The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-08-04
ACCIDENTS IN THE NAVY.

rational precautions were taken to
safeguard the ships OF the navy. There
are altogether too many accidents
to American warships comments the
Fort Worth Record, adding that 1t is
not at all satisfying TO the American
idea OF proper efficiency to declare
glbly that accidents are merely In.
cidental to the naval service. They
are. as "A matter Of fact, altogether
too incidental to the American sery.
ice. and there should be- a stop put to
them before we suffer some appalling
disaster which will bring about a con.
diton of public opinion which Will
compel action that might better be
taken now than later
In the naval service there has al
ways been lot Of cry small cant
and nonsensical uickcuus about rank
and relative rank and who should help
/ himself first to salt and who should
/ take precedence wucn the toothpicks
are in evidence The old row between
/ the line and the staff which has been
growing since the advent of steam
/ as a means Of propulsion for war yes
/ sells finally eliminated few years
ago in the destruction Of the engineer
corps Of the navy, "a fine body OF
trained engineers which had been
built up after years of hard work, and
now the complicated and delicate ma.
chinery with which every manoi-"ar
is burdencd. Is intrustcd to the care
Of some officers, educated as sea
man, and he In turn delegates the ac-
tive care Of the machinery to some en-
listed machinist. and so IL goes that
every once In while some appalling
accident" happens. A case In point
was that Of the Bennington, when ov-
or 100 lives were sacrificed through a
boiler ictting go. and later a steam
pipe on the Wilmington cost more
lives. There are literally hundreds pi
minor accidents ON board warships OF
the Amcriccn navy OF which the pub
lie never hears because there Is NO
loss Of life ncccssitating publicity.
This Is a day of specialists ana to
assume that a naval officer must b,
capable of navigating "A ship, fight
Ing the guns, debating intcrnationa
law, dancing the latest dance, and b.
at ono and the same time an eXper1
i'm steam engineering and electricity, ;
master of every detail in the me
chanical complications Of ever!
known mechanical power and appli
ancc from human muscle to the las
- word in hydrostdtics, Is 10 ASSUME
that the naval officer Is a whole 10
more than human. There IS absolutely
neither kinship nor connection be
tween navigation and engineering. II
the merchant marine men 20 to Sc.
for a lifetime, serve In the engine
room and never know nor prctent tt
=. know anything of navigation. On the
other hand, men 30 to sea in the mer
chant marine for a lifetime and Meth
cr know nor pretend to know anything
Of steam engineering or electricity
% Nor is there in the merchant marine
any foldcrol about the second mate be
, ing the head and front of the bigger
social ca tc than second engineer
Carried 10 its logical conclusion. Il
might as wcll be expected of the nav
al officer that he take his trick at the
bridge, where he could navigate the
ship. SHIFT 10 the turrct, where he
could fight the guns, and pass him.
self along 10 the sick bay. where
he could administer pills and the
like to the sick folks, and 1t occasion
should require the officer might be-
called from the stoke hole or the en-.
rine room to cut off leg or per.
form au operation for appendicitis.
lt naval officers are such experts In
every line of human cndcavor why
have doctors in the navy? Why not
have every officer a surgeon, a den
ust. a physician? There is quite as
much kinship between determining
the position Of ship at sea and haul
Ing the fires under her boilers or
repairing a refractory motor as thcr"
is between shooting AN enemy full OF
holes and mondng a broken leg.
Until such time as the engineer
corps is restored and men are train.
ed and highly trained at that, In the
care and operation OF electrical and
steam machinery We may expect to
hear OF disaster after disaster in the
navy The navy department. in fact
cannot too soon get rid OF the idea
that its officers are freaks and the
sooner Il abaudons the policy OF ex-