Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 February 1898 — What Sunk the Maine? [ARTICLE]

What Sunk the Maine?

The more we think and read about the destruction of the Maine the stronger grows our conviction that the vessel was destroyed by a Spanish torpedo, and the more are we convinced that the many eminent people who think it was an accident within the vessel itself, are guided by their wishes of what they want to believe, rather than by reasoning on the logic of the situation. There are at a very low estimate 500 well armed and well ammunitioned war vessels in the world which, if such internal explosions are likely to occur, would be in danger of the same fate as the Maine’s. How great that danger is, may be known from the fact that in 25 years only one such accident has occurred among that whole 500 vessels. If one war vessel in 500 is distroyed every 25 yearg by accidental internal explosions, then there would neod to be 15,000 such vessels in the world to average ono suoh accident every year. In other words for any given vessel like the Maine there would be one chance in 15,000 of her destruction in that manner in any given year, by a fair reasoning from what has already occurred among the other war vessels of the world. And if there is one such chance in 15,000 of the vessel being so destroyed in a year, there would be less than one.chance in 150,000 of the accident occuring within less than thirty days after she reached Havana harbor. So much for the probabilities St the case, based on what happened to the Doterel, a British vessel destroyed by an internal explosion in 1873 and which is the case solely relied on by those who suggest an accidental internal explosion. There is therefore, practically no room at all for any other conclusion than that the Maine was destroyed by a torpedo explosion from outside. It may be impossible to prove that from an elimination, for probably the torpedo explosion also caused the foreward magazine in the ship to explode also, and if so this would likely wreck and shatter the vessel that nothing could hp determined as to where the first explosion occurred. If a torpedo destroyed the ship it might have been an accidental explosion of ono previously planted in the harbor; but in view of the intense enmity shown towards the Maine and the threats made of her destruction, and the unquestioned belief of the officers and crew that their ship was in great ‘danger, there is but little room to doubt that the ship was deliberately blown up by Spanish conspirators. That the- Spanish government or anyone very high in its authority t»ad anything to do with it is not likely; but that some minor officials had part ip, the plot is not at all improbable.