The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 2, No. 10, March 10, 1898 | Page 3

two parts in one handy volume for the sake of those who
prefer a foreign dictionary in that form. All literary requirements of our
time have been considered. Without injury to the etymological point of
view, the meanings of a word are grouped according to their frequency
in modern usage, so that obsolescent and obsolete meanings can be
distinguished at a glance by their position at the end of the article. The
new German orthography has been adopted with certain modifications
which seem to settle the points hitherto open to discussion."
This is not the book so long on the market, but a new vastly improved

edition, and is certainly far and away the best of the moderate-priced
German dictionaries.

Current History
The Maine disaster is to the public almost as much of a mystery as ever.
Little of absolutely reliable information has been made known, and
until something is officially stated by the court of inquiry, judgment
must be suspended.
The court of inquiry began the investigation almost immediately after
its arrival at Havana. The sittings were held on the lighthouse tender
Mangrove, and lasted for a number of days; the court then adjourned to
Key West.
The investigation has been a secret one throughout, and though the
numerous correspondents have done their best to obtain information,
very few facts have been ascertained; and fact and fiction have been so
mixed in the newspaper accounts that it is not safe to accept as final
any of the statements.
In some foreign papers it has been hinted that the disaster resulted from
an accident due to lack of discipline on board the vessel. The utter
falseness of this statement is shown by the facts. Just think of a crew, or
what was left of it, mustering without confusion on the deck of a
sinking, burning vessel, and this vessel likely to be blown to pieces at
any moment! Could any better evidence of perfect discipline and
heroism be given? Every man took his place without comment; each
order was given quietly and coolly, and obeyed with precision. Is it
possible that an accident could have happened on that ship through lack
of discipline?
Of course, many of the newspaper accounts have more or less
foundation in fact, for no effort is spared by their correspondents to be
the first to ascertain and report the truth. The general impression now
seems to be that no explosion in the ship originated the disaster.

One New York paper stated that the most important evidence was given
by an officer of the Fern, who is said to have discovered that the keel
and armor-plates of the Maine had been driven upward, this proving in
his opinion that the explosion must have occurred under the vessel.
The correspondent of this paper also said that the ten-inch and six-inch
magazines were upset and hurled from their places in opposite
directions, and added that the forward boilers were overturned and
wrecked. There were no fires under these boilers at the time of the
explosion. Fires were under the after boilers only.
He added, that from the discoveries of the divers there was every
indication that the explosion came from a point beneath the keel, just
forward of the conning-tower, and that this explosion drove keel, plates,
and ribs almost to the surface, the main force of the explosion having
been exerted on the port side of the vessel.
According to this report, the ascertained facts, collectively, indicate that
the contents of the reserve six-inch magazine were exploded by the first
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 débris 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