The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 18, 1898, Page 1

Call o SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1898. “VoLum A FLOATING TORPEDO SEEN BY A SAILOR ON BOARD Came From the and Struck the Warship. Then Was Perpetrated the Atro- cious Crime for Which Spain Will Be Held by America to a Strict Accounting. by James Gordon Bennett, T T e i 7 KEY WEST, Feb. I8 (8 a. m.)—Gradually | the details connected with the disaster to| the Maine are coming out, and as the facts| become known they point more positively to | the deliberate destruction of the vessel and | the murder of her crew. I learn to-night on undoubted authority that onec of the maimed sailors who was taken to the Marine Hospital last night, out of | gratitude for the kind trcatment and careful nursing reccived from the surgeon and at- tendants, has broken the seal of silence en-| ioined by his superior officers before leaving | ifiavana. He makes a statement, the teuth of which can hardly be doubted, which stamps the perpetrator of the diabolical tragedy en-| acted Tuecsday night in the harbor of Havana | THBE AMERICAN e P FLEET IN PRICE FIVE CENTS. DESTROYED THE MAINE FLORIDA WATERS. - s { as one of the blackest in the history of The New York and the Cushing Are Shown on Their Way to Havana, While the Rest of the Fleet Are at Anchor With Steam Up Between Dry Tortugas and Key West. humanity. The sailor, whose name for obvious reca= sons is withheld for the present, says he was on watch on the forward deck!shortly before the explosion occurred. | While looking over the Maine’s bow into the dark waters of the bay he saw a black| object slowly coming toward the vessel.| The object, whatever it was, was appar- ently illuminated and emitted smoke. | He suspected something wrong and| started to communicate the fact to the offi-| cer of the deck, and had barely commencedto | tell what he had seen when the explosion‘ took place. The Maine was raised in the air| and he was thrown to the deck, stunned and | « bleeding. | He also says that simultancously with the raising of the Maine he saw the steam| A VIEW OF THE launch which was moored alongside thrown out of the water. This occurred before the second explo= sion in the Maine’s magazine was felt which sent her to the bottom. JACKSONVILLE Fla., Feb. 17.— | Havana by Consul-General Lee and A special to the Times-Union and | Captain Sigsbee, and will go over im- Citizen from Key West says: The mediately to dive under the Maine general opinion of many persons 8nd discover the cause of thedisaster. here is that the Maine was hit by | The flagsnip New York is now an- a torpedo, after which the maga- | chored off the bay awaiting instruc- zine exploded. In an interview |tions from Washington. Thomas Melville of Brooklyn, The officers from the Maine who who was not injured, and was on|are here have received instructions watch on the quarterdeck, said that | to remain where they are and to he felt two distinct shocks. The |await orders. Many were paid to- first was not as severe as the second, | day and provided themselves with which blew up the ship. Other sur- | clothing. ! vivors are of the same opinion that Patrick J. Foley, in the hospital it was foul work. here, who was thought to be fatally Martin Riordan, a submarine diver | hurt, has revived, and late to-night of Key West and a survivor of the Maine, Dr. Guiteras, who is in charge, says has been telegraphed for from ' he will be up in a week or so. .~ (HAVANHA AOM . 'HOTEL INGLATERRA' CITY OF HAVANA. The coast survey steamer A. D. Bache arrived this afternoon from the Tortugas in command of Lieuten- ant-Commander Barnet. morrow morning she will leave for the cruiser New York, taking divers and such wrecking gear as is obtain- able. MR. ROOSEVELT WAS SOMEWHAT INDISCREET. WASHINGTON, Feb. 17.—Assistant Secretary Roosevelt has caused the Navy Department some embarrassment by his candor. Yesterday he expressed himself very freely in regard to the disaster, and made no effort tu conceal his impression that the explosion was not accidental. Several Cabinet officers were discuss- ing Secretary Rooseveit's public ex- pressions this morning and were criti- cizing him. The Assistant Secretary himself declared that he had been mis- quoted. It is certain that he had a reckoning with Secretary Long, and was reticent to-day as a result. The officers of the Construction Corps are wincing under the seal of secrecy imposed on them by the Secretary. They insist that the Government should not make its own officlals the scapegoats of the affair by placing the responsibility of carelessness at their doors even before an examination has been made. The following orders were sent to the commanding officers of military depart- ments by Adjutant General Breck of the army: “As appropriate honors to the de- ceased in the recent disaster to the battleship Maine, the President directs that flags at all army headquarters, military posts and on army buildings be displayed from sunrise to sunset at half staff until further orders.” ————— PROBABLY DONE BY A HARVEY TORPEDO. CHICAGO, Feb. 17.—Emil Gathman, the inventor, believes the Maine was destroyed by a Harvey torpedo. He is conversant with Havana harber, and from a personal examination is famil- jar with the equipment of the Maine. In an interview to-day he said that with the vessel pointing against the tide, with the night dark and the Maine not pretected by netting, a man ¢ould row a skiff across the bow of the Main& at a distance of from 500 to 1000 feet, towing a Harvey or floating -terpedo. Allowing the tide to drift the torpedo against the forward end of the Maine he could explode it by means of electric wires attached to the fulminating cap. Mr. Gathman served two years as a naval apprentice aboard thé& training ship Portsmouth when Captain Sigsbee was her commainding officer. Three years ago he was a member of the en- gineering corps which .conducted the dsecond trial trip of the Maine, Early to- A Circular, With Which Was NEW YORK, Feb. 17.—The Her- ald's Washington correspondent sends the foliowing: Captain C. D. Sigsbee, commanding the sec- ond-class battle-ship Maine, was warned of an impending disaster to his vessel two weeks before the catastrophe occurred. Whether by a singular coincidence, if the disaster to the vessel should finally furn out to have been the result of an accident, or because of the pity and mercy of one in the counsel of those responsible for the vessel’s loss, should it have been due to design, Captain Sigsbee was informed on Sunday, January 30, that it would be wise for him to “look out for his ship.”’ Mrs. Sigsbee, the wife of the Maine's commander, received a letter from her husband some days ago, in which was in- closed a circular, in Spanish, anathematizing the Americans and the American navy. On the left edge of the circular, which was printed on chelp paper, was the rude form of a hand, with an index pointing to two words which were underscored, and which in English mean “rotten squadron.”’ At the bottom of the circular were these words, in English, written with pen, the handwriting being fair : “Look Qut for Your Ship.” This is the English translation of the circular: “Spaniards—Long live Spain with honor. “What are ye doing that ye allow your- selves to be insulted in this way 7 “Do ye not see what they have done to PP T + 'CAPTAIN SIGSBEE WARNED OF DANGER BY SOME SPANIARD a Threat Added, Put Into His Hand in a Crowd. us in withdrawing our brave and beloved Weyler, who at this very time would have finished with this unworthy, rebellious rabble who are tramping on our flag and our honor 2 “Autonomy is imposed on us to cast us aside and give posts of honor and authority to those who initiated this rebellion—these | ill-born autonomists, ungrateful sons of our beloved country. | “And finally those Yankee dogs, who med- dle in our affairs, humiliating us to the /ast : degree, and for a stili greater taunt order | to us one of their ships of war of their ; rotten squadron, after insulting us in their | newspapers, to our home. “Spaniards, the moment of action has | arrived. Sleep not. Let us show these vile traitors that we have not yet lost shame, and that we know how fto protest with energy befitting a nation worthy and strong as our Spain is and always will be. ¥ “Death to Americans! Death to au- tonomy! Long live Spain! Long live Weyler " Mrs. Sigsbee told me to-day that she had inadvertently torn the circular and had lost the piece which contained the warning written in English. “There is the pen stroke,” she said, pointing to a dash of ink at the bottom of the circular. «| have searched for the missing portion, but have up to this time failed to find it." Mrs. Sigsbee further told me that her husband had made no mention of the cir- ———— Continued on Second Page. et