New-York tribune., 1905-07-22
lFRon THE TRIBUNE suRnAu.I

news came in the form of brief-too brief. the
naval officials thought-dispatch from Com
mander Lucien Young, one OF the best known
officers of the service. and the commanding Of
ficer of the gunboat Bennington.
1t stated that there had been boiler explo-
sion on board and that nearly every one was
killed or wounded" 1t was reasoned that Young
himself had escaped, else his name would not
have been signed to the message. This was all
the officers in the Navy Department had to work
upon, but two of theDl--Captaln William p Poc
ter acting chief of the bureau IN the absence OF
Rear Rdmiral @. A. Converse and Lieutenant
Commander P. B. Wilson. who has charge OF the
enlisted mems division and records-remained
late tonight after the usual hour for closing,
and assisted body of clerks in the compilation
of the names OF the officers and crew or the
Bennington. together with those Of the next OF
kim This latter Information. given out to the rep
resentatives Of the newspapers later in the night
will serve as tho list OF names and addresses to
some of which probably tomorrow the acting
Secretary of the Navy, Mr.. Darling, will send
out kilograms announcing the death of hus-
band father or brother. Nothing OF this kind
can or will be DONE of course, until the COM
manding officer Of the Bennington sends 10
Washington by wire the names of the identineo
dead. 1t is a sad duty, which does not deVolVe
upon the officials very often. fortunately, and 1t
rarely comes TO them in such a measure as IS
invoked by the calamity of to-day al San Diego
The Navy Department was the less prepared
for the incident, because the mornings dis
patches included message from San Diego
signed by Commander Young. giving the for
NAL teIegraphic word which indicated that the
Bennington was leaving that port on it's trip
up the coast toward San Francisco. 1t was at
once conjectured that he had returned 10 his
ship from the telegraph office, was about 10
return, when the explosion occurred.
WAITING FOR THE LIST OF DEAD.
The dearth of information tonight in Wash
ington, sent in official form from San Diego,
was attributed to the fact that Commander
Youngs first duty, of course. was to the sur
vivors and the care of the bodies Of those whose
lives had been lost IN the disaster TO his ship.
The naval officials did not expect him to en-
tighten them in regard to the circumstance De-
yond the first advices obviously sent in the
form Of hurried message, written under great
excitement, with an imperfect knowledge of the
extent of the accident and less information of
its cause.
The department will be ready to give the
dreadful news to the relatives and friends OF
the dead as soon as the verified list OF the
losses come from Commander Young. In the
mean time, the officers are discussing the prob
eDle elements Wnlcn contributed to the disaster.
No knows how it happened or. in the
opinion OF the naval engineers Is likely to know
how it happened. The engineering records OF
the ship disclose nothing Of the character of q
menace and Acting Secretary Darling emphati-
caly denied tonight to the Tribune correspond
ent that there was anything in the current ru-
NOR that the boilers of the Bennington had once
been condemned. They were old boilers but
were by no means on the verge of the unservice-
able. They were installed in 1891 when the shin
was first placed in commission, along with her
sister ship. the Concord. Since that time, as
late 1901, the tubes had been renewed, SO
that while the boilers were not better than
when they were new, they were at least as good
new. from the engineering point of view. Be
sides. it only last March that there was
thorough examination Of the ships boilers, and
In May they were reported as in excellent con-
dition. having been repaired for the present
cruise. 1t was declared at the Navy Depart
ment to- night by those conversant with the con-
ditions on board the Bennington that the ac-
cident could not be attributed to any defect in
the boiler equipment. They represented true
and tried type with which there has been No
more trouble than all boilers give everywhere
under the most favorable conditions. 1t will re-
quire a special knowledge OF the local conditions
to ascertain If there were unusual surroundings
which contributed to the explosion.
ENsIGNs IN CHARGE OF ENGINEERS
An early action by the Navy Department will
be the detail of court OF inquiry to investigate
the accident and its causes. and place the re-
sponsibility therefor. In this respect It is for
tunate that the engineer officer of the ship En-
sign Charles T. Wade. young line officer de-
tailed in that capacity, is reported OF the
survivors. His testimony ought to throw much
light on the situation. II there is any information
obtainable on the subject from any Of those who
witnessed the accident. In such a case it is
probable that the court of inquiry would be
obliged to find that the accident was one OF those
for which no one may be held responsible since
it is likely, that all the usual precautions OBJ
served in the fire and engine rooms OF ships of
war were strictly observed
No one was bold enough to suggest that the
accident might not have happened II there we're
still an engineer corps. but it is likely such
theory will be advanced at the proper time, by
those officers who hold that of the greatest
defects in the naval personnel to-day is the lack
of specialized engineers in the service and the
dependence upon officers Of necessarily limited
experience with machinery and boilers.
The memory of naval officers does not furnish
similar instance of naval disaster; certainly
nothing Of the kind has occurred in recent
years and in the list of naval fatalities. The
Maine horror. in Havana Harbor supplies the
nearest parallel. There have been accidents on
board ships aplenty where boiler tube expIo-
sions have resulted in loss or life. This is COM
paratively common on land and sea, but 1t is
most unusual that the boilers OF a ship of war,
In time Of peace, at the beginning OF a voyage,
should explode with such appalling and wide
spread damage. Altogether the circumstance has