Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1899-03-15
A DANGEROUS DUTY.
INSPECTING DOUBLE BOTTOMS IN
 OUR NAVAL VESSELS

t 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 laymsn 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 flown, contracted spaces that never see the light of day These include the eel 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 in order that those who have the care of them may do their duty well 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, cers. A permanent board of inspection is formed upon each ship, which must consist of one engineer and two line of- fcers 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 10 exist and to report to the commanding off cer, for transmission to the navy de- partment, the condition of the vessel in detail
 Uniforms are discarded while mak- ing these inspections, and clad in sea men's ordinary working suits these off, cers 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 plateE The paint of these compart- ments, softened by dampness in some places and by heat and the steam laden air of the boiler rooms in others, rubs of upon the working suits, and an hours crawling transforms the neat officer into a very sorry spectacle. ID sUme modern nayies 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 man should not be asked to go where sn off, Ger is not willing to lead. The result is that things always work" with the Americans and the efficiency of the fleet is assured.
 Numerous precautions must be taken to avoid the risk of losing life while performing this duty, for it is attended with no little danger. The atmosphere of confined spaces entirely or partly closed for a considerable length of time becomes robbed of its oxygen in the formation of rust and is soon made unfit to sustain life. If possible, such com partments are blown out with pure air led through a hose from 8 blower duct and all manhole plates removed before being entered. A lighted candle is al ways carried by the inspecting officer upon his crawling tour. If the candle burns dimly or seems upon the point of being extinguisbed, there is a deficiency of oxygen, and be will immediately seek the nearest opening leading from the compartment and leave it at once. Men are stationed at places as near as possible to him, so that they may hear his voice and render immediate assist ance in case of need. No one is allowed Q enter any confined space on board ship without an uncovered light, al though in addition Q portable electric light is carried frequently to render the inspection more thorough.
 It not infrequently happens that off cers and men become so wedged between bulkheads and beams while performing this duty as to make it extremely diff cult to remove them, and more than one officer of the navy is upon the retired list today because of permanent injury to his health contracted while perform ing this srduous labor. Because of the care exercised it is rare that life is lost in this service, but in one case at least the rashness of man proved fatal to him. One of the main boilers of the cruiser Newark, while flagship of the south Atlantic station, having been closed for month, while empty. in order to preserve it from deteriora- tion. the coppersmith of that vessel, an faithful man, thought its in- terior should be examined and, Rl- though warned repeatedly never to en- ter such boiler without an open light, removed an upper manhole plate and in upon the braces with an electric light He told no one that be was going into the boiler, and no one was stationed to assist him in case of need. His dead body was found half out and half in the boiler manhOle with the electric light still burning brightly within the boiler He had evidently Crawled in upon the braces, felt faint ness creeping over him and had en- 1eavored to regain the open air, but lost just as life lay within bis reach, and so died of asphyxiation
 The air in the boiler had been entire ly robbed of its oxygen by the iron of the shell in the formation of rust, and the residuum was unfit to breathe. 4 lighted candle was snuffed out immedi- stely upon being thrust into the boiler, md this condition prevailed until a lower msnhole plate was removed, when he heavy gas ran out as water might, and the air within soon came to be quite pure No more vivid illustration of the dangers to be encountered in the 1are of ships afioat and the precautions necessary to be taken in this duty could le given than this incident, which shows that shot and she'll and bursting steam pipes are not the only dangers | hat confront the officers and men of Uncle Sam's nsvy.-New York Sun.
 GOAL.
 The best coal for the lowest cash