The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 20, 1898, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1898. THE GOVERNMENT ON THE ALERT ARE MANNING THE GUNS AT EW YORK Ready to Blo ish Fleet Out of Water. Officers Commanding the Depart- ment of the E Preparations, but Con- tinue to © NEW YORK, Feb. 19.—Un- O] © usual activity has been mani- © © fested during the last two days © © in the forts and fortifications © © commanding the entrance to Q| © -New York harbor. Reports from @ | © other points on the seacoast O | © show that similar conditions © © have been noticed, and while the Q © officers in command of the De- © O partment of the East acknowl- O] © edge that certain steps havé © © been taken, declare th () © steps have ring whatever © G on recent developments in the © © relations between the United @ [+ < States and Spain. These unusual occurrences were first noticed late on Friday night when the commandant at Fort Schuyler re- | ceived a telegraphic order from General | Wesley Merritt, commanding the De- partment of the Within an hour of the receipt of the dispatch, Lieuten- Lang, commanding a detachment of twen men, had started to take charge of the new batter at Willetts Po Lieutenant Lang's command toc their tents and full camp equip- t with them. Their orders were to charge of the new guns and mor- tars recently mounted there, and to see that they are kept in perfect condition. Imperative orders were also issued as e care of the large quantity of nunition which has also been sh ped to this point The batteries at Fort Schuyler and Willetts Point command the entrance | to the harbor from Long Island Sound, | and with these batteries fully manned | and equipped it would be very hard | work for an enemy’s warship to force | an entrar from that side. Adaditional evidence that the War De- partment is on the alert was furnished to-day when a detachment of artillery commanded by Lieutenant Arnold left Fort Wadsworth for Sandy Hook, where they took charge of the recently completed batteries there. They were quickly followed by a detachment of engineers and other branches of the service, which brought the total garri- son established at Sandy Hook up to 200 men. They also took tents and camp equipment. At the same time Fort Wadsworth was closed to visitors. Even civilians whose daily associations r sary for them to enter the fort w halted half a mile away by the sentries and ordered to turn back. No one unt a member of the garris or of the fam- tlies of the officers was allowed to en- ter, and the sentries even refused to take notes or cards to Colonel Sinclair, the commandant. Ammubhition in large quantities is also on the way to Sandy Hook, where there are sixteen 12-inch disappearing | guns, four 10-inch guns and two tor- pedo tubes. At Fort Wadsworth part of the modern armament consists of four 10-inch breechloading guns and five 8-inch guns. A shot from the latter can sink a ship at a distance of eight miles. At Governors Island, the headquar- ters of the Department for the East, it was learned to-day that in addition to the batteries already manned orders have been sent to man those at Grovers Cliff, at the entrance of Boston Har- bor and at Portland Head, at Port- land, Maine. In each instance an or- der has been telegraphed to the near- est post to send a lieutenant and twenty artillerymen to take charge of the batteries. It was also learned that an order was to-day sent out from Governors Island to sixty military posts, most of them on the AfTantic seaboard, enjoining the commanders that the strictest care be exerted to keep the guns and other equipment at the utmost pitch of efficiency, and that every precaution be used to guard the stores of ' ammunition and provide against premature explosion or deter- joration from any cause. Work is also being pushed rapidly to comple- tion of the new batteries on the small island at the eastern end of Long Is- land. These are still in the contractors’ hands, but it was said they would be finished in a few weeks. Guns and am- munition are all ready for them and they will be equipped and named just as soon as finished. Similar rush work is being done at Cape Hatteras and other points on the Atlantic seaboard. Notwithstanding all this activity, the officers in command at Governors Island declare it has no bearing at all on the recent international develop- ments. They speak of it as routine work which would have been done in any case. “The batteries have been completed and equipped, and we have simply placed a few men in each to care for the guns and equipment and keep them from deteriorating,” one officer said. ‘When asked, however, if the force was sufficient to fight the guns, the of- ficer replied: “Oh, yes. The guns are automatic. You have only to start them going and they work themselves.” Another officer admitted that while | from his family for three mails. WhenJ\Monday, | cance of hints that have been given me w Any Span- ast Deny War Prepare. the batterfes would have been manned sooner or later, it was not expected that this would be done until late in the spring or summer. e THE VAGUE RUMORS Continued from Third Page. An hour later I was on my way West in the Herald's chartered W. Childs. Before departing it me to me from a trustworthy source that the complications referred to by Captain Sigsbee had their origin in Madrid. The Spanish authorities, ac- cording to my informant, fully realize the position in which they have been placed by the unexplained explosion of the Main o far there is not the | slightest clew as to the cause of the ex- plosion. I spent last night in getting hints that might have led to a solution, but found no corroborative evidence, no tangible results. Theories are offered in nty, but every one of these save one will contradict some other. A naval board of examination, com- posed of Lieutenant-Commander Wain- wright, Lieutenant Holden and Chief Engineer Howell, has been appointed by Captain Sigsbee and ordered to closely examine the wreck and report their opinions as to the cause of the explosion. Accompanied by Captain Sigsbee the board pulled around the wreck yesterday and closely scruti- nized it. This inspection was, of course, of a cursory nature and if the officers formed an opinion they kept it to themselves. “This mattersis far too serious for hasty conclusions,” was the grave re- ply to my question as to whether the inspection had given the officers any new idea about the accident. As I have sald, there are theories in plenty, and in the multitude is one that commands attention.- “I heard it several times last night, and I heard it again this morning. It that the Maine was wrecked by a submarine mine laid during the days of Weyler. To appreciate the signifi- tug G. it necessary to explain that once inside of Havana harbor a heavy ship of war has the city at her mercy. It is not to be supposed that the Span- iards neglected the opportunity to plant mines. There could have been no hit or miss chance about such an opera- ation, for ships entering port do not anchor, but are escorted to mooring buoys located at various places in the harbor. Thus the Maine was brought in by the Government pilot and told what buoy she must tie up to. That buoy must have also marked the lo- cation of a mine, and other buoys may serve similar purposes. “I am convinced that if such was really the case, and if the Maine was destroyed by a submarine mine ex- plosion, the act was perpetrated with- out the knowledge of the Spanish au- thorities. It is conceivable that some fanatic might have discovered the lo- cation of the mines, and its electrical connection, and set the spark that caused the wreck. I have tried to verify these whispered things, but you can understand how well nigh impossible it is. T have also tried to trace the rumor that what I have described has been the case, that the secret is in the possesion of several men and that one of these is making his way to Washington to tell what he knows about it. Such is the theory and rumors that go with it. There is no positive evidence here to show that either is true. Nor is it likely that any convincing evidence of any sort will be obtained until divers make a report. The spectacle that the wreck pre- sented yesterday made one sick at heart to contemplate. Hundreds of car- rion crows were perched upon it, and the guard boats puiling around could not keep them away. At intervals a body or mangled limb would come floating upward, to be taken in tow when discovered by boats detailed for that purpose. One living thing was found on board the wreck. That was Tom, the huge black cat that belonged to the Maine, and which had escaped death in some miraculous manner. The cat was found by the boat’s crew from the lighthouse steamer and was taken on board that vessel. In the city all precautions are being taken to guard against any anti-Amer- ican demonstration. General Lee is being guarded by detectives in civilian dress and up to last night the General did not know that he was the subject of such espionage. Here are running extracts from a letter which Captain Sigsbee has writ- ten to his wife and which he kindly permitted me to take: “So far as I am able to judge at noon to-day 253 per- sons have been drowned or killed and 101 saved. Merritt, the dead officer, re- ceived help in the blinding darkness and watery whirl of his quarters by Naval Cadet Boyd until they were swept apart. Jenkins, up to his arms in water, started for his stateroom, which was in an opposite Adirection to the hatch, doubtless to save important departmental papers, and was drowned. Of the crew saved only eighteen or nineteen are uninjured. The explosion was under_the men’s compartments.” Captain Sigsbee has had no letter he Army of the United States. the explosion occurred Captain Sigsbee was sitting at a table in the port cabin working with Lieutenant Holden on important official papers. Strange to say, he was writing concerning tor- pedoes aboard, and, just as he finished, the disaster came on. Captain Sigsbee started for the starboard cabin, and could have got out that way, but, thinking to better maintain the posi- tion of command, groped his way through a passage filled with smoke and falling debris. Here he met vate Anthony, who reported that the | ship had been blown up and was sink- ing. He stayed by Captain Sigsbee's side and they climbed to the port deck. The whole deck was piled high with tangled wreckage, and nothing could be clearly distinguished. who succeeded in reaching the port deck were saved. The officers were cool and there was perfect discipline. Everything was referred to Captain | Sigsbee. The fire continued to rage, | and Lieutenant - Commander Wain- wright whispered to Captain Sigsbee | that he feared the forward magazine had been torn up, and urged him to leave the ship. Captain Sigsbee de- clined to go until the officers got in the boats. ALL HANDS ARE KEPT AT WORK. Orders Given for the Rapid Comple- tion of Repairs to the Puri- tan and Terror. RICHMOND (Va.), Feb. 19.—Commo- dore Farquhar, commander of the Norfolk navy yard, received orders at 7 o’clock to-night from the Navy De- partment to keep all hands at work on the Puritan and Terror to-night and Sunday, also on the torpedo boats Foote and Winslow. will be completed by the next week. The order to place the Terror in or- dinary was countermanded this morn- ing. Her crew was sent to San Fran- cisco ten days ago, but a telegram says a crew will be ready for her in a few days, when she would go to Hampton Roads to await further orders. Fort Monroe with its new mortar battery a mile up the beach, and its big rapid-fire rifles and disappearing carriages beyond the great mountains of concrete is in better condition for de- fense than ever in its history. Assistant Secretary Mieklejohn arrived at the fort last evening, and his visit gave rise to much speculation. Secretary Alger has been at Old Point several days recuperating. It is believed that Mr. Mieklejohn is here to ascertain by inspection the condition of the defenses of this important point. Richmond’s greatest defense is the narrow channel at Dutch Gap, twelve miles below the city, where the river drives through the narrow cut com- menced by General Butler during the war and finished for commercial pur- poses by the Government engineers after the war. A barge sunk in this swiftly flowing, short and narrow channel would make Richmond safe. A large number of extra men were put to work on the cruiser Newark at Nor- folk this morning. It will take three months under emergency efforts to complete her. The battleships Kentucky and Kearsarge will be launched at Newport News in a few days. WILL NOT BE PASSED BY THE REPRESENTATIVES. Resolutions Providing for Raising the Maine Laid Out by the Mason Amendment. WASHINGTON, Feb. 19.—Nothing will be done in the House with the Senate resolution appropriating $200,- 000 for the salvage of the wreck of the Maine, because of the Mason amend- ment to the resolution providing for the return to the United States of the bodies taken from the wreck. Secre- tary Long and Captain Sigsbee both explained that the return of the bodies will be impracticable, as many of them were mangled beyond identification, and, moreover, that there might be sanitary reasons why bodies from a fever-infected country should not be brought to the United States. Chairman Boutelle, of the House Naval Committee, said nothing would be done with the Senate resolution as he had no doubt the Senate would promptly pass the House resolution on middle Pri- | Only those | All these repairs | of | [ [1+) [+ ) [ ing World from via Key West, s: “The consens The forward m: the.forward s inch magazines. “This leaves only a few saluting charges and a few small-cali- ber shells in the pilot-house which could have possibly have ex- | ploded aboard the ship. “At the same time, the fearful extremely large torpedo. will be found. “All the when even 88823833888888888883388 '—U—oo [x] o0 RMISSION IS REFUSED Request of the Spanish Authorities to Examine | the Wreck Denied. el ‘Fir’st ‘Will Come the Indepen- dent Investigation of the Navy Officers. Then There Will Be No Objection to an Inquiry by the Havana Authorities. Special Dispatch to The Call. Call Office, Riggs House, ‘Washington, Feb. 19. Secretary Long and Assistant Secre- tary Day of the State Department had an interview with the President this morning, lasting nearly an hour. Mr. Day read a cablegram from Con- sul-General Lee at Havana, transmit- ting a request from the Spanish author- ties in Cuba that the Spanish officials be permitted to join with our people in making an investigation into the cause of the disaster to the Maine. The mat- ter was discussed at considerable length, and the conclusion was reached, and General Lee will be so notified, that, while this Government is willing to afford the Spanish authorities all reasonable facilities for conducting an investigation, yet it is thought best the first inquiry shall be made by our own Commissioners. The request of the Spanish authorities, therefore, will be respectfully declined. - The request of the Spanish Govern- ment for permission to examine the wreck of the Maine reached the State Department last night through the fol- lowing message from Consul-General Lee: HAVANA, Feb. 18, 1508, Assistant Secretary Day, Washington: Sigsbee begins to-morrow with divers sent him from the United States to re- cover all the bodies still left in the wreck of the Maine, as well as the personal, ef- fects of officers and men and whatever else can be obtained that way. After that the Spanish Government would like to unite with ours in having the bottom of the ship and the harbor in the vicinity Jjointly examined. LEE. The following is the answer sent: WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 1898. Lee, Consul-General, Havana: The Government of the United States has al- ready begun an investigation of the causes of the disaster to the Maine, through officers of the navy specially ap- lpointed for that purpose, which will pro- 1 0000000000000 000000 OO0VVO000000000000000 19.—A copyrighted cablegram to the Even- ter Scovel, under to-day’s date from Havana, of opinion of those who have studied the wreck closely is now that the explosion was caused by a submarine mine. ne, it is now generally supposed, is intact, also If it were a torpedo, the divers will find the torpedo fragments; but if it were a submarine mine, no trace Ameérican officers are internally boiling. There is not one of them, from Captain Sigsbee down, vinced a Government submarine mine did it. “The Spanish dailies are loudly clamoring ‘accident,” ‘accident,” now the fact is known that the whole middle deck, which was blown straight up, never had an ounce of ship’s powder under it, and that there the first flame was seen.” 0000000000 00000COQQ00000000000000 0000000000000 000000000CC000000000 o [ damage is too big for any but an who is not fairly con- 88833888882338333383858805 ceed independently. This Government will afford every facility it can to the Spanish authorities in whatever investi- gation they may see fit to make upon their part.” DAY, Assistant Secretary. The apparent difficulty attending the sending down of the divers to the Maine was relieved, if not entirely re- moved, by a statement to-day by Senor Duboise, Charge d'Affaires of the Spanish Legation, that a complete and harmonious understanding be- tween Captain Sigsbee and the au- thorities at Havana had been reached on the matter of the divers, and that the Spanish authorities viewed the Maine as extraterritorial, all doubts part of the sovereign territory of the United States, the same as a United States Legation situated in foreign territory. With the Maine holding its status as extraterritorial, all doubts to the progress of the work on the wreck were removed. The waters of Havana harbor are of course Spanish territory, and some confusion had been aroused by the idea that this jurisdiction over the waters attached also to the wreck in its present helpless condition at the bottom of the bay. It appears, however, that there is no disposition to extend this jurisdiction to the ship, and that the Spanish au- thorities give free consent to the Maine’s being . regarded as extraterri- torial and under the immediatedirection of Captain Sigsbee, as the representa- tive of the United States. According to the view taken by the Spanish au- thorities there can be no trouble at- tending the work of the divers. Cap- tain Sigsbee will be recognized as the one to direct operations and to send down the Government divers for such inspection as he sees proper to make. Mr. Duboise feels assursd, however, that Captain Sigsbee will extend equal facilities to the Spanish divers, so that TO DEFEND THE HARBOR OF BOSTON Hurrying in Hot Haste to Get the Big Guns Mounted. Trains Are Speeding Southward Also With M Be Put in ore Guns to. Place at Mobile. ] o BOSTON, Feb. 19. — Active preparations for war are being made all along the New Eng- land Coast, and particularly in the Boston fortifications. In compliance with telegraphic or- ders just received at Fort War- ren, a detail of one corporal and thirteen men has been sent to re-enforce Lieutenant Ketchum, in command of the mortar bat- tery at Grovers Cliff, Winthrop. The men were fully equipped and carried 100 rounds of am- munition each. Hospital equip- ment was also taken along. o o < < 000000000000 0000 As there are insufficient quarters at the battery to accommodate this squad, it will be obliged to camp in quarter- master’s tents supplied the party for the purpose by the Quartermaster’s Department at the fort. These tents are the regulation “A” tents of the service, and as they cannot be heated, the soldiers are likely to have a hard time of it during the present weather. Fifteen hundred rounds of ammuni- | tion for the battery arrived to-day, and mortars of the battery will be put | in condition for instant use. The breech blocks for the mortars have been lying in the quartermaster’s storehouse since the battery was lo- cated, but now they will be attached. Rush orders were received at Fort Warren on Friday by Colomel Wood- | ruff, who was directed to send a de- | tachment of one corporal and eight | men to Fort Winthrop, where they are | to get the eight eight-inch converted | rifle guns to the dock in readiness for shipment. The guns are to go to Mo- | bile, Ala., where carriages from New | York have been sent to mount the| rifles. The big guns will go all the way by rail, a rather expensive method of | transporting heavy material, showing | the urgency of the call. These orders | of the War Department are sent as a matter of precaution. There is ncthing necessarily sensational in either the strengthening the garrison of the new | Winthrop battery or the forwarding to; Mobile of the guns from the old and“ dismantled Fort Winthrop on Gov-| ernor Island. An additicn to the gar- rison of the mortar battery would | enable the lieutenant in command properly to care for and drill with the sixteen huge mortars located there. Altogether the Winthrop battery is the most complete new fortification | which Boston harbor possesses. 1 The guns which are to g0 to Mobile | from Governors Island are not strictly | smooth bores, into which jackets car- rying rifle grooves have been inserted. In point of range and accuracy these converted cannon would doubtless be superior to the old type of smooth-bore artillery, which is the only kind which most of our forts as yet contain, but at best are makeshifts. They are muzzle loaders and their crew would be terribly exposed to an enemy’s fire in loading, nor could the guns be discharged with anything ap- proaching the rapidity and accuracy practicable with the new breech-load- ing rifles, of which, unhappily, we have but few. The War Department made it known that it proposed to make a special effort to strengthen the defenses of the Southern seaports, which were in an even more unprotected condition than the great cities of the North. It was in fulfiliment of this purpose that sev- _eral new 8-inch rifle cannon were being the inspections ma-- proceed together. As to what divers Captain Sigsbee will employ, the feeling among the Spanish officials here is that this will be whoily a matter of discretion with Captain Sigsbee, as the one in charge of a piece of property having the at- tributes of American soil, but, at the same time, the feeling is expressed that sent to Savannah when they were lost at ‘sea some months ago, and active work has been going on in emplace- ments for guns not only at Savannah, but at Charleston, Mobile, Key West and Pensacola. These converted rifles from Boston harbor are doubtless be- ing forwarded to Mobile, because the this discretion will lead to the choice of authorized divers of the Navy De- partment rather than those represent- ing newspapers. FUNERAL MASS FOR COLONEL RUIZ. Solemn Services at the Mercedes Church Attended by Prominent Officers and Diplomats. HAVANA, Feb. 19.—There was a fu- neral mass this morning at the Mer- cedes Church for the repose of the soul of the late Colonel Joaquin Ruiz, the aide-de-camp of General Blanco, who was put to death by order of the late insurgent leader Arangueren in De- cember last. The church was splen- didly decorated for the occasion, and the service was attended by Captain- General Blanco, the Colonial Ministers, Consul - General Lee, Vice - Consul Springer, Generals Parrado. Valmera, Garrich, Admiral Manterola, the mili- tary and civil authorities and repre- sentatives of all classes of soclety. La Lucha to-day published reproduc- tions of photographs of the officers of the Maine, and La Discussion prints cuts representing Admiral Sicard and Consul-General Lee, ‘War Department finds itself deficient in better guns, and feels that these are fairly sufficient for the purposes. There are cities on the Atlantic Coast where works that have been begun are in such an advanced state of completion as to call for garrisons. Heretofore the old forts not in oc- cupancy have been turned over to an ordnance sergeant. Such posts areFort Independence, Fort Winthrop in Boston harbor, Fort Constitution, at Newcas- tle, N. Y., and others of like character, but with the new high-power guns comes an expensive and complicated mechanism in the breech and carriage requiring far more care than was ever bestowed on the old Rodmans. It has been said that the mechanism of the retreating gun at Warren, the only one we have mounted, requires as much at- tention and protection as the finest ma- chinery, and no ordnance sergeant could give that. For that reason the number of men is increased, as at Win- throp. But Major Reilley, at the Watertown arsenal, is running night and day with a full force of men employed upon the | | tired, or didn’t y retreating gun carriages and the gun mounts needed. Brave Fred Blomberg of the Maine to His Mother. BOSTON, Feb. 19.—The last letter of brave Fred Blomberg to his mother in Wilton, N. H., was as follows: “HAVANA, Cuba, Feb. 8, 1898. “Dear Mother: 1 got your papers, but I got no letters. Are you getting u get them? We have been here five d. , and think we will stay here till all the trouble is settled. We came in here all ready to be fired on. We had all the guns loaded, and they will stay loaded till we leave. When we passed Morro Castle torpedo boats met us, and would not let us en- ter Havana. But we had orders to go in, and you can bet when they saw our ten-inch guns they would not interfere. The whole North Atlantic squadron is outside waiting for orders. e can see fighting going on all around, but they don't seem to inter- fere with us, In the evening boats go up and down the harbor, and all you can hear is ‘death to America!’ “It is funny to me that we don’t get blown up. “I have nothing more to write this time. I am going to send this letter by one of our torpedo boats that takes all our mail. We would not trust the Spaniards with it. First it has to go to General Lee there, then it goes to the torpedo boat. I think you will get it. Send my punching bag I asked you for in the last letter I wrote. Good by. “FRED BLOMBERG. “My address Key West.” il Veterans Volunteer. WASHINGTON, Feb. 19.—Comman- der-in-Chief Street of the Union Vet- erans’ Union has offéred to the Presi- dent the services of 10,000 men of the union for the defense of the country. They could be ready for action in forty- eight hours. S g Some Families Leaving. HAVANA, Feb. 19.—Some Americans are sending their families by to-day’s steamer to Key West. 1 cannot see any cause for alarm. There are no hos- tile demonstrations, nevertheless the public mind is very active. ADVERTISEMENTS. ‘W1 ANDIKE KLOTHING Woolen Blankets, Mackinaw Clothing, Extra Heavy Flannel Underwear and Overwear, Extra Heavy Sweaters, Woolen Mitts, Gloves, Socks, Corduroy Suits, Etc. The best in the world to re~ sist cold, wear and hard usage. No deception practiced. No $100 Reward. ASK YOUR DRUCCIST for a generous : t 10 CENT TRIAL SIZE.! M BALM ELY's CREAM BALM 'y Merc jurious It opens a:?cmnm the Nasal llays Pain and Inflammation. * Heals and Protects the Membrane. Restores the Sensea of Taste and Smell. 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