, 1864-04-20
Mllit:agf1 @rii>nue.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10. 1864.
Explosion Of E2of1cr on Board tllc
.eauEtoat ChCnaag0-EScr Thirty Of
Her crew Eenlt!ea Terribly.



From the New Yorx Herald, April 1Gl. :
4 nsos; terrible accident occurred in The
ioHtr lay yesterday afternoon, ovlog to the
G1llloe.on Of one Of tie boi!cra oi tho United
States g4uboat Chenango, Lieutenant Com
nasGcr !. s. Fillebrown She was praceeI-
re- to the moorihs buoys ut the Ho:4cshoe,
and Eas to lave taken the iron-clud Ononda-
En in low this morning, md gone to ac-,
Fortress Monroe being her destination
When opposite Fort uuE4ilion ii 1.1o p. u
her port boiler suddenly exploded, blowing
up tie decks aud. scycrG|y scaiding eli Gun
tuirty-thrcc in all. One was blown oycr-
heard, (ut YVES subsequently, recovered, bad.
IL injured. one has died, ard The remainder
art ia ytTr critical etAte. Several Of them
Will Probably die. The Uritrd Siatcs EcTe-
luc cuttcr Bruux, beiug in the vicinity, imme-
disttlF repaired to the eccEe Of dis lsler, and
proceeded 10 the quarantine, where she pro-
cured u nu1neeroi rh, stciaus, end took them
on board the Cl,tnaugo to relieve the suffer
ers. The United States steam Transport Til
1cy, Cartan Bourne, from Alexandria, while
cc1r:ng Up Witnessed tho explosion and i'll
EeGia1eiy went to The CEcnlngo's assistance,
eoIns great dea' Of good; Also, the Uni:
band, :cndeTed fthe aid In her power. Tho
liuet and Rcse und tHc cutter BFolx took
lcr in tow aud brought her to tbs Navy
Yard.
Among those severely scaldea are ;-First
Atsist1nt Engineer, Joseph n, Cahlu, In
Charge; Second Assistant Engineer. Albert
8: Murray and Second Assistant Engineer,
When the Clenango left the Navy Yard the
yards Of the North Carolfna were manned BIZ
order Of Clpt. Mfadc, and three cheers wero
given in complainant to the crew Of the new
vessel. Ths salute. was returned
ny the asss s,s.' on ,oa% board the che
Lrzzaliug, the gunboat glldea out into
Tic strtum and proceeded On her voyage
down the bay. Hardly 80 hours had elapsed
frcm tie tine Of her departure when news Of
the shocking disaster Was received at the
Navy Yard, producing the most intense e1-
citemcut among the seamen, and casting
tisi'yee asiR gloom "hs's all lid 'ssn life and &c
On arriving at the hospitals We found QUITE
nu!nber OF surgeons present, who vera at
tCndins tho injured men. Anons: the hum
her we noticed Surgeons Smith, Breslan,
Bates, Ieuzen, Ehosdts, Boge1t, and othczs
Ihc hospital stes1a1d, 3n. CurTier, Was. ex-
nurses md attendants, as we'll IS a1l the con-
y:i; scent patients. The sailors were work
iLs ike heroes to -nerla.e the agony of their
sliEinates.
Ii was reported that Lieut.. Commander
Filiebronn 4 was missing; but we know that
1t WIS uninjurcd, and wrote letter to Com
modorc Raltord alter the explosion took
place. Therefore he could not hare been
hurt ct thlt fine He did not come Oil shore
last night, which may explain the cause Of
the TumoI.
The wounded mcn were transferred to the
Rose as soou as possible, and she steamed mp
to tic Navy Yard, to have them sent to the
Marble Hospital Commodore Radford in
nelfnttly sent for ali kinds Of comfortable
conveyances, and the men were sent up to
the hospital Us rapidly as circumstances would
allow. The groans Of these poor fellows
sympathy frou, ali who were present at the
lad Spectacle Every exertion and every de-
vicl that humane people could think Of was
put in reQuisition to alleviate the suderings
OF the unfortunate, and hundred hands
wele busy fer some time in forwarding them
to the place where the best Of medical attcl-
dance Nns awaiting them.
At the hospital tbs scene was of the
Mcst intense excitement. About thirty
noble men, in all stages Of suffer-
ins and 1o1ture, were lying ontstretched up-
on betla their bodies q mass ofraw and burn
others moaning pltifully, while Others were
quite subdued, their blackened and swollen
taces plainly showing the acute suffering
within. .as coon rs they arrived they were
stripped Of their clothing and bathed in oil
ana lime water, and covered with copious
covering Of 1lour, which kept the air from the
r1w feeh- Everything thst medical skill and
unfortunates. Seldom does one witness euch
4 leart-rcnding ecene, Men who but q few
short hours ago were In the enjoyment Of all
that makes Ife hnppy, we're now but . mass
of living fire and agouY. The cries Of soms
Of them were terrible. Some had lost their
w. rf 1t %f %fnnr
pain they were undergoing. Others
were hurricd1y and feebly drawing their
last life -breath- One lag corpse, having
died In being transferred from the Navy Yard
to the hospital. We noticed one mau's head
which WAS go swollen that 1t might hare been
taken for the head OF an enormous gisnt.
Onc poor fellow, q laudsmau. uncoIoplain-
Iugiy said to us, Il Why did Heaven send such
calamity to us? had Just shipped, Whist,
oh what, win my poor mother say - Scarcely
that 1t was impossible to gain any reliable
particulars Of this sad accident. One young
| man told Us that the vessel was terribly
shattered. the spar deck as well as the hurrl-
| cane deck being torn'so fragments over the
| boiler. Further than this little could be
ltarded. Scarcely man could be found who
| knew the names of half dozen persons on
board Of the ship at the time Of the disaster,
| owing to the fact that the vessel had but re-
Gently been put in commission, and they h.d
not become acqu2inted.
| No list Of names was sent On shore BIZ the
raymastcr in the excitement, and the sur
! reons would not be able to obtain their
| names until come time to-day. It IL the opin-
| ion of the surgeons that most Of the sufferers
| Eiu recoyrE Possibly some half dozen
| will die. There are at least four fthem who
| ecem 10 be marked with death. It will re-
| quirc some th1rty-six hours to ascertain who
| have inhaled sufficient steam to Cause their
| death. Our reporter did not leave the hospt-
| ta1 until late hour, when all the serersly In
| jurcd had arrived, mud were US comfortable as
| circumstances would allow: -
/ The csuEe Of the accident Is at present IN,
| known, aad We cannol at this time pretend
to account for 1t. 1t Was Impossible to learn
| the amount Of steam pressure on the boilers,
ard this part of the details must rcmAin in
| doubt until a future time
The Chcuango was d side-whce1 steamer,
known as double-cndtr. She had IN arma
nent Of ten guns, and Was built bJJere. Sim
onEou, 1t Grecnport, LII, and lauuched u
1868. Ber engines were built ut the Morgan
Iron Works, and had j hfty-cfght inch 5lin
der, with eight feet stroke. She lad two O.
| Martin's boiler6, and vas considered fast
vessel. She was put in commission in Feb
ruary, 1SCi, and has been ready for sea sever
81 weeks, vaiting only for her crew. She wa