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.
- Date
- February 17, 1898
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- New York Journal and Advertiser (proprietor William Randolph Hearst)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Newspaper pages
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Mckinley Administration
- Leader
- William Mckinley
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Event
- Spanish American War
- Techniques
- Card stacking
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (US newspaper, 17 Feb 1898; Commons PD-1923 tag)
New York Journal and Advertiser, 17 February 1898, via Wikimedia Commons. Commons file page: Permission {{PD-1923}}, 'Public domain'.
Text on the object
$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.
