The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1898-12-28
4 DANGEROUS Duty
INSPECTING DOUBLE BOTTOMS IN
OUR NAVAL VESSELS.

iug work, and Many Precautions
Are NcccSsnrS tn Prevent Loss Of
Lie During the Operation.
There Is ono phase Of the ship life of
the American naval officer that is
scarcely known to tho layman and that
can hardly be understood by him as he
looks upon tho modern ship in all her
attractive cleanliness and meets her
neatly uniformed officers upon the spot
less upper deck. Not only are tho parts
Of tho ship in sight kept clean and FREQ
from rust and decay, hut also those far
down, contracted spaces that never see
the light of day These include tho eel
lular compartments between tho inner
and outer skins of the ship, known tech
nieally us tho "douhlo bottom, " and
other places that separate the magazines
and various built up structures within
the ship from tho outer skin.
These narrow compartments are ospe-
eially susceptible To dampness and rust,
and i'll order that those who have the
care of them may de- thor duty we'll
and 80 prevent the decay Of the ship II
sYatUm of inspection has been devised,
and the inspectors must be, under the
naval regulations, commissioned OIL
ccrs \ permanent board Of inspection
Is formed upon each ship, which must
consist of one engineer and two line of
ticefs The duty of this board is period
ically to make personal inspections of
all tho parts of the ship examine every
thing critically, suggest remedies for
any evils that may bo found 10 exist
ana to report to thu commanding off
Ger, fer transmission To tho navy do,
rartmont the condition of tho vessel in
detail.
Uniforms ara discarded whilo max
ing these inspections, and clad III sea
mems ordinary working suits theso oil
Gers crawl upon all fours throughout the
longth of the bottom of tho ship, wrig
gle snakolko through narrow openings
and examine with their own eyes every
inch Of the surface of the thin steel
plates. Tho paint of these compart-
ments. softened by dampness in some
places and by heat and tho steam laden
air Of the boiler rooms i'll others, rubs
of upon tho working suits, and an
honr's crawling transforms the neut
officer into very sorry spectacle. In
sumo modern nayics this duty Is per
formed by the enlisted men. thu officers
being excused from it, but in our navy
the feeling exists that an enlisted man
should not be- asked TO go where an oili
Ger il not willing to lead. The result IL
TINT things always work with the
Americans and tho efficiency of the fleet
IL assured.
Numerous precautions must be taken
to avoid tho risk of losing life while
performing this duty, for ii is attended
with no little danger Tho atmosphere
of confined spaces entirely or partly
closed for u considerable length Of time
becomes robbed of its oxygen in the
formation Of rust aud IL soon mado unfit
To sustain life If possible such cont
paftmCuts ara blown out with pure air
led through a hose from IA blower duct
and all manholo plnto8 removed before
hcing entered. 4 lighted candle IS al
ways carried by tho inspecting officer
upon hi4 crawling tour. If tho cnndlo
burnn dimly or secms upon tho point Of
being distinguished, there il II deficiency
of oxv IA, and he will Immediately
seek tho nearest opening leading from
tho compartment and leave it ut once.
Men arc stationed ut places rs near rs
possible to him, so that they may bear
his voice and rcndor immediate assist
aneu IN ease of need. No enc * allowed
To enter any confined space on board
ship without an uncovered light. al
though in addition n portable electric
light is carried frequently to render tho
inspection more thorough.
1t not infrequently happens that Oil
GERS and men become 30 wedgcd hetwcon
bulkhoads and beams Whilo performing
this duty IA to make IL extremely diiii-
cult to remove them, and moro than one
officer Of tho navy is upon tho retired
list today because of permanent INJURY
to his health contracted whilo perform
ing this arduous labor. because of tho
caro- exercised 1t is rare that a lifo IL
lost in this service, but III ono case at
least tho rashnnss If II man proved fatal
To him ono Of tho main boilers Of tho
cruiser Newark, while flagship Of tho
south Atlantic station, having been
tightly olofod fora month, while empty,
in order 10 preserve it from detcrlora
tiqu, the eeppcrsmith Of that vessel, an
energetic, faithful man, thought its in
terror should he examined and, al
though warned repeatedly never to en-
ter such u boiler without an open light,
removed un upper manholo plato and
Crawlcd in upm the braces with IN
electric light lie told no ono that no
was going into the boiler, and no ono
WA stationed to ndsiet him IN case OF
need His dead body was found hall out
and half ia tho boiler manhOlo with tho
electric light Btill burning brightly
within tho boiler. He bad evidently
crawled in upon the braces, felt faint
ness grooming over HIM and had en-
doavorod to regain the open air, but lost
consciousness just rs lifo lay within
his reach, and so died Of asphyxiatioh.
The air in tho boiler had been entiro-
~ robbed Of ita oxygen by tho iron OF
the she'll - the formation Of rust, ana
the reeiduum was unfit to breathe. A
lighted candid was snuifed out inmodi-
atcly upon hriHg thrust into the boiler,
aud this condition prevailed until Il
lower manholp plato was removed, when
The heavy gus ran out ~ water might,
and tho air within soon came to be
qnitr pure No more vivid illustration
Of the dangers to be encountered III the
care If ships afoRt and the precautions
necessary 10 DE taken in this duty could
be- given than this incident, which
shows that shot aud shell and bursting
steam pipes are not the only dangers
that confront the officers and men OF
Unela Sans unvy.-New York sun.
The Egyptian women wore bangle
hoops q gold in their cars, which
were regarded as the wearer choices
possessions and were parted from onl.
under dircst stress. The golden calf wa