In this connection it is worth while calling the attention of the readers of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD to the immense influence that our newspapers may exert at a time like this. If all of the papers had behaved as disgracefully as some have done, we might now be really on the verge of war. In other words, it is of the highest importance to us as a nation, with an absolutely free press, to have for journalists men and women who possess not only ability, but character and discretion as well. So much that was false was published in some of the papers that their reputation for reliability has been entirely lost, and now no one pays very much attention to what they say. They have certainly now a well-established reputation as monumental liars, and this reputation will stick to them for a long time to come. * * * * * In the minds of the public the question as to whether the _Maine_ was blown up by accident or design seems to have reduced itself to the question whether the harbor of Havana is fortified with subterranean mines. On this point some curious evidence has been presented by an American citizen who has just returned from Cuba, where he has been for two years in the employ of a large importing house. His name is J. P. Sherman, and he is a native of Chicago. In an interview recently published in a New York paper, he stated that it is a fact well known to residents of Havana that its harbor was fortified with both torpedo and submarine mines by order of General Weyler. Early last spring Captain-General Weyler engaged the services of Charles A. Crandal, an American torpedo expert, formerly a member of the crew of the United States ship _San Francisco_, to lay out the mine and torpedo service of the harbor of Havana. Crandal worked at night, and during the time that he was in the service of the Spanish Government he placed ten mines and seven torpedoes in the harbor. Crandal went to Havana in the latter part of 1895, and was employed by his firm as a packer. He stated that he had served as a marine and diver on the United States cruiser _San Francisco_, while Capt. W. T. Sampson, now president of the _Maine_ board of inquiry, was in command of that vessel. Crandal left their employ in May of last year, and soon after said that he had entered General Weyler's employ and was working on mines and torpedoes. When General Weyler left Havana the map showing the location of these mines and torpedoes was transferred to the custody of a spy, known throughout Havana as Captain del Pedrio, who was seen on more than one occasion on board the battle-ship _Maine_ in his capacity as captain of the harbor police. The mines and torpedoes were connected with an electric firing plant in the magazine diagonally across the channel from Morro Castle, and it would have been one of the easiest things in the world for one of the spies to have placed the switch and blown the _Maine_ out of the water.