The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-19
NAVY YARD ACCIDENT.
sEcRET<RT HERBERT APPROVES
THE FINDINGS OF THE COURT.


ne, However. Decl'nes 20 Court Martial
CIvh hnsinesrs ehoos,sne Wh,te' VINO
-. =. S..sar.... r,.,. ss..ss.
~, 80 -.
"AshiNoroN' . SoT.e'ary hsroer'
has seVeroiyr eprimahoeu oiVil engineers memo
col ana Nhito 40 rosponsio'e ior 'neu ry oock
hooiooh' NJ 'no we" ,orA Ea'y ihru iaS'
Angus" u mas y" " our martina 'nese
omosrs' ieIVer son' nut Nlohoos' yesseruay
inc 9oors'.'s ser n III Va .hs oii' 0
IonR u iH''niu' so',.eo, 10 "ouiu y oour'
martial him. put the innings OF the court are
approved ana the department "reprobates"
Menocal's conduct. Mr.. White, whose respon-
.Ihn,,v yva. In less aegr.o uas.inuor, "r.,ro-
siplll.y "as u iess ueRpee' was Summary repro
bated." Constructor Bowles, on whom an effort
W." M snS,n.s s,tn .nmA ~. "a .%n s"U
"o'o M
follows:
about NAV l. 1890. the Naval Con.trnctor.
y n Rovles made n rooommonda,Io A.. IN
certain repairs necessary to be made to the
caIsson of dry dock No. 2. This called for the
rsmoyal OF a norton Of the Ioose atone ballast
NV etoho
In the caisson. civil Engineer A. q. Menocal.
ps the senior civil engineer at this yard. had
charge ~ Tho vorr tho marn.ro -, a.. n.rSorm-
enarkoo 'no wo.N' u mamie. o ~ perform
ance. 80, and he had special charge of the
80, s,.s,na ~. ~ . 80, 81. ~
Nv ui'",nk u III II y"ru ~ hs
assistants. He made certain calculations to
sN, tnv se'o'' uo"S u
work as he proposed and he asked the Naval
Constructor for his professional opinion on the
rame subject. Mr.. Bowles assured him that In
his on,n,on II wa, nerfscI,v safe and Mr. Ma.
IL opih'oh wac peiieetiy SAFE, anu WIZ NO
nocal ordered the work performed.
Tho calculations Mr.. Menocal made were
- ...... A.. .-L. a.. ...--
MADE oy assuming she weight OF the esisson'
with fittings and permanent ballast the weight
"NsS ~. - -. - - 80"
oe.ween .ne fuooef kaske' anu 'ne iron Oh the
,.,,c.llv ,r,m tho ca,c,,a,ions mad. hy NJ
-, t.,a..nn, .in..
there was a margin OF safety OF about 200 tons,
after seulonins .no s.one ai'n lrvm INC cais.
as sumclenI uhuer al Souaitlohs OF Tue anu
weather. me stone oailast Soaia rave oeen
paeuu On c ~ mJiIINbnSS u ~ W tno o sasstr 9 hnt
tne work arcompi,snea WIZ perfect satety' out
at sllRniIy lhCreaseo expense;
The Nsya 1onstruotors letter, which by
Yards and Docks, authorizing this work. called
Tor the removal OF a portion, OF the stone bal
statement of Constructor Bowlea as TO his in
tention when ne wrote the letter "a VII be seen
Menocal failed to ask the Bureaus approval OF
TINS Interpretation.
Friday At noon, his regular leave beginning on
Saturday, AT noon. civil Engineer I. ;. r..
White telisSea Mr; Menocal on ooth occasions,
the ea,sson was in at the time. he received no
ePe shs ian snsqfmSns IN ha regard t n cSsrrs As s1 head "a
his testimony he stated that bad he been doing
the WORK he would not have taken all OF the
stone ballast out at once. Still. when he
was absolutely. In charge, he did not ad-
init any water ballast, although he knew the
caisson was to remain In place until Monday be-
fore any work was to be done. His statement
that he did not do so, as the catSson had been so
left by Mr.. Menocal. and that IL had stood two
high tides 10 that same condition. seems unsat-
isfactory, in the face OF his testimony before
mentioned. Although civil Engineer White
considered the manner OF performing the work
unsafe, he not only did not admit water bal
last. but he failed to report his susplcions to the
proper authority. neither die he visit the dry
dock at all to inspect the work.