The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-07-22
Boilers on Gunboat Ben- nington Blow Up Kill ing and Wounding
 All on Board.
DEAD NUMBER THIRTY NINE
MANY OTHERS so TERRIBLY IN JURED THAT THEY
 WILL DIE.

worst Disaster to an American Warship
 Since BattIeship Maine Was Mined in Havana Harbor-Magazines Flooded
 and vessel Beached to Save Her from
 sinking--PreparatiOns Being Made to
 Get Under Way When Explosion Oc-
 curs-BodIes Hurled One Hundred
 Feet in the Air-ShOcking Scenes
 Boilers Considered Weak-Engineer omcers Had Reported Them in Poor ondition-Pressure Kept Down.
 San Diego, July 21.-One officer and thirty-nine men of the crew of the Ben nington were killed and 100 sailors were injured, some fatally at 10 o'clock this morning by boiler explosion that dis abled the warship in San Diego harbor. Fifteen sailors are missing. There were nearly IS officers and 1S1 men aboard- the entire complement--when the acci- dent occurred and many were buried or forced to jump into the sea by the ter rife explosion, which lifted part of the deck and compelled the beaching of the ship. E.
 The Bennington at the time of the &C., rident was lying in the stream just off the Commercial wharf at H street. Tha ship had received orders from the navy department at Washington to sail this morning for Port Harford to meet the monitor Wyoming, and col-voy her to Mare island navy yard, San Francisco. Steam was up and everything was in readines for the departure of the Ben nington when the starboard forward boiler exploded with deafening roar. The explosion was terrific People standing on shore saw a huge cloud of steam rise above the Bennington. Col 1Inrls of water were forced high into the air. A dozen or more men were blown overheard by the force of the blast.
 Captain wentworth, who was looking at the Bennington when the disaster oc- cured, says he saw human bodies hurl- ed over 100 feet upward. The air was clouded with vapor, which enveloped the ship. When the haze cleared away, only a few men could be seen on tha . decks, while a number were founder Aine in the water. A boat was lowered from the vessels side and most of the traen in the water were picked up and taken on board.
 ! On board the Bennington were pre- sented terrible scenes. The force Of the explosion had torn great hole in the starboard side of the ship and the vessel was already commencing to list. A section of the upper deck was car ried away from stem to stern. Blood and wreckage were strewn over the en- fire shin, the after cabin and that part of the ship adjacent to the exploded boiler resembling a charnal house.
 Great damage was done in all parts of the vessel. The boiler which ex- ploded, it is said, was regarded as par tially unsafe. Commander Young stat ed that during @ recent return from Honolulu, the steam pressure was kept reduced in that particular one. At the lime of the accident Commander Lucien Young and Surgeon F. E. Peck were on shore, The two officers as soon as they learned of the disaster, hurried to the water front.
 Commander Young, as soon as ne reached the ship, gave orders that the air tight compartments be closed to prevent the listing ship from sinking and that the magazines 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 accident, changed its course and hur- ried to the aid of the stricken war ship, The government launch Gener- al DeRussey and a large number Of .otI1er launches and water craft which were near the scene at the time also rushed to the assistance of the Ben- nington.
 By the time the Ramona reached the Bennington many of the sailors who had Jumped into the bay, to escape the acalding steam, had been rescued by small. craft. The removal of the wounded from the ship was conducted in perfect order The crews of the De Russey and the other boats aided in nicking up the wounded sailors and transferring them to shore.
 The news of the explosion spread over the city like wildfire. At first re- ports were that half the crew had been killed The hurrying ambulances and carriages of every description, which had been summoned, added to the ex citenent Every physician who could be reached by telephone was called to the water front.
 Within a. short time score of physi- clans were attending the wounded.
 Most of the dead and injured were taken ashore, where the undertakers and physicians were assembled.
 The bodies of many of the men talk en from the wrecked interior of the ship were mutilated almost beyond recognition. The faces of many were covered with blood and ashes. Some / bodies may never be identified.