14 



T 1-f ]■: C U ]J A R E V I E W 



RAISING THE MAINE 



Colonel Black, of the "Maine" commis- 

 sion, announced Alarch 12th that the dam 

 would be finished within two weeks, when 

 pumping would start. The battleship will 

 be on dry ground within six weeks, he says, 

 ready to be inspected by the official com- 

 mission which is to discover the exact cause 

 of the explosion. 



Colonel Black says the divers reports in- 

 dicate that the hull is in very bad condi- 

 tion. 



He declares that the board is well satis- 

 fied that the mud and clay fillings to be 

 dumped in the twenty cylinders of the big 

 cofferdam will withstand the tremendous 

 water pressure, and believes also that the 

 mud pressure from within the caissons will 

 prove, under a test, that the steel pilings 

 used for the project are, if anything, too 

 heavy, and that in a similar engineering- 

 feat in the future thinner and less expens- 

 ive piling may be used. 



The $350,000 needed to complete the work 

 of raising the "Maine" was included in the 

 sundry civil bill passed in the United States 

 senate March 3d. 



The cover of the forward turret of the 

 battleship "Maine" was raised a few days 

 ago. It weighs twenty tons and is twenty- 

 one feet in diameter. The great piece of 

 iron is unwarped, although the 300 heavy 

 bolts that held it in place are sheared in 

 half, as though it had been done with a 

 sharp knife. 



If the steel piling holds in place against 

 the rush of water around the foundations, 

 and if the cofferdam can be pumped out, 

 there will lie the warped and gaping hull 

 and the dissevered fragments for examina- 

 tion by the experts in explosives, the naval 

 constructors, the electricians and all others 

 whose opinions ma}' be valuable in deter- 

 mining the cause of the disaster. 



The method of raising the "Maine" after 

 it is exposed has not been determined, and 

 the plan to be adopted will depend on the 

 condition of the hull. If possible, bulk- 

 heads will be constructed, and the vessel 

 or the larger portion of it will be floated. 



iti^r Ye-llovv' Clsy 



YcHow Ciay a^ Mari 



Plan of cofferdam, showing arrangement and 

 diameter of caissons. — Popular Mechanics, Chicago. 



Plan de la atagnia, mostrando el arreglo y el did- 

 metro de los cajones 



Sectional view of the battleship "Maine" in Ha- 

 vana harbor, showing strata. — Popular Mechanics. 

 Vista seccional del busquc de guerra "Maine" 

 en el puerto de la Habaiia. mostrando los estratos 

 por los cuales sc clavan los pilotes de acero para 

 formar la ataguia alrcdedor de los despojos del 

 naufragio. 



