The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1905-07-28


half mast, her hold filled with Is feet
of water, the United States warship
Bennington lies beached on the shores
of San Diego harbor. Thirty-nine of
her crew lie dead at city morgues, the
fate of dozen more is as yet undeter-
mined, 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 half-past ten
o'clock Friday morning. Twenty-one
dead bodies lie ranged with gruesome
precision at Davis & Anderson's
morgue. The stark forms were out
lined in immaculate winding sheets,
the terrible results of scalding steam
upon the faces plainly showing, though
fully hidden beneath the folds. Thir-
teen victims were stretched upon i'm
provised biers at Johnson & ConnelPs
morgue, while five others were to be
seen at Woolman & Bradley's. At the
two latter places the work of the ex-
plosion was terribly in evidence. The
face of every victim is SCARED and
scalded, in many cases almost beyond
recognition. At Agnew hospital are
many injured, suffering in almost
every instance from scalded bodies.
Several are expected to die.
The Victims.
The following is an official revised
list of the casualties. The total num-
Der known to be dead so far is 80: F.
w. Brown, John Newcombe, B. A. Hill
ger, A. Bensel, A. Kamerer,. w. c. Per-
ry, G. Rushing, A. H. Scroggre, C.
Haagbloom, r. B. Carr, S. F. Saun-
ders, E. Dresch, M. G. Quinn, G. J..
Kuntz, ]. Hilshier, j. Brownlee, F..
Geiss, Ensign N. X. Perry, nineteen
unidentified.
The total seriously wounded number
%, and in addition IS others were less
seriously hurt.
Boiler Explodes.
The Bennington at the time of the
accident was lying in the stream just
off the commercial wharf at the foot
of H. street. The warship had received
orders from the navy department at
Washington to sail for Port Hartford,
where she was to meet the monitor
Wyoming and convoy that vessel to
Mare Island navy yard. Steam was up
and everything was in readiness for
sailing when suddenly, and without
any warning whatever, the starboard
forward boiler exploded with a deafen-
ing roar. The explosion was terrific.
People standing on the shore saw a
huge cloud of white steam rise above
the Bennington. Columns of water
were hurled into the air, and for dis
lance of nearly twice the height of the
spars of the vessel.
Boats Go to Rescue.
1t was Immediately apparent that an
awful disaster of some kind had hap
pened on board the warship. The fer
ry boat Ramona was coming across
the bay at the time of the accident.
Capt. Bertelsen, of the Ramona, imme-
diately gave orders to change the
course of the boat and, instead of con-
tinuing his trip to the San Diego side
stricken warship. The tug Santa Fee,
which was tied up at the commercial
wharf, the launch Mckinley, the gov
eminent launch General De Russey and
a large number of other launches and
water craft which were near the scene
at the time, also rushed to the assist
ance of the Bennington and endeay-
ored to lend every assistance posi-
BILE.
By the time the Ramona had arrived
many of the sailors of the Bennington
who had jumped into the bay to es-
cape the scalding steam had been res
cued, and the removal of the wounded,
which already had been commenced,
was being conducted in perfect order.
Crews of the Santa Fe, De Russey and
Mckinley, and the other boats present
lent yeomen aid in picking up the
wounded sailors and transferring them
to the shore. At the time of the acct
dent 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, where Commander Young imme-
diately took charge.
A Terrible Scene.
: On beard 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