THE CUBA REVIEW 



The Problem of the "Maine" 



To raise the Maine it will be necessary 

 to dig tlirough the mud and tilth which 

 now cover the wreck, says the Birmiiujliaui 

 (Ala.) Atjc-Hcrald. Should this plan be 

 accepted, more than 2,500.000 cubic feet of 

 offensive mud and slime will have to be 

 pumped from the bottom of the harbor. 

 What amount of disease may spread over 

 the city of Havana or even cities in the 

 L'nited States, as a result, no one con- 

 nected with the army will say. 



In this plan hundreds of United States 

 sailors are to be used, and while the bed 

 of the harbor will not be nearly as much 

 disturbed, the men who will be called upon 

 to work there, run the chances of immi- 

 nent exposure to the disease breeding mud. 



Col. L. A. LeGarde and .Maj. M. W. Ire- 

 land of the surgeon general's staff, now on 

 di'ty at the war department, express them- 

 selves as unfamiliar with the conditions 

 obtaining in the Harbor of Havana. From 

 a medical standpoint, however, regarding 

 the sanitation of the island during the 

 period of raising the vessel both are of 

 the opinion that some disease may be 

 spread to the city of Havana if tons o'i 

 sea mud are exposed to the winds. They 

 do not regard it as improbable that germs 

 of "yellow jack" could be transported to 

 the United States. 



Just wliat steps the war department will 

 take in guarding the health of the citizens 

 of Havana as well as of the United States 

 is not now known, as the problem has not 

 been seriously considered. The matter, 

 however, it is said, will be taken into con- 

 sideration with other things by the com- 

 mission appointed by Gen. William H. 

 Bixby of the engineer corps. 



The bottom of the harbor, near the wreck 

 was tested September 17th, by boring near 

 the stern of the vessel. Coral rock was 

 struck at a depth of about one hundred 

 feet. 



No private contractor will do the w'ork, 

 but the engineer corps of the U. S. army, 

 as ordered by President Taft, October 13th. 



Surrounding the vessel by a coffer dam 

 and freeing the inclosed area of water, 

 mud and tilth is considered the readiest, 

 least complex and most satisfactory pro- 

 cedure. 



Spain and Cuba will be requested to se- 

 lect their own experts to inspect at every 

 stage the unfolding of the mystery. 



The Cuban government is lending cordial 

 aid, as the prime necessity of revealing the 

 underwater body as nearly as possible in 

 the same condition as when the battleship 

 was sunk is recognized. Hence the meth- 

 ods employed and the appliances utilized 

 will be such as to obviate any further stress 

 or distortion of the hull 



The work is going forward so expedi- 



tiously that by February the engineers will 

 be ready to begin uncovering the hull. 



In clearing the necessary area a small 

 shoal off the starboard quarter of the wreck 

 will have to l)e dredged. Hence when the 

 '"Maine" is removed, the anchorage grounds 

 of the port will he sensibly increased. 



There is not the least foundation for the 

 report that divers have discovered bodies 

 in the cabins and between the decks if the 

 "Maine." 



A Monster Cable 



There was shipped to Cuba recently 

 10,810 feet of 3-inch plough steel cable, 

 made by John A. Roebling and Sons of 

 Trenton, X. J., fnr the Spanish-American 

 Mining Co. 



One section contained 8,008 feet, mak- 

 ing the largest cable in continuous length 

 ever made by the tirm, and is probably 

 the record for combined length and size 

 of all the wire rope concerns in the coun- 

 try. 



Some idea of the cable's make-up may be 

 gleaned when it is stated that the main 

 cable required a reel 10 feet high and in 

 feet wide, weighing 7.000 pounds and con- 

 taining 900 feet of lumber. The smaller 

 cable, 2,808 feet in length, was wound on 

 a reel weighing 3,000 pounds and contain- 

 ing 400 feet of lumber. The weight of 

 the cable is 16 pounds to the foot. The 

 breaking strain of the cable is 800,00i) 

 pounds. Eight skilled workmen worked 

 night and day for two weeks to complete 

 the cable, and it required the combined la- 

 bor of 35 men to load it for shipment. 



To start the cable to its destination, four 

 cars of 100,000 pounds capacity were re- 

 quired. The longest piece is divided on 

 three reels, the centre one being the orig- 

 inal reel on which the whole cable was run 

 during the course of manufacture. 



In Cuba the cable will be carried 6.000 

 feet to the top of the mountain, on which 

 the mine is situated. In operation it will 

 run over two huge drums or sheaves and 

 will lower to the water's edge tram cars 

 operating by means of a clutch. 



The cost of the cable approximates 

 $18,000. 



The American Car and Foundry Co. re- 

 ceived an order from the Havana Central 

 early in September for 100 30-ton flat cars. 

 150 30-ton box cars and 140 caboose cars. 



The department of sanitation has de- 

 clared a quarantine against the whole state 

 of Campeche, of the republic of Mexico, 

 where cases of yellow fever have occurred. 

 At present the only free port with regard 

 to health matters is Veracruz. 



