THE CUBA RE V 1 E W" 



17 



AN OUTSIDE EXPLOSION 



The myster_v surrounding the origin of 

 the explosion which sent the battleship 

 ■■2\Iaine'" to the bottom of Havana harbor 

 was definitely cleared up by the report of 

 the Joint Army and Navy Board of In- 

 spection, laid before President Taft De- 

 cember 8th, finding that the ship was 

 blown up from the outside. The findings 

 of the board are contained in the follow- 

 ing statement, given out b}- Secretary 

 Meyer: 



"The board finds that the injuries to the 

 bottom of the "Maine"' were caused by the 

 explosion of a charge of a low form of 

 explosive exterior to the ship between 

 frames 28 and 31, strake 8, port side. 



"This resulted in igniting and exploding 

 the contents of the six-inch reserve maga- 

 zine, A-14-M, said contents including a 

 large quantity of black powder. 



"The more or less complete explosion 

 of the contents of the remaining forward 

 magazine followed. The magazine explo- 

 sion resulted in the destruction of the 

 vessel." 



The board has devoted its entire time to 

 an exhaustive examination of the wreck, 

 which involved excavations many feet be- 

 low the keel and the taking of hundreds 

 of photographs, many of wliich show the 

 aspect of the bottom of the ship as taken 

 by flashHghts. 



The result of the examination by the 

 Sampson Board of 189S. which was con- 

 ducted by divers groping in the dark, un- 

 der the direction of Ensign Powelson. 

 is therefore fully confirmed. 



A model of the "Maine," which can be 

 dissected by simple mechanical methods, so 

 as to show an accurate representation of 

 the present condition of the wreck and the 

 results of whatever explosions, whether in- 

 side or outside, sank the vessel, was taken 

 to the United States by Constructor Fergu- 

 son when the Board of Survey went north 

 on December 4th. 



The army engineers will now lose no 

 time in complying with the law of Con- 

 gress, which provides for the removal of 

 the hulk from Havana harbor. The after 

 part of the ship, according to reports, can 

 be raised and floated out to sea, where it 

 will be sunk in deep water. The bow will 

 have to be cut in sections and placed on 

 scows and disposed of in the same manner, 

 :i;id thus all traces of the wreck visible 

 abo\ e Havana harbor will l)e obliterated. 



The remains of more than fifty victims 

 of the disaster have been recovered and 

 will be buried in the Arlington National 

 Cemetery. The mainmast of the A'essel 

 will be erected over the graves as a 

 memorial. 



A monument is projected for Havana in 

 memory of the American sailors lost in 

 the disaster. The plan ha? the approval 



of President Gomez, who suggests a site 

 in one of the public parks as a fitting lo- 

 cation rather than in Colon Cemetery as 

 also proposed. 



BASEBALL AND HORSE RACING 



The Philadelphia Nationals closed their 

 season with the local Havana teams on 

 November 21st, with a victory which gave 

 the Americans one game the best of the 

 series with the Havana Reds and left them 

 tied with the Almendares Blues. With the 

 Havanas the Philadelphias won three and 

 lost two, while the series with the Al- 

 mendares stands two and two. As a result, 

 the Blues still maintain that they are the 

 champions not only of Cuba, but of the 

 world. 



In consequence of some disgraceful 

 rows during the ball games. Sir Ruyole, 

 the inspector of pubHc entertainments, who 

 lias full authority from the city in all such 

 affairs, delegated absolute authority inside 

 the grounds fenced off for the players to 

 Umpire Rigler, who could even command 

 the police to obey his orders. It is the 

 first time that an umpire has ever had 

 such authority in Cuba, and it worked suc- 

 cessfully, for when a player became angry 

 at a decision and tore ofif his glove, throw- 

 ing it on the ground, Rigler promptly told 

 him he could keep his glove ofif and retire 

 from the game, which he was forced to 

 do despite some energetic protests. 



Mathewson of the New York Giants met 

 Mendez of the Almendares Blues, whom 

 the baseball enthusiasts of Havana call the 

 "Black Mathewson" because of his great 

 ability as a pitcher, at a game on Thanks- 

 giving Day in Havana. A newspaper re- 

 port of the game sums up the result as 

 follows: "After the game, most of those 

 who braved the elements, decided that it 

 was a mistake about there being two 

 Mathewsons. At least there was only one 

 Mathewson in sight yesterday, and he was 

 white." The pitcher for the Giants had 

 some new curves for the Cuban players, 

 which they had never met before. The 

 game resulted, therefore, in favor of the 

 New York players, with a score of 4 — fl. 



After all the talk of a great racing meet 

 in Havana this winter, it has been callecf 

 oflf for this season, owing to the fact that 

 arrangements of a satisfactory character 

 could not be made with the authorities in 

 Cuba. 



November rains caused the destruction 

 of the Tuinicu bridge in Santa Clara 

 Province, cutting out all rail communica- 

 tion with Camajuani. The Tuinicu bridge 

 stood 75 feet above the river bed, and was 

 built of steel on concrete foundations, 

 which were carried away by the onrushingf 

 water. 



