Morning journal and courier., 1882-10-23
IAS--zz-afs-S Tho Nov@Orod ExpIosisn.

The Odessa NoUo,1ssissky Telegraph pub fishes the following additional particulars concerning the catastrophe on board the Popoffka Novgorod: Last Friday tor-then noored to the quay of the Kora-
 belnaya (NavaD Creek at Sebastopol-a tor pedo exploded in the torpedo magazine,
 causing such damage to the vessel as to ren
 der 1t doubtful whether it will be fit to again venture out to sea. The accident caused the deaths of Lieutenant Koozen who was en-
 gagged doing something in his cabin at the
 time; Second Engineer Ivanoff and twenty two seamen. Lieutenant Koozen's body
 without head, arms and legs-has since been recognized by his coat and watch. Near 1t was found one of the hands, with his ring upon one of it's fingers. Ivanoff's body was found to be also minus head and legs, while a third body had not even 8 scratch upon it.
 Lieutenant Dsrgatchenko was thrown from
 the deck into the water without receiving any material injury. Tho sentinel upon the
 bridge was blown on to the shore and also
 saved. All the parts of tho vessel above
 water were scattered in various directions, so
 that the two ponderous guns remained ex-
 posed without the least covering or protec- tion. The deck itself presented horrible specttcle-bodies and parts of bodies, moro or less mutilated, pieces of broken furnit ure and fittings being all mingled together. The
 vessel and it's outer fittings were all paint ed
 white, and what remained of these latter were covered or baptized with blood. Divers and others worked bravely in searching for re- mains, now a foot was found, now hand and now trunk And in addition to all this the cries of despair from the relatives and friends of the victims were such as made the stoutest heart quail. The Novgorod had just finished cruise and had put in at Sebas- topol to be disarmed, in order to lie up there for the winter. On the eve Of the catastro- phe 120 poods (forty pounds to tho pood) of gunpowdsr and peroxiline-used in charging torpedoss-had been landed from 1t and stored in the magazines on shore. Had 1t not been for that circumstance there is no doubt the entire vessel, every soul upon it, the Russian Steamship and Trading company, near which the Novgorod Teoored, would have been completely destl Ad. The report of the explosion was so lou- at the workmen ran out of the fao- tories with the idea that the buildings were going to crash in upon them. The windows of some barracks and of hospital In the vicinity were shattered to atoms. The full complement of officers and men for the Nov gorod is 123, and more than half of these were on shore in their barracks; and that may be accepted as a reason why there ere not more victims. One report says that the author of the disaster was non commission ed artillery officer, who, when the torpedoes were being landed from the Novgorod the evening before, ordered some to be left in tho ships not charged, but really in order to abstract the powder from them for his own advan- tage, and that while attempting to do this, some clumsiness on his part caused the explo- sion. Another version says that a military judgment hung over his head, and that he purposely fired the ,rpedo as an act of ven. geance. It is not known, however, if there be any truth in either story. In any case this man must have been the first victim. Be- sides the loss of life the damage done to the vessel and machinery is such that it is very uncertain whether it can longer serve as menitor at any rate at sea.