Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 158, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1911 — Maine Wrecked by Explosion Of Three of Her Magazines, [ARTICLE]

Maine Wrecked by Explosion Of Three of Her Magazines,

Washington, July s—The5 —The loss of the battleship Maine was caused by the explosion of her three magazines. No such effect as that producecTupdn the vessel could have been caused by an explosion from without. Such is the opinion of General Wm. H. Bixby, one of the engineers, U. S. A., who has returned after a personal inspection of the work of raising the Maine. General Bixby said tonight that a portion of the deck over the magazines was blown upward and laid backward and that there were numerous conditions of the hulk as-it lies in Havana harbor which proved this. No explosion from the outside, said the general, could have caused the same result. “What the primary cause of the explosion was,” said General Bixby, “never could be learned.” General Bixby does not believe thadthe bodies of those who lost their lives will be found on the Maine. 'He says they are probably buried two hundred feet or more from the wreck in the mud. While inspecting the work General Bixby prodded around the-how of the vessel. He found by his soundings that at least two-thirds of the bow was absolutely wrecked. The sides had been practically bl.own away and were buried in the mud. This, he said, showed conclusively that the wreck of the Maine, was caused by an explosion within the vessel.