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.
- Date
- February 17, 1898
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- The World, New York (proprietor Joseph Pulitzer)
- 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)
The World (New York), 17 February 1898, via Wikimedia Commons. Commons file page: Permission {{PD-1923}}, 'Public domain'.
Text on the object
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.
