Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-08-01
Dangers Aboard a Ship

blige cleaning day in the engine room
too, and the bilges were open. The
dynamo wasn't running, and so it was
dark in that corner of the engine
! room. The machinist struck match
burnt his finger so that he jumped,
and In jumping he kicked over the
five gallon can of turpcntine along
side of him. The turpcntino glugged
into the open bilge and the match
that the machinist tossed down, hold
ing on to It's flame. fell smack on the
turpcntine in the bilge. setting ii in
blaze. The blaze wrapped itself
around the greasy dungarccs of the
machinist and he was Il sadly burned
man before other members of the
black gang ran to him. threw him
down and beat the fire out of his dun
garees. In the meantime that blazing
turpentine was heating the after bulk
head OF the engine room. and on the
other side of that bulkhead was the
after magazine, filled with its usual
store of loose powder in cans. The
black gang had TO get mighty busy
To subdue that burning turpentine.
It's the easiest thing in life to
wool-gatherlng men-owar's men to
step into open matches. and the man
who comes out OF that sort Of n mess
alive is usually manned for life.
They're forever breaking out some
thing on board misunderstanding
out and overhauling ammunition,
breaking out and overhauling equip
ment stores, Jack-o'-the Dusts stores.
engineers stores. tackle. gear, junk
OF every sort, and when mess call is
piped while this sort of work is going
on, the men engaged upon the break
ing out work are pretty liable to leave
the matches open in their eagerness TO
get to the mess tables. It's always
pretty middling dark around under
deck matches. and man-o- wars man
must have something of the preset
enc cot the cat and the surcfootedness
of the burro to traipse around his ship
at such n breaking out time without
going through some old hatch or 9TH
cr.
Things can happen. too. while such
a Nbberly and measly job as coaling
ship is in progress. A 800 pound bag
of coal, for instance. can slip itself
loose from the clutch of the crane arm
and fall on couple of Lluejackets in
the coal lighter, and 300 pounds of
steam coal isn't any fleece like bundle
to fall on anybody from height.
A peculiar coaling accident happen
ed to Il yeoman on one OF the ships
n while back. He was an engineers
yooman. and his job was to weigh the
coal on the coal dealers scales
ashore. He was returning to the ship
at noon mess gear, and he had to climb
from the steam cutter over the big
coal lighter moorcd alongside the
ship, and then go over the ships side
by means of the iron hand ladder at
the gangway. The ladder was slip
perry and the yeoman lost his balance.
The coal lighter was moorcd about
two feet from the cruisers side, and
the yeoman fell into that space of wa
ter between the lighter and the ship.
He sank quite ways, and when he
came up his head bumped against the
bottom of the coal lighter. He gave
himself up for n goner, seeing the bot
tom looming big and black above him,
and he mad lost his sense of direction
in going down and therefore couldn't
find the open space between the light.
or and the ship. But he was game
enough to look for q break somewhere
and so he swan all the way under
meath the lighter to the other side
thereof, where a couple of hands gave
him lift out of the wet.
Quite number of former appren-
tees are wearing the uniforms Of
warrant officers in our service be-
cause they were quick thinking boys
on critical occasions.
One of hem was extraordinary
handy with his KNIT one day when
the ship on board of which he was
serving as apprentice had swell
chance to go to the bottom but for
him. They were having heavy gun
and coming tower practice. The
skipper was doing some firing from
his position in the coming tower by
touching the electric button alongside
of him. The apprentice was acting as
the shippers messenger during that
practice.
Projectilc and charge had been ram
med into one of the six-inch guns on
the main deck. Some confusion in or
dcrs came about. At any rate, the
skipper had his finger within n colt
pic of inches of the electric button
ready 10 press 1t and thus discharge
tho six.inch gun, when the apprentice
was on tho job. Standing just outside