, 1899-03-06
A DANGEROUS DUTY.
INSPECTING DOUBLE BOTTOMS Nv
OUR NAVAL VESSELS.

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 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
GERS. A permanent board of inspection
is formed upon each sHAwhich must
consist of one engineer andtwo 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 he avy 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 snnkelike 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 a 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 go 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 a considerable length of time
becomes robbed of its oxygen in the
formation Of rust and is soon made unfit
to sustain life. II possible, such com
partments are blown out with pure air
led through a hose from a blower duct
and all manhoie 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 extinguished, there is a deficiency
Of oxygen, and he 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
anoe in case of need. No one is allowed
to enter any confined space on board
ship without an uncovered light, al
though in addition a portable electric
light is carried frequently to render the
inspection more thorough.
1t not infrequently happens that off,
GERS and men become SO wedged between
bulkheads and beams while performing
this duty as to make 1t extremely diff
cult to remov them, and more than n
officer of the navy is upon the retired
list today because Of permanent injury
to his health contracted while perform
ing this arduous labor. Because Of the
care exercised it is rare that a life is
lost in this service, but in n case at
least the rashness 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 a month, while empty,
in order to preserve it from deteriora-
tion. the Coppersmith Of that vessel, an
energetic. faithful man, thought its in
terror should be examined and, al
though warned repeatedly never to en-
ter such . boiler without an open light,
removed an upper manhole plate and
orawled in upon the braces with an
electric light. He told no one that he
was going into the boiler, and no one
stationed to assist him in case Of
need. His dead body was found half out
electric light still burning brightly
within the boiler. He had evidently
craw!ed in upon the braces, felt a faint
ness creeping over him and had an
deavored to regain the open air, but lost
consciousness just rs life lay within
his 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. A
lighted candle was snutfed out immedi-
ately upon being thrust into the boiler,
and this condition prevailed until a
lower manhole plate was removed, when
the heavy gas ran out as water might,
and the air within soon came to be
quite pure. No mora vivid illustration
of the dangers to be encountered in the |
care Of ships afioat and the precautions
to he taken in this duty could
given thsn this incident, which
hows hat shot and shell and bursting
team pipes are not the only dangers
hat confront the officers and men of