Rear Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval Force on
the North Atlantic Station.
This in brief is the story of how the causes of the disaster were
reached. Too much credit cannot be given to young Ensign Powelson for
his intelligence and energy in proving to a mathematical demonstration
that the Maine was blown up by a submarine mine.
The Spanish officials in Cuba made a perfunctory investigation.
Altogether, their divers were down below about five hours, during
which time they made a most cursory examination. This court then
reported that the Maine had been blown up as the result of an interior
explosion, one of the principal reasons for this being that no dead
fish were found in the harbor afterwards. Our own experts testified
that an explosion underneath the water would not necessarily kill fish,
nor would it throw up a great volume of water, as the Spaniards claim.
When the news of the terrible calamity reached the United States,
public feeling reached the highest pitch of excitement. Rumors of
all kinds were in the air. Enormous editions of the great journals
were printed, and the one topic of conversation was the cause of the
disaster and the effect of the occurrence upon our relations with
Spain. Hourly bulletins were displayed at the newspaper offices.
The provocation to excitement caused by the appalling disaster was
great, but the country bore the news with a calmness and steadiness
which indicated its inherent strength, and greatly impressed foreign
observers. Great credit was given to Captain Sigsbee, who, in that
terrible moment when, in a foreign port, surrounded by what must be
regarded as a hostile population, his ship sunk under him as the
result of a mysterious and deadly blow, showed not only intrepidity,
but perfect self-possession. His quiet, dignified, self-restrained
dispatch, with its calm statement that any judgment upon the cause
of the disaster must be postponed, gave a fine example, which was
instantly responded to by the Government and the nation.
Most hearty were the words of praise for Chaplain Chidwick of the
Maine, who, day after day, worked incessantly among the ghastly
spectacles as the dead were brought to shore, identifying the bodies,
performing short religious rites over each, making records of all
clues to identity, and in the intervals consoling the wounded at the
hospitals.
As time wore on, each succeeding day bringing its rumors of retaliation
and intervention in Cuban affairs, and in the midst of war preparations
on an unprecedented scale, which were being carried on by the War
and Navy Departments, President McKinley and his advisers, and both
branches of Congress, acted as strong men act under great blows and
great provocation. There was no hasty denunciation. The spirit of the
brave men at Havana and of the heads of the Government at Washington
was fully shared by the people at large. The United States had a
President in whom they trusted.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL DEWEY AND HIS FLAGSHIP OLYMPIA.]