Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1905-07-28

! List May Grow.
One Of the main boilers in the Tint,
I ted States gunboat Bennington. Iyin,
| in San Diego harbor, Cal, explods,
shortly before noon Friday, killing Or
mairhing 1874 among the 1S1 on board
! Thirty-s men and Ensign Newman
X. Perry are known to be dead, seven.
| ty-six wounded, and twenty-one mlss
ing. The total deaths as the result Of
the accident eventually will not be less
than sixty.
| The gunboat was badly shattered
great hole being torn in the stern. Il
was beached to prevent sinking Ths
explosion was due to a weak boiler
| the precarious condition of which IN,
been we'll known for months, although
an inspection year ago resulted in
favorable report.
The disaster came without a sec
| ond's warning. The Bennington was
| lying In midstream off the commercial
| wharf at the foot of III street Com.
mander Lucien Young had received Or
| ders from Washington to sail for Po.,
Hartford that morning. He was on
shore making final preparations for de,
parture.
Disaster Comes Without Warning,
Steam was up, most of the men were
on deck, and everything was in readi.
ness for immediate sailing, when
| deafening roar shook the earth for
miles around.
The outburst was accompanied by 4
roar as of thunder and a shock that
| rocked vessels nearby. In an instant
| the air was filled with shrieks and bel
lows of pain from the wounded which
could be heard ashore and with flying
| fragments Of human beings and pieces
OF the ships superstructure.
The next moment bleeding sailors
were fighting, crippled, In the water
against death in only less sudden
form than that from which they nad
escaped, while rowboats, sailboata,
launches and tugs were being driven
to the rescue as fast as arms, wind
duu SledM COuiu carry IuGuf.
Most of the men on board We're as,
sembled between decks, above the boil,
ers, when the explosion occurred. Here
Is where the most frightful slaughter
took place. No one living has been
able to describe what happened there,
but vivid witnesses exist in the blood.
smeared walls. 1t is from between
decks that most Of the dead bodies
have been taken.
Human Fragments Blown in Air.
A dozen or fifteen were blown over.
board by the force Of terrific explosion,
Captain Wentworth, who was looking
at the Bennington when the disaster
occurred, says he saw human bodies
hurled over hundred feet upward
The air was black with the smoke
which enveloped the ship. When it
cleared away only few men could oe
seen on the decks, while a number
were floundering in the water. A boat
was lowered from the vessels side and
most Of them were picked up and
taken on board.
On board was presented a terrible
scene. 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 the vicinity of the ship adjacent
to the exploded boiler resembling q
charnel house. Over it all hung the
great cloud of white smoke, which
drifted slowly toward the Coronado
shore.
Both officers and men who were not
seriously injured acted heroically and
promptly. Pumps were manned to keep
the water from the upper compaTt
ments, the magazine flooded, and men
fought their way through the steam
into the darkened hold to search for
their comrades. In the worst danger
and when it was feared the ship
would sink before it could be beached
the young officers and men stuck man
fully to their posts.
Hundreds Rush 20 Rescue.
Hundreds Of small craft which lot
ted the bay hurried to the rescue. Line
ferryboat Ramona was coming across
to San Diego. Capt. Bertelsen imne
diately gave orders to change me
course of the boat, and instead OF 'oh
tinuing his trip hurried to the ala Oh
the stricken warship. The tug SANTA
Fe, which was tied up at the CONNER
cial wharf, the launch Mckinley, 1lS
government launch General De Eu'
sey, and large number Of othFF
launches and water craft which were
near the scene at the time. also rlsAc'
to the vessel
Sparks from the Wires.
~