The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-02-01
4 DAM: ERGtfS DUTY.
INSPECTING COJeLE LOTIONS IN
OUR NAVAL Vessels

arc Necessary to Prevent Loss OF
lac Er-ins: the Operations.
There is one phase of the ship life Of
the American naval officer that is
scarcely known to tic layman and that
car hardly tc understood by him as be
LOCKS upon Tie modern ship in all her
attractive cleanliness AID meets her
neatly uniformed officers upon tie spot
less upper deck. Net c:,y are the parts
Of tie ship IN shit Fc.:t clean and free
from rust and decay. Int also those far
down. contracted spaces that never see
tie light CT day These include the cell
lular compartments between the inner
and outer slsius OF the skip, known tech
u;cally as the "dcuble bottom" and
other places ttat separate the magazines
and various buii; ~ structures within
the ship from the outer skin.
The:e narrow compartments are espe-
cially susceptible 10 dampCess and rust,
and in order that those who have the
care Of them ~ 10 their duty well
and 50 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
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 to exist
and to report 70 the commanding Off
Ger, for transmission to the navy de-
uartment, the condition Of the vessel in
detail.
Uniforms are discarded while max
ing these inspections, and clad in sea-
mems ordinary working suits these OH
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 in 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 very sorry spectacle. In
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 man
should not be asked to 60 where an Off
Ger is not willing to lead. The result IS
that "things always work with the
Americans and the efficiency of the feet
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 corsidera bic length Of time
becomes robbed Of its oxygen in the
formation Of rus: and rs soon made unit
to sustain life If possible, such COM
partments are blown cut with pure air
led through hose from blower duct
and all marhole plates removed before
being entered A lighted candle IS al
ways carried by the inspecting othcer
upon his crawling tour. If the candle
burns dinly or seems upon the point OF
being extip gu shed, there is a deficiency
of oxygen, AID be will Immediately
seek the nec--55a5 opening leading from
the compartment and leave it at once.
Men ere stationed at places as near as
possible to kim, go that they may hear
his voice and render immediate assist
auce in case &C Iced No one is allowed
70 e.:.er a..y confined space on board
ship withc--. &a uncovered light, al
though in addition a portable electric
l;sbr IS carrie. frequently to render the
inspection more thorough.
Il ::c5 iufrequently happens that OH
GERS ;.nd 3cn become so wedGed between
bulkheads aad beams while performing
this duty as 70 make it extremely diff
cult to remove them, and more than one
officer CT the navy is upon the retired
list today because CT permanent injury
TO bis health contracted while perform
ing this artluous labor Because Of the
care exercised it * rare that a, life Is
lost in this service, but in one case at
least the rashress Of a man proved fatal
to him One of the main boilers, OF the
cruiser Newark, while flagship OF the
south Atlantic station. having been
tightly closed for q month, while empty,
ticn, the ccppersinish Of that vessel, an
energetic tai;kfu! nlaa, thorght Its ~
terrier s.lc;,:i lie examined ana, a.
though waved repeatedly never to en-
ter such JG!ler without an open light,
removed ~ UPPER mGnLcle plate and
crawIca IL urcu tie braces with an
electric !l3i:t IIo tGld 10 one that he
was going into the boiler, and no cne
was stationed to assist hlm II case OF
Deei His dead kody was fclnd half out
and HALL IN tI:a boiler i.,anhaic with the
elsc.!:c li2bs still burning brightly
:witaiu tie boiler t.e had evidently
crawled III uDan the braces, felt faint
ness c:ecu,ug crar him and had en-
deavore:! 20 REGAIN the open air. hae lost
consci,;asneSs Just as lie lay Within
his reach, aud SO died CT asphyxlation
The air III lIe boilsr had been entire
ly robbed Of It's oxygen by tie iron OF
the shell; III tie Formation! CT rust, ena
the resiGcur! ,:'::.s CDtit to breathe. \
lighted caE;.:e was Snutfed out immeal
a,ely upou being thrust lnto the boiler.
and this condition prevailed until
lower maDhole plate was removed, when
che heavy gas ran out aS water mlscs
and the air within soon came a. be
quite pure No more vivid illustration
of the dangers to be encountered III the
care of ships aAaat and the precautions
necessary to lie .aE:en in this duty could
be given than this Incident. wh':a
shows that s:.ot ard shell u:Id hnT$:l.
steam I:res are nos 'be o"ly da"e;:5
ti!at confront tEe o:..;ce:S and MG. Il