Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-11-29
A DANGEROUS DUTY.
INSPECTING DOUBLE BOTTOMS IN
OUR NAVAL VESSELS

Are N@c@BB@ry 10 Prevent Loss Oh
Life During the Operation.
There ia 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
lees 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 oel-
iular 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 we'll
and 90 prevent the decay Of the ship q
system of inspection has been devised,
and the inspectors must be, under the
naval regulations. commissioned Off
GERS. A permanent board of inspection
In formed upon each ship. which must
consist of one engineer and two line Of
hoers. 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 anakelike 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
of upon the working suits. and an
hours crawling transforms the neat
officer into q 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 10
that "things always work" with the
Americans and the efficiency Of the feet
10 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 considerable length Of time
becomes robbed of its oxygen in the
formation of rust and is soon made unfit
Co sustain life. II possible, such COM
partments are blown out with pure air
led through q hose from blower duct
and all manhole plates removed before
being entered. A lighted candle 10 al
ways carried by the inspecting officer
upon his crawling tour. II the candle
burns dimiy or seems upon the point OF
being extinguished, there is deficiency
of oxygen, and he will Immediately
seek the nearest opening leading from
the compartment and leave IL at once.
Men are stationed at places as near as
possible to him, SO that they may hear
mis- voice and render immediate assist
anee In case of need. No one is allowed
to enter any confined space on board
ship without an uncovered light, al
though i'm addition q portable electric
light in carried frequently to render the
inspection more thorough.
II not infrequentiy happens that off,
GERS and men become so wedged between
buikheads and beams while performing
this duty as to make il extremely diff
cult to remove them, and more than one
officer OF the navy ia upon the retired
list today because Of permanent injury
10 his health contracted while perform
ing this arduoos labor Because of the
care exercised it is rare that life 10
lost I'm this service, but in one case at
least the rashness of man proved fatal
60 him. One of the main boilers OF the
cruiser Newark, while flagship OF the
south Atlantic station, having been
Eightly closed for month, while empty,
in order to preserve it from deteriora.
Eion, the coppersmith Of that vessel, an
energetic, faithful man, thought its in
terror ahonld be examined and, al
though warned repeatedly never to en-
Ger such boiler without an open light,
removed an upper manhole plate and
orawled i'm upon the braces with an
electric light He told ao one that he
was going into the boiler. and no one
was stationed to assist him In case OF
need. His dead body was found half ont
and half i'm the boiler manhole with the
electxjo light still burning brightly
within the boiler. He had evidently
crawled lin npon the braces. felt faint
mass creeping over him and had en-
deavored to regain the open air. but lost
consciousness just as life lay within
his reach. and so died of asphyxiation.
The air I'm the boiler had been entire
ly robbed of Its oxygen by the iron OK
the shell i'm she formation of rust, and
the residuum was unfit to breathe. A.
lighted candle was snuffed out immedt-
assly upon being tbrust into the boiler.
and this condition prevailed until a
lower Danhole plate was removed, when
the 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
care Of ships af1oat aad the precautions
necessary to be taken ia this duty could
be given than this incident, which
shows that shot and she'll and bursting
Ateasa pipes are not the only dangers
shat confront the officers and men 0
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