---
title: New York World, front page, 17 February 1898 (Maine explosion 'caused by bomb or torpedo')
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-world-maine-bomb-or-torpedo-1898/
description: 'Front page two days after the USS Maine blew up in Havana: a banner naming a bomb or torpedo, a full-width drawing of the blast, and sub-heads that quote…'
section: Collection
---

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

[![New York World, front page, 17 February 1898 (Maine explosion 'caused by bomb or torpedo')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ny-world-maine-bomb-or-torpedo-1898.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ny-world-maine-bomb-or-torpedo-1898.jpg)

# New York World, front page, 17 February 1898 (Maine explosion 'caused by bomb or torpedo')

Front page two days after the USS Maine blew up in Havana: a banner naming a bomb or torpedo, a full-width drawing of the blast, and sub-heads that quote a suppressed despatch and an unnamed 'Dr. E. C. Pendleton'. Tells: the banner leads with one cause while the deck concedes the officers 'are in doubt', and the drawing shows an external blast that no witness had yet established.

## Text on the object

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

```
863,956 WORLD'S CIRCULATED YESTERDAY / The World. / 863,956 WORLD'S CIRCULATED YESTERDAY
"Circulation Books Open to All."
VOL. XXXVIII. NO. 13,396. NEW YORK, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1898.

MAINE EXPLOSION CAUSED BY BOMB OR TORPEDO[?]
[final characters cut off at the right edge]

Capt. Sigsbee and Consul-General Lee Are in Doubt---The World Has Sent a Special Tug, With Submarine Divers, to Havana to Find Out---Lee Asks for an Immediate Court of Inquiry---260 Men Dead.

IN A SUPPRESSED DESPATCH TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT, THE CAPTAIN SAYS THE ACCIDENT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY AN ENEMY.

Dr. E. C. Pendleton, Just Arrived from Havana, Says He Overheard Talk There of a Plot to Blow Up the Ship---Capt. Zalinski, the Dynamite Expert, and Other Experts Report to The World that the Wreck Was Not Accidental---Washington Officials Ready for Vigorous Action if Spanish Responsibility Can Be Shown---Divers to Be Sent Down to Make Careful Examinations.

[illustration caption in small type, partly illegible: caption under the drawing and column text illegible]
```

Banner, deck and the two sub-heads are legible; the question mark after 'TORPEDO' is not visible because the right edge is cut off. The caption under the drawing and the column text are too small in this 500-pixel reproduction.

[← New York Journal and Advertiser, front page, 17 February 1898 ($50,000 reward, Maine 'work of an enemy')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898/) [El soldado de Cuba: —¡Ven tú, cobarde! (The Soldier of Cuba: 'Come here, you coward!') →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/el-soldado-de-cuba-blanco-y-negro-1898/)

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- [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (Electoral Saxony · 1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking)
- [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd.
- [The Virginia Argus, "Letter to Mazzei" and rebuttal, 16 September 1800](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/virginia-argus-letter-to-mazzei-1800/) (United States · Sep 16, 1800 · Name-calling, Card stacking)
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- [Punch, 'Laurels at Ningpo' column on the First Opium War, 1842](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/punch-laurels-at-ningpo-1842/) (United Kingdom · 1842 · Card stacking). Content note: Period satirical prose describing the killing of Chinese soldiers at Ningpo in graphic terms, using period terms such as 'pig-tail' for Chinese people.
- [La paz según el Perú – La paz según los chilenos (Peace According to Peru, Peace According to the Chileans)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/la-paz-segun-el-peru-el-banquillo-1880/) (Peru · Jun 12, 1880 · Card stacking)
- [New York Journal and Advertiser, front page, 17 February 1898 ($50,000 reward, Maine 'work of an enemy')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ny-journal-maine-destroyed-enemy-1898/) (United States · Feb 17, 1898 · Card stacking)