Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1898 — SPAIN SAYS ACCIDENT. [ARTICLE]

SPAIN SAYS ACCIDENT.

Madrid Experts Dispute Every Claim of American Board. The conclusions reached by the Spanish naval commission which investigated the destruction of the battleship Maine are directly opposite to those in the report of the court of inquiry submitted to Congress. The synopsis is as follows; The evidence of witnesses comparatively close to the Maine at the moment is to the effect that only one explosion occurred; that no column of water was thrown into the air; that no shock to the side of the nearest vessel was felt, nor on land was any vibration noticed, and that no dead fish were found. The evidence of the senior pilot of the harbor states that there is abundance of fish in the harbor and this is corroborated by other witnesses. The assistant engineer of works states that after explosions made during the execution of works in the harbor be has always found dead fish. The divers were unable to examine the bottom of the Maine, which was buried in the mud, but a careful examination of the sides of the vessel, the rents and breaks in which all point outward, shows without a doubt that the explosion was front the Inside. A minute examination of the bottom of the harbor around the vessel shows absolutely no sign of the action of a torpedo and the fiscal (judge advocate) of the commission can find no precedent for the ejplostfht of the storage magazines of a vessel by a torpedo.