---
title: New York Journal and Advertiser, front page, 17 February 1898 ($50,000 reward, Maine 'work of an enemy')
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898/
description: 'Front page two days after the USS Maine blew up in Havana harbour: banner ''Destruction of the War Ship Maine was the work of an enemy'', a $50,000 reward…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![New York Journal and Advertiser, front page, 17 February 1898 ($50,000 reward, Maine 'work of an enemy')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898.jpg)

# New York Journal and Advertiser, front page, 17 February 1898 ($50,000 reward, Maine 'work of an enemy')

Front page two days after the USS Maine blew up in Havana harbour: banner 'Destruction of the War Ship Maine was the work of an enemy', a $50,000 reward box printed twice, and 'Naval officers unanimous' that the ship was destroyed on purpose. Tells: a cause stated as settled while no inquiry had reported, resting on unnamed officers, with a reward offer standing in for evidence.

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
$50,000 REWARD.--WHO DESTROYED THE MAINE?--$50,000 REWARD.
NEW YORK JOURNAL AND ADVERTISER
EDITION FOR GREATER NEW YORK
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1898.--16 PAGES. PRICE ONE CENT

DESTRUCTION OF THE WAR SHIP MAINE WAS THE WORK OF AN ENEMY

$50,000! $50,000 REWARD! For the Detection of the Perpetrator of the Maine Outrage!

Assistant Secretary Roosevelt Convinced the Explosion of the War Ship Was Not an Accident.

The Journal Offers $50,000 Reward for the Conviction of the Criminals Who Sent 258 American Sailors to Their Death. Naval Officers Unanimous That the Ship Was Destroyed on Purpose.

[illustration of a battleship, labelled 'Power Magazine' [reading uncertain]; reward-box body text and signature 'W. R. HEARST' too small to read reliably]

NAVAL OFFICERS THINK THE MAINE WAS DESTROYED BY A SPANISH MINE

Hidden Mine or a Sunken Torpedo Believed to Have Been the Weapon Used Against the American Man-of-War---Officers and Men Tell Thrilling Stories of Being Blown Into the Air Amid a Mass of Shattered Steel and Exploding Shells---Survivors Brought to Key West Scout the Idea of Accident---Spanish Officials Protest Their Innocence---Our Cabinet Orders a Searching Inquiry---Journal Sends Divers to Havana to Report Upon the Condition of the Wreck.
```

Banner, deck heads and the lower headline and sub-heads are legible. The reward-box body text and the column text are too small in this 541-pixel reproduction and are not transcribed.

[← J'Accuse...! Lettre au Président de la République (J'Accuse...! Letter to the President of the Republic), L'Aurore, 13 January 1898](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jaccuse-laurore-front-page-1898/) [New York World, front page, 17 February 1898 (Maine explosion 'caused by bomb or torpedo') →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-world-maine-bomb-or-torpedo-1898/)

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