Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1905-07-27
EXPLOSION OF BOILER CREATES
TERRIBLE HAVOC ON GUN.
BOAT BENNINGTON.
IN ADDITION TO THOSE KILLED
SIXTY OF THE CREW ARE
BADLY INJURED.
VESSEL sEAcHED IN SAN DIEGO
iARboH AS a RESULT Or
THE ACCIDENT.

San Diego, Cal, July 22.-Broken
and blackened, with her flag flying at
half mast, her hold filled with fifteen
feet of water, the United States gun
boat Bennington lies beached on the
shores of San Diego harbor. Nearly
sixty of her crew lie dead at city
morgues, one is missing and three score
are stretched upon beds of pain in
various hospitals. This is the result
of the explosion which wrecked the
trim little naval craft and wrought
such terrible havoc among her crew
at 1920 o'clock Friday morning.
The Bennington at the time of the
accident was lying In the stream of
the Commercial wharf at the foot of
H street. The warship had received
orders from the navy department at
Washington to sail Friday morning
for Port Hartford. where she was to
meet the monitor Wyoming and con-
voy that vessel to the Mare Island
hayward. Steam was up and every
thing was In readiness for sailing
when suddenly and without any
warning whatever, the starboard for
ward boiler exploded with deafening
roar.
1t was Immediately apparent that a
terrible disaster had happened on the
Bennington. The ferryboat Pomona
was coming across the bay at the time
and her captain Immediately gave or
ders to change the course of the boat
and hurried to the assistance of the
stricken warship. The tug Santa Fee,
which was tied up at the Commercial
wharf, the launch Mckinley, the gov
eminent launch Derussey, and a large
number of launches and water craft
which were near the scene at the time
Rushed to the Assistance
of the ship. BY the time the Ramona
had arrived, many of the sailors of the
Bennington who had jumped into the
bay to escape the scalding steam had
been rescued and the removal of the
wounded, which had already begun,
was being conducted in perfect order.
Crews of the Santa Fe, Derussey, Nc
Kinley and the other boats lent yeo-
man aid In picking up the wounded
sailors and transferring them to the
shore.
On board the Bennington were pre-
scented terrible sights. The force of
the explosion had blown a great hole
in the starboard side of the ship and
the vessel was already commencing
to list. A section of the upper deck
was carried away from stem to stern.
Debris and wreckage were distributed
over the entire ship, the forward cabin
and deck In the vicinity of the boiler
resembled q charnel house. Over It
ell hung the cloud of white steam,
which drifted slowly toward the Coro-
made shore.
Most of the dead and injured were
taken ashore, where the undertakers
and physicians were summoned to
take charge of the dead and minister
to the needs OF the living The bodies
Of the men killed In tho interior of
the ship were mutilated almost be-
yond recognition. The faces Of many
were covered with blood and gashes.
As fast as possible the wounded
were hurried In ambulances, auto
mobiles. carriages. etc.. to the hos
pitfalls. 1t was not until late In the
afternoon that the last of the bodies
was removed from the boilerroom.
Some of the bodies were tightly
wedged In by bulkhead. The wood
work had to be hewn away to free
them.
The boiler which exploded, II Is
said, was regarded as unsafe. Com
mander Young stated that during a
recent return trip from Honolulu the
pressure was kept reduced during the
entire passage.