The Washington times., 1905-07-23
COURTS-MARTIAI
WILL FIX BLAME
FOR EXPLOSION
Responsibility Between
Officers of Bennington
or of Bureau.
BAD CONDITIONS KNOWN
MiSmanagement or Criminal
CareleSSneSS Indicated
in Reports.

\ serious complication has developed
IN the Investigation inaugurated by the
Navy Department into the causes re
sponsible for the blowing up Of the gun
boat Bennington.
The Navy Department is far from
announcing that mismanagement or
criminal carelessness caused the explo-
sicn- Reports in possession Of Admiral
Rae. chief OF the Bureau OF Steam
Engineering. however, indicate It
4 board of inquiry is expected to bring
out facts which viii result in series
OF courts-martiaI.
Bad Conditions Known.
The fact is that the defective condition
OF the furnaces under the boiler that
was destroyed first. was known to the
officers OF the ship. The records Of
the department show that everybody
whose duty il was to De officially ad-
vlsed OF the condition of boilers and
furnaces of the war vessel was fully
acquainted with the condition OF those
on the Bennington
These records in the Bureau OF Steam
Engineering show reports on the sub
ject as late as April II OF this year.
Ship or Bureau Officers.
The question IS now raised whether
the blame for the disaster rests with
the officers of the ship or the officers
OF the bureau,
On October last. over a month before
Commander Young had assumed charge
Q. the gunboat, Commander Kossuth
Niles observed;
Should the condition OF the boiler
furnaces grow worse. urgent necessity
Tor going 10 navy yard may arrive"
On April IA of this year an inspector
reported that the ship was in condi-
tion TO make the cruise 10 Honolulu.
from which she had just returned be-
fore the wreck occurred.
Pressure Ordered Reduced.
1t was in response to these reports
that the Bureau Of Steam Engineering
ordered the pressure on the Benning-
tons boilers reduced from 100 to 145
pounds
This was some months after May, 1904
At that time the ships boilers and fur
naces We're oyerhauled at the Mare Is
land navy yard. Since then the gun
boat has steamed almost 68O0 miles,
There is no doubt of the fact that the
explosion was due 10 the collapse Of the
crown sheet of one of the furnaces, The
boiler itself did not explode until after
broke the structure.
Mysterious Accident.
Admiral Rae chief of the bureau,
views the situation as one OF the great
est mysteries in the history OF the navy.
The boiler did not explode in the pop
ular meaning OF the word " he said to-
day in discussing the subject, 1T did
not fly upward through the deck. In
stead it was hurled aft, where Ltloosened
another boiler and caused it 10 fy back
ward.
TT there had been an explosion the
force would have been upward as well
IS backward.
He secuted the theory of an explo-
sion in the shell room.
Young Knew Conditions
The reports Of Commander Young. that
the boilers had carried only ia pounds
OF steam in coming from Honolulu. in
dIcatc that he was well acquainted with
the weakness OF the boilers and e1er-
cising every prccaution 10 prevent acci-
dent,
Admiral Goodrich. commandeF-in-chie
OF the Pacific station. IS en- route L
san Diego 10 institute aR inquiry. H'
VIII arrive Monday morning
As an Indication Of the dispatch witt
vgntch The department Is acting it de
veloped toCay that list of officers It
constitute a board gf inquiry had beel
made up at the Bureau OF Navigation
1t would have been ordered BY the de
partment had not Acting Secretary
Darling sueceeGed IN opening communi
cation with Admiral Goodrich.
Proceeds With Flagship.
Rear Admiral Goodrich has r-porte,
"a the Navy Department Hjs arrival I'll
Reltngharn Bay Puget Sound. Tn,
Navy Department has ordered him |,
1,roce-d al once with his flagship, IN,
c4.fcaeo. 10 San Diego.
The Navy Department has also or
darad Naval Constructor Holden A
Evans from the Mare Island Navy Yarc
"a SAN Diego 10 make complete Investi
gaeion into she condition Of the Ben
nington.
Tie naval tug Fortune is reported t.
me Navy Department as having sale,
from the Mare Island (CaL) Navy Yar'
for San Diego. going 10 the relief o
the Bennington.
The dlstIIng and repair snip Iri
VIII sail from Mare Island today fol
San Diego under orders from the Nav.
Denarrment 10 render All possible as
-fst.e,.a fb. fIT-TaIgG Bennington.