The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1905-07-27
CUNBGAT WRECKED
BY AN EXPLOSION
Bursting Boiler on Bennington Kills
80 and Injuries Many More.
SIXTEEN OTHERS ARE MISSING

Scenes On Board Were Terrible. the
After Cabin and the Vicinity Of the
Exploded Boiler Resembling a Char.
mel Households of Victims Mutt.
lated Almost Beyond Recognition.
Boiler. It 10 Said. Was Regarded A.
Unsafe.
San Diego, Cal, July 24-The ILL
fated gunboat Bennington lies almost
o. her beam end on Spreckels Point,
her hold half full of water, and the
of Fridays disaster is not yet
fully explained.
A careful compilation of casualties
was made and is as follows:
Buried in military cemetery at Fort
Rosecrans, At; dead now in morgue,
II; dead in freroom of Bennington,
still unrecovered, 2. Total dead, 60.
Injured at various hospitals, 40;
missing. 16. Grand total, 125. OF the
injured at hospitals seven or eight are
expected to die.
The warship had received orders
from the navy department at Washing
ton to sail for Port Hartford to meet
the monitor Wyoming and convoy the
monitor to Mare Island navy yard, San
Francisco.
Steam was up and everything was in
readiness for the departure of the Ben
nington, when the starboard boiler ex-
ploded with deafening roar. The ex-
plosion was terrific. People standing
on shore saw a huge cloud of steam
rise above the Bennington. Columns
of water were forced high into the
air. A dozen or Is men were blown
overheard by the force of the terrific
explosion. Captain Wentworth, who
was looking at the Bennington when
the disaster occurred, says he saw
human bodies hurled over 100 feet up
ward. The air was clOuded with smoke,
which enveloped the ship. When the
haze cleared away only a few men
could be seen on the decks, while .
number were floundering in the water.
A boat was lowered from the vessels
side and most of the men in the water
were picked up and taken on board.
Terrible Scenes On Ship.
On board the Bennington were pre-
sented terrible scenes. The force Of
the explosion had torn 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.
Blood and wreckage was distributed
over the entire ship, the after cabin
and that part of the ship adjacent to
the exploded boiler resembling a char
mel house.
The shock of the explosion pene-
trated every section of the ship, blood
and ashes being found as far rs the
stern of the captains cabin. Great
damage was done in all parts of the
vessel.
The boiler which exploded, it is said,
was regarded as unsafe Commander
Young stated that during a recent re-
turn from Honolulu the steam pres
sure was kept reduced in that par
ticular one.
At the time OF the accident Com
mander Lucien Young and Surgeon F.
f. Peck were on shore. The two off,
GERS, as soon as they learned OF the
disaster, hurried to the water front
Commander Young, as soon as he
reached the ship, gave orders that tn e
alright compartments be closed to
prevent the listing ship from sinking,
and that the magazine be flooded to
avert further explosions. He then
beached the ship at high tide.
The ferryboat Ramona, which was
crossing the bay at the time of the &C.
cident, changed its course and hurried
government launch General De Russey
and large number of other launches
and water craft which were near the
scene at the time also rushed to the
assistance of the Bennington.
Jumped Overheard to Escape Steam.
BY the time the Ramona reached the
Bennington many of the sailors Of the
bay to escape the scalding steam had
been rescued by small craft. The re
moval of the wounded from the shiI
was conducted in perfect order. Tht
crews of the De Russey and the othel
boats aided in picking up the wounded
sailors and transferring them to the
shore.
The news of the explosion spreat
over the city like wildfire. At first re
ports were that half the crew had beer
killed. The scene of hurrying ambu
lances and carriages of every descrip
ton which had been summoned addet
to the excitement. Every physician
who could be reached by telephone
was called to the water front Within
short time a score of physician
were attending the wounded.
Most of the dead and injured wer
taken ashore, where the undertaken
and physicians were assembled.
Bodies Terribly Mutiiated.
The bodies of many of the men take
from the wrecked interior OF the sh1
\ we're mutilated almost beyond recognl
ton. The faces Of many were covere
I with blood and ashes. Some bodie
, may never be identified.
Temporary quarters ashore were al
; ranged for the wounded, and 60 citizen
I volunteered and hurried in launches
the relief of those on the ship. Som
< Of the volunteers were unable to stan
the sickeniRg sight which met the
< Eaze on the Bennington. AS fast as tn
Z wounded could be removed they wei
\ hurried in ambulances, carriages. wa
. ons and automobiles to hospitals. FL
Q long time the hot steam prevent
. access to the space between decl
= where most of the dead bodies lay, a
It was not until late in the afterno<
. that tho last were removed from q
boiler rooms. Several bodies .were
. tightly wsdged in by a bulkhead tn
the woodwork had to be hewed aW,
. to free them.