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.
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 very much distressed over orders they are said to have received from the Navy Department. All but five of the men are ordered to report for service on the ships of the fleet at Key West. Naturally, they are desirous to get to their friends in the North, and an effort will be made to induce the Navy Department to allow them to do so.
It seems that, of the men killed on the Maine, a great number were natives of foreign countries. The governments of these countries have demanded an explanation of the disaster, and in case it is found that the explosion was due to faults of construction or carelessness, an indemnity will undoubtedly be demanded; or, if Spain is responsible for the disaster, she will be called upon to pay this indemnity.
March 7th it was reported that Señor Gullon, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, had intimated to Minister Woodford that the Spanish Government desired the recall of Consul-General Lee from Havana.
This news created great excitement. Our Government promptly cabled to Minister Woodford, refusing to recall General Lee, and Spain officially retracted the request, and the incident was practically closed.
A minister exercises his functions only by permission of the country to which he is sent. If at any time that country has reason to object to his presence, it can demand his recall, or, by withdrawing his exequatur, make him at once a private American citizen, and nothing more.