duval) jan8-tt! JOHN PAYNE in , FOOTLIGHT SERENADE FICTION - NON-FICTION TECHNICAL BOOKS Open 8:30 A.M, to 7 P.M. | |1F YOu'RE Looxwe Fon | See Pauc SmitH 334 Simonton ST. | of Cleve- | { | { | MONROE THEATER | | | | Streets two top boys in war stamps sales was Jack Currie, $75.00 and Ev- eritt Felton, $70.00. Both rece: a prize. The top boy in stamp s from Troop 59 was Ira Vald who received a scout handbook as his prize. j Through the good will of the! Precinct Palace Theatre space for salesi Precinct No. headquarters was obtained. The| Preciact No committee in charge wishes to) precinct. No. thank ail who cooperated to make | * TECINCE NO- this sale as great a success as | 9 Division St. Gram 10 Cuban Club 11 Monroe Co. High Schoo 12. Eliza and White Sts. Thursday, February 25, 1943 3 Eugene Sands Restaura: Islamorada Postoffice Tavernier Postoffice Rock Harbor Pos CLAUDE A. GANDOLF Monroe County Tax Assessor. No. No. No. No. | Precinct 4 | Precinct Si Precinet | Precinct No. office 6 204 S. After a successful Scout Week | the meeting was closed with the any long distance calls to war- busy industrial centers. Material shortages prevent expansion of telephone facili- ties to fill the general increas- ing demand for service, so won't you help to make the most of what we have, knowing that in doing this you are making a gen- uine contribution to the war effort? Uncle Sam is doing a whale of a job in this global war—and a big part of it is being done by long distance telephone. That’s why we ask you to please use the long distance lines. only when really’ neces- sary, so as to keep them clear for vital-war business. It will be especially helpful if you will, as far as possible, avoid making SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY INCORPORATED SS ET HT