Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 138, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1904 — MAINE TO BE RAISED. [ARTICLE]

MAINE TO BE RAISED.

Hulk of Ship over Which Two Nations •. Went to War Is to Be Floated. Word comes from Havana tlmt an attempt will shortly be made to refloat the battleship Maine, whose destruction brought immediate death to nearly 300 men and precipitated the Spanish-Ameri-can war. Some mouths ago the United States government informed Cuba that it had relinquished any. and all claims there-

to. The ultimate fate of the wreck lias since that time been a matter of more or less interested discussion, especially in Havana. And not long since Joseph de Wyckoff, as representative of a company formed for the purpose, signed a contract with the republic of Cuba to raise it and remove it from the harbor. He paid $5,000 for the privilege, and as a guarantee of the seriousness of his intention. The vessel will he surrounded by a water-tight circular cofferdam, constructed of double walls of timber (planks laid flat), securely bound together, the whole resembling a bottomless tub or barrel. This will be built in place and then sunk until a solid stratum is reached. The sinking of the cofferdam will he accomplished by weighting it on top with about 2.000 tons of ballast. To guard against possible leakage under the dam. the area about the base of the outer wall will be filled with clay and sand encased in sacks. This structure once sunk, large centrifugal pumps will be put in operation, which will be capable not only of unwatering the dam, but also of sucking out the soft mud from within and around tlie vessel, thus exposing the entire hull to full view. The next step will bo to remove such human remains and personal effects as may be found, after which all weighty, and valuable articles, such as ammunition, arms, cannon, coal, detachable machinery, etc., will be taken out. It may be, too, that at this late day we shall know for a certainty whether the explosion which sent the Maine to the bottom of the harbor was caused by a Spanish mine from tlie outside or by an internal explosion. The preliminary work thus accomplished, it will then be patched and floated on its own bottom, if its condition will warrant such a course.