The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-09-27
THE TRENTON
INQUIRY.

Philadelphia, Sept, ,27.-Coroner Du9"l
and Jury OF six experts yesterday began
the inquest into theIcity Of Trenton dis.
sster, by which twenty .iour persons lost
their lives, and after listening for more
than five hours. to long army OF witnesses
the case was continued until this after
noon at 80 O'Clock. Tho most import
ant points In tho investigation were
brought In during tho examination OF
United StRteI Inspector of Steam Boil
ers Christopher Vert, and his assistant,
David H. Howard.
When the boiler Is built the builder Is
supposed to procure from the local inspec
tor . fusible plug, which, when the steam
pressure goes above q certain figure, VIII
soften and fly out. The plug of the City
OF Trenton's boiler did not fly out. 1t was
also ascertalned that the inspectors did
not know what grade OF plug was In the
Trenton's port boiler. and that 1t was not
made Of Biana tin, the material required
by law.
This drew from the Coroner the com-
ment that $50 far as this investlRa,ion
has gone 1t appears to bs perfectly clear
that the Department OF the Federal Gov
for tho IN nspection of steam boilers has not
afforded proper facilities for inspection.
Two men in this district have been requir
ed to try aud do tho work Of ut least
twenty
In calling Captain George Ward, Of tho
steamer Twilight the Coroner explained
that owing to certain statements whlch
had been made In public prints and othef
wise, Captain Ward had been placed In
an awkard position. and In Justice to him
he felt bounl to call upon him to testify.
'.As we neared 1acony," said tho wit
moss, Il saw the Trenton coming. Sho
was about IF ecu minutes late. The Fan
ME, q freight boat of he same line. was
aheai Of us. At 2.40 o'clock the maze
came TO me aud said Tho City Of Tren
ton ha. put in to Torresdale wharf. There
must be some trouble We were two
and n half miles from her at the time, and
I saw the Fannie whistle and turning to
80 back to the Trenton. spoke to the
roinQ to the Trenton's aid, l remarked
that did not think 1t was necessary to
40 to her assistance aud expressed the
opinion that 1t was only some trivial mis-
han. never hud an idea the boiler had
exploded and did not hear oi IL until l
vot to Trenton Had heard of it | would
have returned promptly to her aid
Captain Henry Wilson. OF the Fannie,
also testified and though be bore ont Cap
tain Ward IN the main, no stated that he
asked Captain Ward to return to all the
Trenton, but that h, got no answer. In
reply to a question from the jury Captain
Wilson said lie did not think Captain
Ward could have saved any lives had he
pone to the aid of the burning steamsr.
Foreman William Schaubel of Neafle
g. Levy's shipyard, who is in charge OF
the boiler shops testified as to the con
struction of tho boilers. lie said they
were four months under construction,
and oil the plates were inspected by tho
n, i,a Dansa1 ThR
boilers were built according 10 the speci :
tcations.
Christopher Vert, United States lnspec
tor of Marine Boilers for the Second Dis
trlct, was the next witness, and In answer
to the Coroner said that since January !
he had inspected about 100 boilers In
Cramps yard alone, and probably 400 al-
together in the district He made an IN
spection of The Trenton's boilers, and said
they were fully equipped and the SAFETY
yalyos were set at 175 pounds. dc made
an examination of the port boiler after
the nc ccident and found that, though the
crown sheet had blown out evidently by
a tremendous pressure OF steam, the 1us-
lille Mug had not been affected. He pro
duooi the plug which had failed to fuse
and handed 1t 10 the foreman OF tho jury.
Asked his opinion as to the cauae to he
explosion, Mr.. Vert replied:
From tho condition OF the boiler
have no doubt the explosion was due to
tho water running too low in the boiler ;
If the water ran 80 low in the boiler,
how do YOU account for the fusible plug
NOT blowing outr asked Foreman Vau'
Mr., Vert could not account for II. ex
cent by lntimating that some plugs Will
fuse and some will not.
Tho Jurors made tschaicai exAmina
tion OF Mr.. Wort bringing out the vari
ous points In reference to the fusible
plugs as to the material to be used In max
inc them and the way they were to be
graded.
"Do you know the composition Of the
fusible plugs which you supply to boiler
builders?" asked the Coroner.
mo" replied Mr.. Verts,
!Don't you know that the Board of
Underwriters are very particular to have
Mugs that will fly of the automatic fire
sprinklers at certain temperature'"
II believe they are
"Don't you think the Government ou2h
to be at leRst nH much CONCERNED apouI
boiler plugs2"
II would think So
Mr.. Verts admitted that there was q
difference of opinion between himself and
Captain Thompson. the United States
hull inspecter, 60 the oauss Of tho ex
plosiou, The two constituted the Board
OF Inquiry OF the Federal authorities and
they forwarded two reports to their super
iors Because these reports varied they
were sent back.
You did not agree them said tho Coro-
No, sir, said Mr.. verfs.
Elisha Webb. Jr., OF Webb & Sons, tes-
tilted that his firm made tho fusible plug
for the City Of Trenton. He admitted
that tho plug was not made of Blanca tin
as required by law, but said 1t consisted
Of antimony, tin and lead. He said the
material was the best made and had OIL
ways given satisfaction.
Captain Worrell. Of the City Of Tren-
ton, reiterated his already published
story of the explosion He has been n
capteln for 80 years, AMI denied that his
boat was racing with theTwilight or that
It had nov,r raced The boat was going
13 knots an hour. when tho explosion oc.
CURED.
Chief Enctneer Edward Murphy OF
Wilmington, Del, testified that hs had
been licensed engineer on the Delaware
for 10 years. We wero carrying between
1bb and l6O pounds of steam when the ex.
plosion occurred. he said. Our safety
valves were set Tor l75 but they always
blew out at 165. There was ~ inche, OF
water over the crown sheet two minutes
before The explosion. examined tho gage
cocks and saw for myself. John Bryson.
the oiler, was on warch in tho boiler room.
I stepped out for u moment. and then tho
explosion occurred.
The jurors put Murphy through long
examine 1ation as to his knowledge OF the
engines and boilers, but hc seemed to
hold his own.
Oiler Bryson also testified, md pos'ivs-
lv denied that he ever stated to Vespasian
Ellis or anyone else, on the day Of the OK.
ploslon, that tho disaster was due to hav.
Ing the water run too low in tho boiler.
Al the concl usion OF his to ,timony tho
Court adjourned until this afternoon.
Brotherhood Meeting