Smyrna times., 1899-02-01
SMYRNA. DEL. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FEBRUARY l. 1899
A DANGEROUS DUTY.
INSPECTING DOUBLE BOTTOMS IN
OUR NAVAL VESSELS.

1t Is Extremely Hazardous and Try
ing Work, and Many Precautions
Are Necessary to Prevent Loss of
Life During the Operation.
There is one phase of the ship life of
the American naval officer that is
scarcely known to the layman and that
can hardly be understood by him as he
looks upon the modern ship in all her
attractive cleanliness and meets her
neatly uniformed officers upon the spot
less upper deck. Not only are the parts
OF the ship in sight kept clean and free
from rust and decay, but also those far
down, contracted spaces that never see
the light of day. These include the Gel
lular compartments between the inner
and outer skins of the ship, known tech
nically as the "double bottom" and
other places that separate the magazines
and various built up structures within
| the ship from the outer skin.
These narrow compartments are espe-
cially susceptible to dampness and rust,
and i'll order that those who have the
care of them may do their duty we'll
and so prevent the decay of the ship a
system of inspection has been devised,
and the inspectors must be, under the
naval regulations, commissioned off
Gers A permanent board of inspection
is formed upon each ship, which must
consist of one engineer and two line of
ficers. The duty of this board is period
ically to make personal inspections of
all the parts of the ship, examine every
thing critically, suggest remedies for
any evils that may be found TO exist
and to report to the commanding Off
Ger, for transmission to the navy de-
partment, the condition of the vessel in
detail.
Uniforms are discarded while max
ing these inspections, and clad in sea
mems ordinary working suits these Off
GERS crawl upon all fours throughout the
length of the bottom of the ship, wrig-
gle snakelike through narrow openings
and examine with their own eyes every
inch of the surface of the thin steel
plates. The paint of these compart-
ments, softened by dampness i'll some
places and by heat and the steam laden
air of the boiler rooms in others, rubs
off upon the working suits, and an
hours crawling transforms the neat
officer into a very sorry spectacle. IL
some modern navies this duty is per
formed by the enlisted men, the officers
being excused from it, but in our navy
the feeling exists that an enlisted mar
should not be asked to go where an off
Ger is not willing to lead The result il
that "things always work" with the
Americans and the efficiency of the flee
is assured.
Numerous precautions must be takel
to avoid the risk of losing life Will,
performing this duty, for it is attended
with no little danger. The atmosphere
of confined spaces entirely or partly
closed for q considerable length of time
becomes robbed Of its oxygen in thr
formation of rust and is soon made unfi
to sustain life. If possible, such com
partments are blown out with pure al
led through hose from a blower due
and all manhole plates removed befor
being entered. A lighted candle is al
ways carried by the inspecting office
upon his crawling tour. If the candl
/ burns dimly or seems upon the point O
: being extinguished, there is deiicienc.
, of oxygen, and he will immediatel.
seek the nearest opening leading from
; the compartment and leave it at once
: Men are stationed at places as near a
, possible to him, SO that they may hea
his voice and render Immediate assist
ance in case of need. No one is allower
J to enter any confined space on boar
ship without an uncovered light, al
though in addition a portable electri
, light is carried frequently to render tn
inspection more thorough.
1t not infrequently happens that off
: GERS and men become so wedged betwee
bulkheads and beams while performing
this duty as to make it extremely diff
cult TO remove them, and more than on
officer of the navy is upon the retire
list today because of permanent injur
to his health contracted while perform
ing this arduous labor. Because of th
care exercised it is rare that life
lost in this service, but in one case q
least the rashness of "a man proved fata
to him. One of the main boilers of tn
cruiser Newark, while flagship of tn
south Atlantic station, having bee
tightly closed for month"; while empty
in order to preserve it from deteriora
| khn nf fhof upcGpl
energetic, faithful man, thought its IL
terror should be examined and, a.
though warned repeatedly never to en-
ter Such boiler without an open light
removed an upper manhole plate an
J crawled in upon the braces with a
electric light. He told no one that b
was going into the boiler, and no on
was stationed to assist him i'll case
need His dead body was found half ou
and half in the boiler manhole with til
electric light still burning bright
within the boiler. He had evidentl
crawled in upon the braces, felt fain
ness creeping over him and had ell
deavored to regain the open air, but Io'
consciousness Just as life lay with
MS reaC0, anu hU ul6u VI dSPhJ AA"haOA
The air in the boiler had been entire
ly robbed of its oxygen by the iron
the she'll in tho formation of rust, an
the residuum was unfit to breathe.
lighted candle was snuffed out immed
ately upon being thrust into the boilel
and this condition prevailed until
lower manhole plate was removed, 0he
the heavy gas ran out as water nigh
and the air within soon came to
quite pure. No more vivid Illustrate
of the dangers to be encountered III Il
care of ships afloat and the precautioi
necessary to be taken in this duty coul
be given than this incident, whiC
shows that shot and shell and burstiI
steam pipes are not the only DANCE
that confront the officers and men
Uncle Sans navy.-New York Sun.
Crows.
There is some reason for calling {
owl the bird of wisdom, and yet the
is cause for wondering if the crow
not mentally his superior. Crows a
not disheartened by the gloom of la
autumn. If the fog is too dense to I
through it, they rise above it or tr
about the ground, discussing the stu
tion with their fellows. Is this spea
ing too positively? / have long be,
familiar with an observing man WI
has lived all his days within sight al
hearing of crows. He claims to unde