Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-07-25
Believed in Washington to Havs
Settled on Powder Bag, on
the Georgia.
SURVIVOR, ON COT. TALKS
Acting Gunner's Mate Hansel, Te!ii
of Men Being Burned Until
They Were Unrecog-
nizable.

Washington. July 19.-It is improb-
nble the accident aboard the battle
ship Georgia resulted from n care
lessness or lack of %precaution on the
part of the personnel of the ship. a
short time ago a thorough inspection
was made of every detail OF the
Georgia's ordnance. 1t was found the
ships company was efficient at All
points, and it was certain that they
were following closely the firing reg
ulations in every essential detail. In
the absence of any other plausible
explanations, the officials here are
disposed to give consideration to the
Georgia's officers wnen they came
ashore at Boston. that the powder
charge of the S-inch guns was fired
accidentally by a clot of SCOT which
came floating down smouldering
from the ships smokestacks, n set
tied by chance into the open scuttle
on top of the turret. alighting di-
rectly on the fifty-pound bag of
smokeless powder in the arms of the
loader at the breech of the gun.
Death Total, Nine.
Boston, July 17.-Edmund j. Walsh.
is dead at the naval hospital
at Chelsea. This is the ninth fatality
resulting from the accident on board
the battleship Georgia in Cape Cod
bay.
From his cot In the naval hospital
at Chelsea. Acting Gunner's Captain
Chas. H. Hansel is able to tell the
story of the accident. Mr.. Hansel says:
None of us knew much about 1t
til 1t was all over, 1t was so quick.
When l saw that first flash instinct
told me what was up, and l kept pres
ence of mind enough to dodge back
from the sheet of flames that began
to envelope the turret. l got down on
the floor, crawled under the CUR and
out to the portfolio as far as l could
get. Here l could get some air. and
was so low down that the fumes could
not hurt me seriously. Kimball was
with me. and he DID not get a burn.
My hand was burned where l held
an iron rod, and / got burned around
the head, but / guess it is not very
bad.
Maddened by Pain.
THE instant the flash came, Lieu
tenant Goodrich, who was in charge
of the work in our turret. rushed to
the %hatchway on top of the turret,
thinking to get out before the tur-
ret filled with smoke and gas, but the
was horribly burned before he could
get to the air and safety. Seaman
Maleck, who was sitting on top OF
the turret. where he was stationed to
take messages, with his legs hanging
down the hatchway. Influenced. prob
uUIy ny AICulcIId1l 1OOuIA I'LL, ~
maddened by his suffering, plunged in
to the sea, threw himself over board
too.
The first flash was followed quickly
by a second from the other bag of pow
der, each containing about 100 pounds
of slnokeless powder. That vas a mo-
ment of terror to all who were still
conscious, but they were few. Men were
lying i'm heaps. moaning, dying, uncon'
scious, baking n suffocating.
Eyes Burned Out.
1.-The next minute seemed eternity
But help from outside came quickly
and the men were lifted out and takel
away to be cared for. But living mel
could not enter the turret until the hea
had been overcome by pouring in waite
which also settled the smoke and drov'
out the gases to some extent. Thos,
poor fellows We're terribly burned. SOM
so as to be unrecognizable. Eyes wer'
burned out; faces, bodies and arms AM
legs blackened, and there were no fea
lures left on some of the charred faces
"Midshipman Cruz was pointing TIL
gun when the flash came and l was b.
= his side. He did not move away fron
the sheet Of flame as quickly as l die
and was fearfully burned. We wer
making a record all right. Lieutenan
Goodrich took great pride in the wor,
and had all the men worked up to en-
thusiasm. We had fired nine shots an
made nine hits, n Stlll mad tim
enough to fire twice more and tina
meant two more hits the way we wer
shooting. and still be within two min
utes. Now. when you fire eleven shot
with eight-inch guns in two minute
you are doing some shooting. whethe
you hit the mark or not. But we wer
hitting.
Back to the Georgia.
How those fellows suffered afte
they were taken out! Captain Nc
Crea won the love of every man o
that ship. Time and again he cam
down to the hospital and would ben
over some dying fellow with his fac
close to the lips that We're trying t
speak. and try to make out the las
words. and then turn away with tn
feelings Of his heart written on hi
face. All the officers and the men be
haved s%plendidly through 1t all, an
there was no confusion. It's a An
ship. and il I go back I want to g
back to the Georgia"