The Monmouth inquirer., 1898-03-31

the 6-inch reserve magazine seemed to 7
him to have been blown away altogeth- !
er. The ragged edges of the steel floor
of the shellroom were turned up, and
Smith walked over them out into the !
mud Witness was questioned very !
closely as to the plates that he found !
blown inward and whether they might !
not have been bulkheads, but he insist
ed that they were the outside skin OF
the ship near the bottom and located
them accurately on the plans above the
middle of the 6-inch shellroom, where
''in big circle there is none of the out
side of the ship left at all.
Lieutenant Hoods Evidence.
Lieutenant John Hood, senior watch
officer, in charge of the powder division.
said he had inspected the magazines
and shellrooms, and there was nothing
stored there contrary to the ordnance
regulations. He was absolutely sure,
he said, that on the night of the cx-
ploson there was nothing being done
beyond the ordinary work down there.
These rooms had only been opened
on the day of the explosion to take the
temperature.
Mr.. Hood was officer of the deck part
OF the time, and while acting in that
capacity he had not noticed any hos
tile demonstration afioat In the way of
boats approaching the ship. He felt the
explosion rather than heard 1t, IT
sounded and felt like an under water
explosion, and he was at the time un-
| der the impression that it came from
the starboard, forward There were
| two explosions, following closely. Inn
| mediately following the fall of objects
| he saw the water in foam, much
wreckage and many groaning men. The
| first explosion was as if something had
| exploded under the vessel. He was sit
| ting far aft and supposed the explo-
sion was on the starboard side, but
that was only an impression, as his
view was obstructed. At the second ex-
plosion there was an upshoot Of fame,
Ills belief Is that the whole Of the for
ward part Of the superstructure that is
! now issihg on The Aterboard gangway
was in the air when the second explo=
! sion occurred. The second explosion
occurred on the starboard side.
Engineer Bowers Testimony.
Passed Assistant Engineer Bowers.
! senior assistant engineer to the chief,
was examined particularly as to the
against spontaneous combustion. He
said the order had been to inspect the
bunkers every day and log it. In case
Of the bunkers that had an escape door
they had always opened these doors.
He was on duty on the day before the
| explosion. -
The coal in bunker A 1s. he said, had
been stored either in Norfolk or New
| Nous x1ya hon np
1t and 1t was soft coal The bunkers
! Immediately after were empty. The door
leading from the bunker to the 1O-inch
lodgeroom was kept closed.
Asked his opinions as to what effect
heat generated in a bunker which had
become ignited by spontaneous combus-
tion in the bottom would have upon
the upper part of the bottom and the
bulkheads, Mr. Bowers said it could be
materially noticed
AS to the condition of the after boil
ers he said they were practically banked
and were in good condition, and he did
not consider that there was any danger
of their having too much pressure in for
4 safety on the evening of the explosion
| The safety valves blow, he said, at
about 130 pounds and only so to 100 was
carried for auxiliary purposes. They
had the usual thermostats in the bunk
| ers, but as these instruments did not
work very we'll the bunkers were exam
/ ined daily by feeling. Mr.. Bowers said
there had never been a fire from spon-
| taneous combustion in the bunkers
: They had once thought they had such
fire, but it was from a leaky exhaust
pipe from the ice machine.
i Chaplain Chidwick's Statement
Chaplain John P. Chidwicx of the
Maine was in his room on board on the
night Of the occurrence He said:
! u heard a loud report. and every
thing at once became dark. The lights
+ went out and there was crashing
sound of things falling. I rushed on
deck and got to the captains poop,
$ where / saw the captain giving his or
ders. After trying to cheer up the men
WHO were crying out in the water for
I help, l was ordered by Lieutenant Jun
gen to go into a boat, which I did. He
rowed around the ship and picked up
cne man. Then at the orders of the
captain we pulled for the City of Wash
ington.'
Asked how many shocks he felt, wit
ness said he remembered only one.
Lieutenant Holman's Views
Lieutenant George M. F.. Holman,
who performed the duty of navigator
and ordnance officer and was in charge
of the electric plant. testified that all
possible precaution was taken to pre-
vent accident. The temperature of the
magazines was taken daily One hun
dred and fifty or 160 tanks of powder
! were slowed in the forward 10-inch
magazines. representing rs or so charges.
The electric wires were separated
from the magazines by double plating
Of glass He noticed nothing at the