The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 26, 1898, Page 1

™ Call “YOLUME LXXXIIL.—-NO. 88. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1898. PRICE FIVE (ENTS. TALKING OF INDEMNITY, PREPARING FOR WAR McKinley Does Not Want to Move Until Offi- If Spain Will Not Own Her Fault STATESMEN FEARFUL OF _ THE WORST CONGRESS IS PREPARED FOR ACTION cially Advised. and Punish the Guilty There WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.—The President| Will Be Resort to Arms. fully realizes the great importance of the situation and of what might be the conse- quences in case the Board of Inquiry finds that the Maine was blown up by some overt the administration act. To that end is making all necessary preparations for any contingency. NEW YORK, Feb. 25.—A Washington The Herald’s Havana dispatches this morning| says: special have convinced Congress as well as the administration that there is no longer any doubt the Maine was destroyed by the explosion of a mine beneath her keel. of both houses discussed this development to-day and the question as to what reparation the United States ought to demand from Spain. Members It was evident from the discussion that the administration may have difficulty in satisfying Congress with any basis of settlement involving merely monetary consideration, unless it is accompanied by in- formation that the Spanish Government has tried and executed the persons responsible for the disaster. There are conservative men in both houses who advise standing by the administration and consenting to settle- ment by the payment of heavy indemnity, and these conservative men include some of the most influential leaders in both houses. When it comes to a test these men of influence and conservatism will probably be able to restrain Congress from taking the matter out of the hands of the President and passing a declaration of war, but just now there is considerable belligerent talk. Up to the present time the House Committee on Foreign Relations has stood by the President without wavering through all his Cuban policy, and it is therefore significant that those members of tl}at committee with whom I talked to-day, without exception, are inclined to think that a money indemnity will not satisfy Congress or the people of the United States. These gentlemen will not be quoted by name, as the matter may cote be- fore their committee in some way, and they do not wish to commit themselves publicly in advance of official in- formation, but their views can be summarized as being that if the Maine was blown up by a mine under control of the military authorities of Spain it was a prima facie show that it was not. The opinion is that a mere disavowal will not be enough to satisfy the United States, that it was not a hostile act, but that as some one in the Spanish service | report of the Coust of Inauiry before “act of war and that the burden of proof is upon Spain to R R R R Rt MEN FOR THE NAVY. WASHINGTON, Feb. 25.— One of the results of the Cab- inet meeting to-day was that . Secretary Long wrote and will send to Chairman Boutelle of the House Naval Committee to-morrow a letter asking for legislation authorizing the enlistment of 1500 additional men for the navy. This num- ber of men will enable the de- partment to place in commis- sion the double turreted mon- itor Miantonomoh and the triple screw cruisers Minne- apolis and Columbia, all of which vessels are now in re- serve at League Island Navy Yard. The regular annual naval appropriation now being com- pleted by the House Commit- tee provides for nearly 1009 additional men, but if Con- gress acts on the Secretary’s recommendation he will not wait for the passage of that bill for more men. R R R T T T T Y Y O SO | Q++4 4444444444440 was responsible for the mines |in Havana harbor it is the | duty of Spain to speedily fix |the responsibility and exe- | cute the criminals. | Whether Spain will pay |the heavy indemnity that | will be demanded, disavow 'the act and execute its per- ipetrators is a matter about | which the members of the |committee are doubtful. | Men are beginning to speak | plainly about the possibility of war, and Representative Hull of Iowa, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, who is a conserva- tive Republican, expressed the average sentiment of the House well to-day when he said : “It all depends upon whether the verb ‘to blow’ is active or passive. If the Maine blew up the matter is settled and there is noth- ing to say. If the Maine was blown up it is war.” NEW YORK, Feb. 25.—The Her- ald’s Washington correspondent sends the following: In the light of the Herald’s exclusive cable from Havana this morning showing clear- ly that the Maine’s keel was blown upward, few persons in Washington still cling to the theory that the de- struction of the ship was accidental. Reluctant as they are to believe that the terrible disaster was due to treachery, the authorities have al- most ceased to talk about the acci- uent theory and are now discussing what methods can be followed to de- termine just how the outside explo- sion occurred and what kind of de- mand is to be made upon Spain. Fully appreciating the gravity of the whole quesiion, the President, of course, will wait for. the final con- clusion of the Court of Inquiry be- fore making a definite move. The Cabinet devoted two and one- half hours to discussing every phase of the question and all possible con- tingencies, even that of war, and our condition to meet it.. When the Cab- inet had adjourned, I was assured by two of the members that there was nothing official concerning the cause of the disaster before the Cabinet be- yond what had already been made public, and that the President and all of his advisers are waiting for the FEEEIH P44 4444444444444 4440 | 1y considered. | meeting may be said to be this: No | | the cause of the disaster in Havana 1 ‘ Vessels of the United States Fleet Off Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas. expressing any opinion officially. They all continue to urge patience on the part of the public until all pos- sible evidence be obtained and sooer- The only result of the Cabinet efforts are to be spared to ascertain harbor and in the meantime the United States is to be prepared for any eventuality. Proceeding on the assumption that the report of the | Court of Inquiry will show that the Maine was blown up by some ex- terior egency, the Cabinet discussed the possibility of getting further evi- dence to determine the exact charac- ter of that agency. There is no doubt, as previously stated in the Herald, that if the report of the Cdurt of In- quiry shows an outside explosion, Spain will be held responsible wheth- er the exact character of the explo- sion is fully determined or not. Much will depend, however, upon whether the disaster occurred through the medium of a torpedo, a mine, or | some other implement of war under the control of the Spanish Govern- ment, in fixing the degree of respon- sibility. It is for this reason that every possible effort will be made to ascer- | tain the real cause, although the dif- | ficulty of getting exact evidence as to the character of the explosion is fully appreciated. The authorities have been discussing the possibility of getting at the exact conditions by building a cofferdam around the for- ward part of the ship. Mr. Cramp, the well-known ship- builder, has expressed the opinion that this will be necessary in order to raise the wreck and the question is being discussed whether, if this | were done, any signs of a mine could be discovered. All of this, of course, would také time, but if it gave any promise of establishing a definite re- sult the President, in his desire to judicially examine and -carefully weigh every scrap of evidence that can he obtained, would be willing to forego his final conclusion until it could be done. Once he is thoroughly convinced that an implement of war under con- trol of the Spanish Government caused the disaster it can be definite- | ly stated that the President will make a demand upon Spain which will satisfy the American people, and without positive evidence as to the exact character of the outside explo- sion it is fully the purpose of the ad- ministration to hold Spain respon- sible. The nature of the demand to be made upon Spain was one of the ques- tions discussed at to-day’s cabinet meeting, but of course the discussion was on more or less hypothetical grounds. There was no disposition, however, on the part of the admin- istration to consider the destruction of the Maine a hostile act unless Spain chose to make it so by her fu- ture course. Grave as the question is, the Pres- ident did not consider it beyond set- tlement through the medium of an indemnity if Spain could be made to see our demands in the proper light. Accepting the extreme theory, that the vessel was blown up by a mine under the control of the Spanish Gov- ernment, the conclusion has been reached that the most vigorous de- mand for complete reparation in the form of indemnity, apology and the execution of the guilty persons if they can be found will be made. The indemnity demanded will be large. Administration officials yesterday spoke of ten millions of dollars as the least amount that could be con- sidered. Discussion at the Cabinet meeting to-day, however, developed COURT OF INQUIRY HAS NEARLY ENDED ITS HAVANA SESSION No Longer the Slightest Reason to Doubt That It Has Been Ascertained the Maine Was De- stroyed as the Result of an Out- - side-Explosion. Copyrighted, 159, by James Gordon Bepnett. HAVANA, Feb. 25.—The court of inquiry to-night is still in Havana har- bor, but is ready to move to Key West at a moment’s notice. Instead of com- ing ashore this evening, as usual, all the members have remained on board the Mangrove. Whether or not any evidence will be taken here to-morrow is not yet certain, but it is reasonably safe to state that Monday’s opening ses- sion will be held at Key West. To-day the court’s time was devoted almost exclusively to hearing the re- ports of the Navy Department divers. One or two other witnesses were heard, but their stories were of little impor- tance. Greater reserve than ever was ob-| served as to the character of the testi- mony elicited from the divers, but there | is no reason to believe that anything was learned to-day to alter materially | the testimony already taken from simi- | lar sources. | One of the gratifying results of to- | day's submarine work was the recovery in comparatively good condition of the paymaster’s safe, containing about | $25,000. This was accomplished by divers of the naval vessels here this afternoon. Great interest is felt here in the ex- pected arrival of the Vizcaya, and it is not unlikely that her arrival may be made the occasion for some sort of spontaneous demonstration of Spanish patriotism. The cruiser Alfonso XIII was towed by tugs to-day from her prcviou_s moor- ings near the wreck of the Maine to a point aboyt half a mile further up the harbor in order to make room for Cap- tain Eulate’s vessel. Commercial circles express unusual interest in a brief dispatch in local pa- pers here to-day announcing an un- usual fall in stocks in Wall street, and there have been many inquiries for fur- ther particulars. READY TO LEAVE HAVANA HARBOR. The Board of Inquiry Will Soon Be on the Way Back to the Soil of America. Copyrighted, 159, by James Gordoa Bennett. HAVANA, Feb. 25—On board the Mangrove this afternoon all signs indi- cated the early departure of the Board of Inquiry for Key West. While the board was taking a recess at 2 o’clock a Spanish barge came alongside bearing a Spanish senior lieutenant, who in- quired for Captain Sigsbee. He evi- dently came as the official representative of the Spanish admiral. The messenger expressed Admiral Manterolas’ parting greetings to the members of the board, and he and Captain Sigsbee chatted pleasantly in English for about - ten the fact that the demand would be much larger than this. The price of the vessel will be considered a com- _ “\_ Cantinued on_facond Rase. _._ minutes. 5 Moored to the stern of the Mangrove has floated for a week a large lighter, into which have been tossed bits of pyrighted, American divers employed by o o [} o [<] (-] [} © © [ © [} (4] [} © [+ (-] © o [:4 (<} [} o (] o (x] [x} © The harbor, it is alleged, was (=] o o [ [} o (=] 1898, by James Gordon Benneott NEW YORK, Feb. 25.—A Key West (Fla.) special to the Herald says private advices received by steamer from Ha- vana to-day state that despite Spanish opposition the two wreck of the ill-fated Maine, while pretending to be engaged solely in the work of rescuing the bodies and the effects of the officers and men from the hold, have obtained evidence that proves beyond a doubt that the Maine was blown up from the outside. The divers have been before the Board of Inquiry and, while the sessions are held .in secret, enough has come out to create the impression that their testimony reveals the fact that the Maine was blown up by a submarine mine. Captain Sigsbee, it is said, was aware of the fact that his ship had been moored over a mine and had so notified the au- thorities at Washington and had also informed them that the bottom of Havana harbor was a perfect network of tor- pedoes, a buoy marking the spot where each was located. the time when belligerency talk became rampant in Congress. The mines are tonnected with electrical wires and are worked by a keyboard located in the arsenal in the navy-yard. The impression prevails in Havana that the mine was ex- ploded by some friend of the Weyler administration with a view of injuring the Blanco Government. 00000000C00000000000C000000000000000 CAPTAIN SIGSBEE KNEW OF THE SHIP’S DANGER. the naval authoritics on the s0: protected by torpedoes at 0000000000000 0000000000000000000000 %0000000000000000000000000OOOOOOOOOOQ ments of some of the Maine’s boats, smashed sea-chests and a ton or more of other debris. Captain Sigsbee has no more use for this rubbish, and as his vis- itor was departing Captain Sigsbee, through the lieutenant, requested that the Spanish admiral would kindly dis- pose of this accumulated rubbish. “Have it burned,” said the captain, “or give it to Havana's poor for kin- dling wood.” The lieutenant promised, the two offi- cers, saluted with courteous smiles, and the Spaniard walked down the gangway to his boat. Almost beneath. his feet as he stood on the deck the Naval Board had again resumed its probing of_the problem be- fore it. Anticipating possible depanu're to-night, Captain Sampson sent dis- patches to-day to Captain Forsythe at Key West in reference to the officers’ mail coming by the Plant line steamers. The divers of the Wrecking Com- pany’s tug are under the direct super)ri- sion of Lieutenant-Commander Wain- wright, inside the Maine. They hoped to-day to recover all the bodies still remaining in the wreck. There are be- lieved to be fifity or sixty still impris- under the mountain of wreck that covers the berth decks. Orders were sent ashore for lumber and preparations made to construct a float, from which the divers were to get to work imme- diately. | g Father Chadwick, whose splendid work has 'won him golden opinions alike from Americans and Spanish, is most anxious to recover the last of the dies of the boys he loved so well. The wreckers’ assistants were ready in their boat and a detachment was waiting on the black bodied death barge that floats near the Fern, The chaplain learned. however, that at 4 o'clock it would be impossible to get the lumber in time to get to work to- night, so he was rowed ashore dissap- pointed, only to resume with radiant face his task of ministering to the few injured survivors who still remain un- der his care in Havana. Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright told me this evening that a float would be constructed early to-morrow, and be- fore Sunday he hoped the last of the Maine’s dead would be reccvered. One of the divers’ barges was moored to-day directly over the location of the forward six-inch magazine and that portion of the ship was being sub- jected to another careful inspection. Lieutenant-Commander ~ Wainwright, Ensign Powelson, Gunner Morgan and others of the Maine’s men came aboard the Mangrove and were consulted by the officers of the Board of Inquiry. Gunner Morgan, who has had espe- cially under his supervision the work of divers directly above the forward maga- zines, carried a huge byndle of blue prints and diagrams, whick seemed to be guarded most jealously, promptly turned over to the the Board of Inquiry. Within pistol-shot rises ¢ scarred mainmast of the Maine, aj forward of the mast is that hi mound of upheaved metal that is ‘still the only monument above the bodies of three score of their comradess - |