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? Reporter Git I Maine it - I ERROR CAUSES I CAN WAR . < , Cable Brought Battleship Instead of I Cartridges. (W. S. Merriwether in Miss. Sun.) j W. S. Meriwether, the author of the: following article, was formerly on the i , staff of the New York Herald, but is now editor of the Mississippi Sun, published at Charleston, Miss.: In Stephenson's American history, the one now being used in our public schools, occurs this paragraph: "At Havana there were public demonstrations of ill will toward Americans. Therefore, the battleship Maine V,' ^ i i was ordered to Havana as an intimation that Americans would be protected by their government." The Maine was not sent to Havana "as an intimation that Americans would be protected by the5 government." She was sent there because of a misinterpreted cable message which a newspaper correspondent in Havana spnt to his paper in New York. All the correspondent wanted r.;- ; t was a box of cartridges. A battleship was sent instead. The battleship was blown up in Havana harbor, war with Spain ensued and a considerable part of the geography of the world was changed as a result. The writer was in Havana at the I time of the Maine disaster, reported that immortal horror to the identical newspaper whose assistant cable editor had interpreted the message about cartridges and makes this coming February 15?twenty-fourth anjgk' niversary of the tragedy?the occa?' , gion for setting history right. The reason this revealing chapter has not been written before is this: Thp pnrresnnndent who had Sent the t- * I cable was one of my most valued friends. Under seal of confidence he had told me the entire story. He had planned to write it himself but thought it inadvisable to do so until some years had interevened. I asked and obtained his permission to make Pa passing reference to it in an article which I had been asked to prepare describing the scenes in Havana on the night of the Maine's destruction, but the reference did not attract the attention it deserved. More with the idea of supplying my friend with data than employing it myself, I had, as opportunity served asked the several . actors in the drama, each of whom & , I intimately knew, the parts they had played. Then the man for whom those notes were intended, came back from Havana, where he had been stationed as correspondent for the Associated Press, and suddenly died. I felt that his death released the story to me, shut just at that time I was plunged , Into war work as publicity manager for the United States Shipping board and the episode was forgotten until j . the calendar brought its reminder that the twenty-fourth anniversary of the disaster comes around on this " ' ' February 15. IJere is the full story: Relieved Havana Man. It was early in February, 1918, that I received orders from my newspaper, the New York Herald, to proceed to Havana, and relieve John R. Caldwell, in charge of the Herald's Havana bureau. Caldwell was an exceedingly capable newspaper man, but somehow had come into disfavor with the then owner of the Herald, the late James Gordon Bennett, who had cabled from Paris a curt order to make the change. Havana at that time was a trouiblous city. The relations between this country and Spain were strained to the breaking point. Riots were frequent and every American felt that his life was in danger at all times. Caldwell realized it and sought to arm himself. But there was a strict edict against the sale of firearms, one chiefly directed against Cubans, for the island was then in a blaze of insurrection. So unable to equip himself with the means of self-defense, Caldwell wrote to the Herald and asked that a revolver De sem. hj uim, vuc waa p ui chased immediately and shipped. But when it arrived there were no cartridges, and the correspondent ccruld no more purchase cartridges than he could purchase revolvers. "Meanwhile the situation was growing worse. Instead of writing for cartridges he cabled. The Herald and its Havana correspondent employed a private code. This was necessary because of the strict censorship exercised in Havana by the Spanish. And as it happened the. Herald man, Fred Burgin, who was in charge of the code and of Havana cable news, was home sick when V- .. . >es Reason \ Went to Hai SPANISH-AMERIIS CLAIM. this message came clicking into the Herald office one night: "Camera received but no plates. "Please hurry by next steamer. "John R. Caldwell." *' ? * 1 UUllg .isaisiaiu .ui.xru xum^n, The full name "John R. Caldwell," signified that themessage meant more than the words indicated and that the office would have to puzzle it out. Had Burgin been on duty he would instantly have understood that the revolver had arrived but that there were no cartridges. But Spain's Nemesis was around that night. A young assistant got the message and turning to the code book, translated it to mean that the Americanconsulate had been attacked. Fireworks ensued. An attack on our consulate in Havana was a spark to set off the long-brewing trouble between America and Spain. The hour was 9:30 p. m. The Havana cable office closed at 9 p. m. and there was no possible way of getting further news that night. The Herald got its Washington Bureau on the 'phone, and directed that every man be hustled out on the story. John D. Long was then secretary of the navy. The word that the American consulate in Havana had been attacked was telephoned to him by the Herald's Washington's bureau. There was a; rapid telephonic conference wdth the state department and the white house and along about 11 o'clock a wire was sent to Rear Ad miral'Montgomery Sicard, commanding the North Atlantic fleet, then at anchor off Dry Tortugas to detach a vessel of. his command and send it to Havana forthwith, the reason "being that an eminently trustworthy correspondent of an important newspaper had cabled the report of an attack upon the American consulate. After the lapse of all these years I cannot now recall whether it was lieutenant, now Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, whose torpedo boat conveyed the mesage from the Key West naval station to the flagship, New York. Which ever it was, the mesage reached the admiral about midnight and directly thereafter a signal was made for the commanding officer of the Maine to report on board. Midnight Visit to Flagship. In a conversation I had with Capt. Sigsbee some years later, he describ^ ^ *liaf m i /I n 1 srh t TTi'oit f r\ flaP'ohlTl cu mat iiiiuui^iiv t ioiv w vuu j his orders from Admiral Sicard to proceed to Havana at once, the admiral adding "he did not know what condition he would find upon arrival. He did not hamper the Maine's commander with any instructions, leaving all to his discretion. \ Capt. Sigsbee returned to his ship, gave the necessary orders for spreading fires under the boilers and to get under way as soon as steam could be made ready. Awnings were rolled up and seilt below, and awning stanchions which might ihave interfered with gunfire, were removed, along with their ridge ropes. Guns were not loaded for under the high discipline + ixs mo,intoinQ/1 1n tlia T?QW PVPTV t^ial io luauutamvu i,uv ^ , v> one could have been made ready for opening fire within two or three minutes after the ringing of the gong, calling the crew to "general quarters," which means that upon the sounding of that signal every one jumps to his appointed place, the men detailed to the magazines springing to their stations and sending up ammunition for the guns, the gun crews loading with equal celerity. Tho \faiTio FriHprxrav Now with the Maine under way and churning her way to the harbor where her destruction was destined to involve two nations in war, let us leave the doomed battleship for a moment and take up the narrative from the Inglaterra Hotel in Havana. It was at an early hour in the forenoon when a message from the cable office knocked on the door of Mr. Caldwell's room and hmded him a? cablegram. It was from the Herald and read: "Rush story you bulletined on Cuban cane crop?we want it for main section." Not having sent any bulletin on the Cuban cane crop, Mr. Caldwell realized at once that this was a code message and turning to his code book found the first part of it conveying tidings that "A United States man-of-war has been ordered to Ha vana." He was puzzled a moment over the rest, for there was nothing in the code hook anyway resembling it. Then it flashed upon (him that the words "main section" was employed to tell him the name of the vessel that had been ordered to Havana, otherwise the Maine. Directly across the hall was the Vhy the )ana Harbor room of the former Confederate general, Fitz Hugh Lee, then United States consul general to Havana. "Impossible," Gen. Lee replied, "the government would never send a warship here unless I asked for one and that I have not done." At that moment came the thud of ^~ 1 guns. Hurrying to tne oaicuuy mc two saw the Maine entering the harbor and bulbs of white smoke drifting from her saluting battery. The Facts Considered. As a newspaper correspondent who reported the blowing up of the Maine and as one who remained in Havana during the sitting of the American ' naval court of inquiry, a body whose verdict was that the Maine had been destroyed as the result of an outside explosion, I have frequently been asked my opinion as to the cause. That the court of inquiry was convinced the Maine had been blown up by a mine planted by the Spaniards in Havana harbor, I have never for a moment doubted. That they did net say so in as many words v\as doubtless dut to the reason other than those contained in the facts which they considered. Here they are: The relations between America and Spain had been strained to the breaking point. It was at this moment of severe tension that an American battleship entered the harbor. At bar anchorage inisde the narbor she commanded the entire situation, There not being a single Spanish gun that could be brought to bear against her, all of these being in the batteries that ever-looked the sea approaches. A Spanish pilot brought the Maine into harbor and designated the buoy to which she was to make fast. If, under the circumstances the Spaniards had not laid a mine under that predetermined buoy in order to dominate any foreign warship making fast to it, they would have been incredibly eVinrt cio-htori UUV/1 l> There has been much talk of an inside explosion. But the keel of the Maine was found within eighteen inches of the surface. No inside explosion could have driven that part of the underbody upwards. Some Unwritten History. The reference to the finding of the Maine's keel so near the surface of the water recalls another bit of unwritten history. On the heelsof the disaster, all correspondents stationed in Havana becan rprprivins' mere nr less frantic ca hies from their home offices telling how imperative it was for the American public to be informed at once whether the Maine had been blown up by a Spanish mine, or whether, as Spain was contending, she had come to her undoing through the explosion of one of her own magazines. Day by day these messages became more urgent. But what where the correspondents'to do? Pending the arrival of the American naval court,, the Spaniards had established a cordon around the wreck and no one was allowed neaT it. The court of inquiry, headed by the late Rear Admiral Sampson, arrived on the lighthouse tender Fern, and began its bearings on board, that vessel. But that did not help the harried correspondents none of vrhom were allowed on board. There were no risks the correspondents would not have ventured to have obtained some inkling of the case. But they were confronted with obstacles impossil^e to overcome. ? Such was the situation when there came one night a hurried knock on my hotel door, the hour being about 10 o'clock. Even after the lapse of all these years I do not feel free to reveal the name of this caller. But I may say that he was an officer attached to the flagship New York and that he had been sent from Key West to superintend the work of the divers engaged in examining the wreck. I had been shipmates with this officer before leaving the navy to take up < newspaper work, and we were warm friends. As he faurried into the room I saw he was intensely excited. He first swore me to secrecy, exacted a promise that I would not reveal the source of my information and then without more ado, told in one breath what all the world was on tiptoe to know. "The keel of the Maine," he said, stepping to the door and closing it, and speaking low and fast, "is within eighteen inches' of the surface. We i found it there tonight. Mr. Pdw?Ison wal with me and he has positively identified the keel plates." Wilfred Van Ness Powelson was one of the contractors who had built the Maine and had been summoned as an expert to go over the wreck. I knew his reputation as a highly com! petent and thorough-going officer, and I knew any information my caller gave me, could be entirely depended upon. j Keel Up Eighteen Inches. t i Here was the biggest piece of news that could have emanated out of Havana at that time, the answer to the urgent question, which editors were cabling to their Havana correspondents. The fact that the .Maine's keel had been hove'up until it was within eighteen inches of the surface meant only one thing, that the battleship had been blown up by a mine placed beneath the keel and had not hoon ripstrnvpr! hv thp pvnlosinn of one of her own magazines. It meant wa r. But how was this portentious news to be gotten past the Spanish censor? The rule of closing the cable office at 9 p. m. had been changed and the office was wide open at all times. But .Madrid and Washington were keeping it busy and there was very little that correspondents were allowed to send, that little being subjected to the closest scrutiny by the censors. I had a dispatch boat in the harbor, which had been used for the carrying of dispatches to the telegraph office at Key West, but she could render no help in this emergency, for by the rules of the port, no vessel could leave between the hours of sunset and sunrise. j&iuaing tne censor. There was nothing in our secret code book by which this information about the-Maine keel could be conveyed, and while on my way to the censor's office I evolved several messages, meant to deceive ;him, and yet be clear to the editor for whom it was intended, but rejected them all as unsuitable. The one was finally submitted, read as follows: "In important story which will be filed from dispatch boat in Key West tomorrow, please note the main story is mine." The censor, a Spanish colonel, and whose knowledge of English was disappointingly complete read the message attentively, and then inquired if I thought it necessary to pay high cable toll in order to claim credit for a dispatch that had not yet been sent. I endeavored to assure him that unless I took this precaution tjie dispatch might be credited to some one else in the bureau. Whereupon the colonel grinned, saying I could tell that to the American marines, added that he didn't like the use of the word "mine" anyway and that the editor might add an "e" to the word main, and reach some wholly erroneous conclusion, that is, erroneous from the Spanish viewpoint. I proffered this altogether too adroit colonel a cigar and took a turn down the corridor,' in an eno *t to think up. something else. I knew this particular censor would be going off duty at 11 o'clock, and I was trying to be ready for the next one. Making Use of Kipling. From the hotel news stand that day I had bought a copy of Life and had read therein Kipling's poem, "The Dstroyers." I thought that might, help and going back to to the hotel, got the copy, and when the relief censor came on, presented him with this: "Naval officers here are very much interested in Kipling's poem Destroyers appearing in current issue of Life. Naval contingent assert technical accuracy of last verse impossible to improve upon." After reading that tribute to Kipling's poem, the censor asked me if I had a copy of Life with me. I told him I did not. Whereupon he summoned an orderly and told him to go to the hotel and get one. The last verse of the poem reads: The strength of twice three thousand horse That serve the one command; The hand that heaves the headlong force, The hate that backs the hand; The doom-bolt in the darkness freed, The mine that splits the main; The white hot wake, the wildering speed? The Choosers of the Slain! As the crux of the situation was a magazine or mine, i very wen Knew that my office would at once hit upon that pregnant line. , "The. mine that splits the main" as containing the message I was trying to get to them. The orderly returned with the copy of L/ife, the censor took it and turning to the last verse of the poem read down to those fateful lines. "Very clever," he said, a's he handed back the dispatch. Baffled in all efforts to get the story through that night I went on board our dispatch boat and set out for Key west as soon as me naruuirules permitted, and filed enough on the Key West wire that evening to occupy a full page of the Herald of the next day. I refer to this merely to bring in the sequel. On 'the day of my departure from Havana, another of the oorresondenis got an inkling of what I had heard the preceeding. night. Having no dispatch boat he had to trust wholly to the cable. Knowing from experience how hard it was to get anything past the censor, he wrote a purely descriptive story, the crowds on the Parado, the brilliant sunshine, sea breezes droning through the palm trees, the shimmering bay and buzzards roosting on the keel of the Maine. As all of it was extremely complimentary to the scenery and the climate the censor let it go. But when it reached the New York office the cable editor failed to catch the significance of the line "buzzards roosting on the keel of the Maine," and as the paper had no room for bowery description, . ^ it was assumed that the Havana man 3 had become over enthused with 1 aguardiente, and the dispatch wa? i eniL-oH X rpalizatinn nf what the 1 ? ~"lcorrespondent was trying to tell his |. office came when the Herald's full page account was published on the ensuing morning. I PORTABLE AND STATIONARY Engines AND BOILERS Saw, Lath and Shingle Mills, Injectors, Pumps and Fittings, Wood Saws, Splitters, Shafts, Pulleys, Belting, Gasoline Engines LARCIE6T0CK LOMBARD J \ Foundry, Macliine, Boiler Worke, j Supply Store. AUGUSTA, GA. Million Packets Of Flower Seeds Free We believe in flowers around the homes of the South. Flowers brighten up the home surroundings and give pleasure and satisfaction to those who have them. 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The treasurer's office will be open for the collection of State, county, school and all other taxes from the loth day of October, 1921, until the 15th day of March, 1922, inclusive. From the first day of January, 1922, until the 31st day of January, 1922, a penalty of 1 per cent, will be added to all unpaid taxes. From the first day of February, 1922, until the 28th day of February, 1922, a penalty nf 9 ru>r rpnt will bp added to all un paid taxes. From the first day of March, 1922, untirthe 15it*h of March, 1922, a penalty of 7 per cent, will "be added to all unpaid taxes. The Levy. For State purposes 12 mills For county purposes 7% mills ! Constitutional school tax ....3 mills ' For highway purposes 2 mills Total 24% mills Special School Levies. Bamberg, No. 14 18 mills Binnaker's, No. 12 3 mills Buford's Bridge, No. 7 .... 4 mills Clear Pond, No. 19 L 2 mills Colston, No. 18 9 mills Denmark, No. 21 16 mills Ehrhardt, No. 22 ....19 mills Fish Pond, No. 5 2 mills Govan, No. 11 12 mills Hwtto, No. 6 6 mills Hampton, No. 3 2 mills Heyward, No. 24 2 mills Hopewell, No. 1 3 mills Hunter's Chapel, No. 16 ....12 mills Lees, No. 23 8 mills Little Swamp, No. 17 ? 8 mills Lemon Swamp, No. 13 n... 4 mills 1 Midway, No. 2 2 mills Oakland, No. 15 8 mills Oak Grove, No. 20 10 mills Olar, No. 8 16 mills , St. John's, No. 10 8 mills Salem, No. 9 12 mills ( Three-Mile, No. 4 8 mills ' All persons between the ages of 2i and 60 years, except Confederate soldiers and sailors, who are exempt at 50 years, are liable to a poll tax of $1.00. Capitation dog tax, $1.25. ] All male persons who were 21 years < of age on or before the first day of i January, 1921, are liable to a poll 1 tax of $1, and all who have not made ] returns to the auditor are requested ] to do so on or before the first day ! of January, 1922, and thereby save penalty and costs. I will receive the commutaitdon road tax of four ($4.00) dollars from the 15th day of October, 1921, to the ! 15th day of March, 1922. In addition to the above levies there is a three mill levy for drain- ] age on all property in the town of ; Bamberg and some of the surround- 1 ing territory. . ; G. A. JENNINGS, |] Treasurer or tfamoerg uoumy. To Stop a Cough Quick take HAYES' HEALING HONEY, a cough medicine which stops the cough byhealing the inflamed and irritated tissues. A box of GROVE'S O-PEN-TRATE SALVE for Chest Colds, Head Colds and Croup is enclosed with every bottle of HAYES' HEALING HONEY. 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NOTICE CONCERNING PLOWING IN PUBLIC ROOADS. i Pursuant to recommendation of r the Bamberg County Grand Jury, the landowners of the county cultivating \ 'in lands adjacent and adjoining public roads are hereby urgently requested not to plow into or allow their hands to plow into the roads. Landowners jtp rAniipstfid to Dlant two or three -ows of crops adjacent to roads parallel with the road, so that there may be proper turning space without the lecessity of turning plows in the roads. It is against the law to alow plows to damage the roads, md it is an unnecessary prac- yg ;ice. The county spends large sums 7a )f money in road building, and the -oads belong to the people. I have 10 desire to prosecute anybody, but [ must insist that this practice be f stopped immediately. The farmers ind tenants can cooperate in this respect, and there should be no necessity to bring action against anybody. 5*1111 notice is being given before I ake such action. W. B. SMOAK, Supervisor* fcf January 31, 1922. tf