t explosion, and that there was no explosion in either of the other
two magazines. In the reserve magazine was stowed twenty-five hundred
pounds of powder, in copper tanks, each of which contained two hundred
pounds.

Several of these tanks have been found by the divers, all in crushed and
shapeless masses. It is important to note that in the six-inch and
ten-inch tanks recovered the excelsior used for packing the charges
shows no injury from flame or gases.

The powder stowed in the six-inch reserve magazine was used for saluting
purposes only. The magazine itself appears to have been utterly
destroyed, only a few traces being left to show the spot where it was
once located.

The under part of the ten-inch magazine is wholly inaccessible to
divers. In the upper part is lightly wedged a mass of powder cylinders,
too heavy for divers to extricate, but apparently containing unexploded
charges of powder.

The Dow torpedo-tube of the _Maine_ has been located in the wreck. It
lies in the debris forward, submerged several feet under water. The
writer adds that these are the facts as he has obtained them from
sources that he believes to be entirely trustworthy and authentic.

The careful way in which the statement is worded shows how uncertain has
been the information relative to the testimony before the board of
inquiry. As a matter of fact, on the day when this article is being
written we are very much in the dark as to what information the inquiry
is really developing. The secrecy maintained by the board is, of course,
very necessary, for at this time it is most important that, until the
facts in the case are absolutely established, our Government should do
its best to keep back any news tending to inflame public opinion. An
unconsidered and hasty step by our authorities in this matter might
plunge us into war. It will be time enough for us to think of war when
we know beyond a reasonable doubt that we have been injured by Spain and
that Spain refuses to make amends for the loss. Even if the _Maine_ was
blown up by a mine, that does not by any means prove that the Spanish
Government was guilty of the dastardly act. If Spain does what is right
toward redeeming the loss, we will have no just cause for a declaration
of war, and our Government will without doubt use every honorable means
to avoid a conflict.

In connection with the _Maine_ disaster there was no greater example of
heroism than that of the chaplain, the Re