Evening journal., 1898-08-02

have taught us a lesson. The last such
catastrophe was in 1882, when the gum
boat Dotterel was sunk ard 1i5 lives
lost through an explosion in one of her
magazines.
Since that time great attention has
been paid to the storing of high explo-
sives on board all the ships OF our
navy. The magazines are now huge
iron tanks, built separately into the
ship. The sides, bottom and crown of
these are made OF thick steel plates,
weighing ten pounds 10 the square
foot. These plates are lap jointed and
strongly riyeted.
Should any side OF the back OF coal
bunker be exposed, that side Is built OF
plates That weigh twelve and a-half
pouncs TO the square foot The addi-
uqy.al strength is in order to prevent
any explosion OF coal gas that may oo-
cur in the bunker from tearing open
the magazine. Further. the plating is
stinened with heavy bars that make all
parts of the surface OF equal strength.
should the magazine be placed near the
engines, or in any other place where
there Is a high temperature, It N coat
ed with asbestos. Electricity Is used
for lighting purposes.
All the lights are In what are called
light boxes" placed outside, the light
penetrating into the magazine Itself
through thick glass jlluminators, which
are protected by gratings of brass wire.
The keys of these boxes are kept by
the gunner Of the ship. Near them is a
stock of candles ready for use in case
the electric current should fail. En-
I trance to the magazine Is from the top,
but out Of what is termed the handling
room. The hatch OF this is in line with
the crown Of the magazine and the
aoor Of the room Is lead covered
For ventilating purposes air is pump
ed In at the bottom, and passes out
through a specially constructed up
take; but on very dry days air is let
into the magazine naturally, in order
to prevent too much moisture accumu-
lating on the cases, and thus causing
the powder to deteriorate. In an en-
gagement the magazines would be kept
closed down, so as to prevent the enc
my's shot from entering them, and air
| would be pumped in. or the men work
ing inside could live but few minutes.
! Before entering the magazine the men
have to leave behind them their knives,
pipes and matches, and to put on spe-
cial boots that are studded with brass
nails.
With the old-fashioned powder a
| spark caused by the friction OF a mai
in ones boot with the floor was suffi-
cient to cause an explosion. Nowadays
there Is far less danger Of accident
Many OF the explosives now used will
only ignite by detonatlon. Prismati'
and pebble powders, II set on fire, viii
ffrizzle away like a fuse, while cordite
II handled with ordinary care. Is cult
harmless.
All the bays g. O.. recessesl or
. marked with the number OF cases tha
are to be slowed in them, and they ar
/, lprevided with strong wooden upright
1 Ito prevent the cases from being throw
! out OF place by the motion OF the shiI
The doors Of all the magazines ope
Foutward. so that, II In a violent storm
1.-THE cases broke loose, they would no
block the entrance. No fuses, tubes o
, other articles that contain their owl
means Of ignition are ever slowed II
, magazines. All such articles are place.
in special storeroOms far away from
the powder. Quick firing ammunition
cartridges for machine guns and rife
, and dry gun cotton also have thei
! lseparate compartments All magazine
. are fitted with a flooding arrangement
, so that, should the ship catch fire, the.
b can be at once filled with water. NJ
/. one but a responsible officer is ever al
t lowed to handle the keys, and he mus
T hrst obtain permission from the cap
!. tain. The heaviest charges are place
n nearest the doors. In the old days th
:. powder monkey used to carry the car
q tridges from the magazine to the gun
|. In a case. Now the ammunition goe
s up a hydraulic lift that works on al
q mored shoots. Carrying it would be a
. impossibility, as some Of the charge
: weigh $50 pounds. Tanks eontainin
!. fresh water and drinking cups are fixe
= in the handling room for the use (
: the men, and all the floors are sprir
= kled with water before work begins.
= Speaking tubes lead from outside tn
. magazines (Which, by the way, ar
y usually below the water line) TO Oh
!. gun decks, the bridge and the connin
: tower.
!! There is a quarterly examination {
q the dry gun cotton to ascertain whethC
4 acid is accumulating. II it is, the ca
D plosive is at once saturated with waite
y Wet gun cotton, being a very safe mi
II terial, is kept in an ordinary stor'
n room, and is weighed periodically I
h detect deterioration, plug being Z
e the same time removed in order thi
) gas may escape. The war heads" {
n the Whitehead torpedoes. being file
q with wet gun cotton, are slowed
n themselves and tested in the manns
n just described. But the pistols
{. which contain dry gun cotton, and tt
Il detonators for igniting the wet gu
= cotton in the torpedoes are placed Z
= gether in a compartment that can
flooded II necessary.
~ The only other dangeroues expl'
sives carried by our warships are Ii
.. filed shells, which are given place
l. themselves. None but the most stul
:. born fuses are fitted to these, unlel
y they are at the gun and ready to 7
4 fred. Their dangerous nature is ind