_designated_ by the Spanish Commander. This was on January 25, 1898,
and on February 15th this noble vessel was blown to pieces, and 266
of its crew perished--two colored men being in the number. This event
added fuel to the already burning fire of American feeling against
Spain. Public sentiment urged an immediate declaration of war.
President McKinley counseled moderation. Captain Siggsbee, who
survived the wreck of the Maine, published an open address in which
he advised that adverse criticism be delayed until an official
investigation could be made of the affair.

The official investigation was had by a Court of Inquiry, composed of
Captain W.T. Sampson of the Iowa, Captain F.C. Chadwick of the
New York, Lieutenant-Commander W.P. Potter of the New York, and
Lieutenant-Commander Adolph Marix of the Vermont, appointed by the
President. Divers were employed; many witnesses were examined, and the
court, by a unanimous decision, rendered March 21, 1898, after a four
weeks session, reported as follows: "That the loss of the Maine was
not in any respect due to the fault or negligence on the part of any
of the officers or members of her crew; that the ship was destroyed by
the explosion of a submarine mine which caused the partial explosion
of two or more of her forward magazines; and that no evidence has been
obtainable fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the Maine
upon any person or persons."

Responsibility in this report is not fixed on any "person or persons."
It reads something like the usual verdict of a coroner's jury after
investigating the death of some colored man who has been lynched,--"he
came to his death by the hands of parties unknown." This report on
the Maine's destruction, _unlike_ the usual coroner's jury verdict,
however, in one respect, was not accepted by the people who claimed