The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-08-05
THE BENNINGTON DISASTER.
The Opinion and Conclusions of a Mar.
thine Critic.

The Opinion and Conclusions of a Mar
thine Critic.
The deplOrable disaster on the Uni
ted States warsAip Bennington could
not have occurred on any merchant
steamer; it would not have occurred
had the navy system in regard to the
care and operation of ships machinery
been half as good as that which OBJ
| tains in any merchant service; it would
not have been conceivable had SINH
lar system in regard to engineers in
| charge on naval ships been in force as
| is maintained in every merchant line.
1t may be further remarked that had
| the condition Of the Bennngton's boil
| ers, as reported, been known to exist
on any merchant steamer. no crew
could have been got to stay on board of
! her.
1t is certainly extraordinary that
| government which imposes all sorts of
stringent inspection requirements upon
| merchant vessels does not in its de-
partment of The navy exact similar eff
! ficiency. One not infresuently hears
of a merchant steamer putting back to
| ENth hAANL4 [" N4AS vi - ONAb SNNS~NtS~
| some flaw has been discovered in the
engines or machinery and repairs have
| become necessary to insure safety, but
one never 9?ears in this generation of d
| boiler explosion. One often finds in
ocean steamers boilers that are sixteen,
| eighteen or twenty years old and still
in active service, but one never hears
of boilers in active sea service with re-
| duced pressure because they were unfit
to stand the strain, as was the case in
| the Bennington. 4 merchant steam
| ships boilers are required to be COM
petent to do the work for which they
We're designed; they must do it, or the
! ship cannot perform her service, so
when necessary new boilers are in
stalled.
So Uncomfortable was the occurrence
on the Bennington to practical, marine
engineers and official inspectors in this
city that they at first refused to believe
it, imagining that a magazine of am
munition had more likely exploded,
An explanation that the safety valve
might have stuck seems almost incred-
IDLE in these days, though possible a
generation ago; consequently the COM
petent critics have been puzzling their
brains to comprehend the cause.
It seems possible that through care
lessness sudden force from other boil
ers was turned into this weak one, thus
causing the disaster but this should
not have been the case with skilled
men in charge. Furnaces usually he
come wasted in the line of the fire base
or, to use a common phrase, between
the line of the heat and the cooler line
of the ash pit. That is generally the
place where the first weakness sets in
1t is also possible that the boilers may
not have been as clean as they might
be, and shOrtness of water might like
wise have occurred. Whatever may
have been the cause, however, Is pfac-
tically immaterial now.
Secretary Bonaparte will find that in
merchant steamers engines and boilers
are continuously and repeatedly inspec-
ted by the surveyors to Lloyds ana
kindred institutions in order to main
tain their class, whereas the navy IS a
law unto itself in regard to inspection!
1t will also be found that the merchant
services which are most ett1ciently
managed are likewise most ecOnoml~
cally managed, both in regard to ma
chinery and men; the regular limited
staff of the engine room consequently
know every smallest part Of their ma
cainery: and there Is no danger or
too many cooks spelling the broth
as there is with a large crew in awar-
ship. Indeed, 50 excellent has the pol
icy been found of carrying minimum
of an efficient crew in steamer, that
it may be we'll worthy Of consideration
whether it might not be advisable TO
adopt in the navy somewhat the system
Of a merchant line, having permanent
minimum force for each ship, the men
of which shall be entrusted absolutely
with the care, maintenance and opera
ton of the vessel, and not to be inter
fered with by the members of any aux
Hilary force carried for fighting pur-
poses Until some such thorough re-
forms are effected we cannot be said to
possess a satisfactory and reliable
navy.-American Syren and Shipping