The San Francisco call., 1898-02-23

Whether the result of accident or
 treachery, the blowing up of the Maine and the destruction of more than half her crew will lead to radical changes
 in the methods of slowing and guard ing explosives on shipboard. That a. departure from old-time custom in | this respect is necessary is shown by the completeness of the Maine's de- struction, and the seemingly unfath- Omable cause of it. The advent Of high power guns, enormously increased charges, greater variety and destruc- tiveness of explosives all combine to
 make the modern warship's magazines something to be carefully constructed and most scrupulously guarded.
 The writer spent a number of years
 in the nav and is familiar with both the old and the new methods of storing explosives on shipboard, and he does
 not hesitate to say ts at considering the
 widely different character of ammuni-
 tion now in use the Ordnance Depart
 ment has not kept pace with modern requirements in the matter of stow
 age and measures for safety. The mag
 azines of the Maine were located just as they were in the old wooden frigates Ol Hlly yCdlS dSo, loA5 OSIOAS eOAP PNNONS were invented-down on the very floor
 or skin of the ship where they
 would receive the first impact from the
 force of torpedo. Add to that the fact that modern powder for high power guns is exploded by detonation or con- cussion and not by contact with fire, and the danger of locating magazines in that way is doubly apparent
 | If it be true that the Maine was | struck by a treacherous torpedo, and | that that torpedo exploded under the | floor of her forward magazines, there | is no need to look further for the cause
 of her destruction That 5S,O00 pounds
 of powder, going off at one blast, would l leave little of either ship or crew to | tell the tale
 The rules governing the care and cus | tody of a ships ammunition have | changed but little since the old days | of black powder that a spark might | ignite. The magazines are now as | then, the holy of holies, into which no careless or profane foot dare step. In | the old days stores of powder and shell were not nearly so large as in the mod ern ships and magazines were smaller. A magazine which would hold thirty tons of powder was never heard of on
 board the old line of battle-ship.
 But in the case of their smaller stores
 the old Benbows were ever vigilant,
 and some of their precautions against danger would seem absurd in these
 days. For instance, nobody was ever permitted to enter the ships magazines
 except the captain, his executive off
 cer, the officer of the deck for the time being and the gunner and his mates.
 A marine sentry was posted on each
 magazine night and day. Whenever
 1t was necessary to open the magazines either for inspection or to perform
 work in them, such as shifting powder, filling cartridges or shells and making primers" it was an occasion of cere- mOny.
 First, a red pennant was run up at the miZzen-yard-arm as a warning to all boats to keep away. Every spark of fire in the ship was put out, every
 "glim" was abused" every pipe ex- l tinguished even the cooks galley and
 officers ranges had to have their fires
 extinguished. When certain that these prel1minarieS were attended to the eX-
 ecutive officer called upon the captain
 for the keys. The marine officer posted a corporalS guard at the cockpit hatch way to keep everybody away. Then, with the gunner and his mates at his heels, the executive officer would open the magazine to be entered. Before anybody could go in, however, he had to remove his shoes and put on felt | slippers; he had also to take from his 1 pockets every metal article he might have in them. The magazines were | lighted by heavy bullseye lanterns on
 the outside of the magazine bukheads, the bullSeyes shining through round holes in the bulkheads. To this day
 magazines are lighted in the same way, 1 the only change being the substitution l of electricity for whale oil.
 | Most of these old-time precautions
 are still in force, though modern pow
 der being no longer susceptible to
 sparks the rule of extinguishing all
 fires and lights when magazine is to | be opened is somewhat relaxed.
 | The destruction of the Maine will | lead to another elimination of danger | in our big battle-ships. It will put | stop to the carrying of gun cotton on
 shipboard. When the news of the
 Maine disaster first reached the naval
 officers who are familiar with the
 treacherous nature of this explosion, it was feared at once that gun cotton | was the guilty agent. When 1t became known that there were two explosions, lesser and a greater, conviction was certain that an explosion of inflam-
 mable gun cotton. spontaneously set l off, had, by the force of concussion, | set off the whole 5S,000 pounds of ! brown powder in the forward maga-
 zine. This was by no means an im- probable thing, and the conviction was
 streng thened when longitudinal section of the ship being published 1 showed that the smaller gun-cotton
 magazine abutted upon the top of the l quarter magazine, with only a five
 eighths steel bulkhead between them.
 Rear-Admiral Belknap was so im-
 pressed with the gun-cotton theory 1 that he inveighed in the strongest 1 terms against that element in a ships
 equipment, and declared he would
 never take a ship to sea with an
 ounce of gun cotton on board of her.
 Gun cotton is said to be safe when
 constantly kept wet, but when dry 1t
 is apt to explode If you look at it
 crosswise. As its only use on board
 ship is to fill torpedoes and as most of the big ships are being stripped of
 their torpedo equipments, the days of gun cotton on shipboard are probably l n11nhared As for the Maine the gum