The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 2, No. 11, March 17, 1898 | Page 4

where it is used for general reference. Besides being the latest and most complete map of the world, with the very latest information as to boundaries, it contains ocean currents, direction of trade-winds, steamship and sailing vessel routes, coaling-stations, and railroads (even the new trans-Siberian railroad, about which we wrote in a recent number) of all countries; and much other valuable information.
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=Current History=
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The Maine affair is still the most important item of current history.
The Board of Inquiry has returned to Havana and is still carrying on its investigation, and until this body makes an official report to the United States Government, we should, as Captain Sigsbee telegraphed the night of the explosion, suspend judgment.
There has been no way of ascertaining the results of the Board's inquiries. The testimony of eye-witnesses of the disaster, sailors and divers, was heard on board the Mangrove, anchored near the wreck. A number of photographs of the Maine have been taken under water, by a man employed by the Board. These photographs are deemed very important, as the Board can get a much clearer idea of the position of the débris than they could from the descriptions of the divers. The belief is widely entertained that the Board will report that the disaster was caused by an explosion from the outside. How the two countries will act after such a report is delivered, can only be surmised. Of course, Spain will make her own thorough investigation; the divers have already been permitted to examine the wreck to a certain extent. It is very hard to believe that the Spanish Government had anything to do with the explosion. Individuals, acting for themselves and not in touch with the Government, probably "assassinated" the boat--if she was "assassinated." In that case, the United States can with justice claim an indemnity.
If, however, it can be proved that Spanish officers knew that there was a mine under the Maine, and did not take the trouble to tell Captain Sigsbee, the United States would undoubtedly consider it a casus belli (that is, a cause of war), unless Spain promptly agrees to make good the loss.
As we told you last week, it is said that no dead fish were found in Havana harbor after the explosion. Another significant report is, that there was no large wave directly after the explosion took place. If these reports are true, they would almost preclude the possibility of its having been an outside explosion.
It was reported that Weyler, while Captain-General of Cuba, had caused Havana harbor to be filled with mines and torpedoes, and that he alone had the plans.
In a letter to a New York paper, however, General Weyler absolutely denies this, and he writes that he has had nothing to do with the mines and torpedoes in Havana harbor.
One sensational report printed in a New York paper was that, shortly before the explosion took place, the guard on the Maine noticed a very distinct ripple on the water, as if a small boat was being propelled close to the vessel.
Many similar reports have reached the United States, and it is hard to know what to believe. One of the New York papers has been telling so many lies that the Government was compelled to stop this particular journal from sending any messages at all over the cable from Havana to Key West. This paper then sent its news to Europe, and from there cabled to New York. Over this circuitous route came most marvellous tales, and it is needless to say that most of them were lies pure and simple. The editor of one enterprising journal is reported to have wagered $50,000 that he will cause war between the United States and Spain.
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The wounded sailors from the Maine have all been transferred from Havana to Dry Tortugas. Dry Tortugas is an island east of Key West. These sailors say that the Spaniards treated them with the utmost kindness.
The first body from the Maine was brought to Key West last Thursday. All flags in the city were at half-mast, and although the body was that of an unidentified seaman, it was given the burial of a naval hero. Captain McCalla, of the Marblehead, with Fleet Chaplain Lee Boyce and a guard of honor of forty sailors, received the body, and it was borne in state through the quiet streets of the city to the graveyard on the outskirts. The sailors were drawn up facing the grave; the chaplain read the service, and the body was lowered to its resting-place. The simple ceremony was then ended by the ship's bugler sounding the recall, and the guard at "shoulder arms" marched back to the pier.
It is reported that the uninjured survivors of the Maine feel