Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-16
STORY OF THE EXPLOSION.
Men Scream in Agony and Beg for
Assistance.

BOSTON, July 15.-The men. under COM
mand of Lieut.. Casper Goodrich. son Of
Rear Admiral Goodrich. commandant Of
the New York navy yard and Midshipnnen
Faulkner Goldthwaite and John T. Cruise,
were operating the eight-inch guns.
The guns in the forward turrets had fin
ished eight rounds Of practice and the guns
of the after turret had fired one round.
Two cases. as the big bags of powder are
called, had just been sent up through the
ammunition hoist and were in the arms Of
the loader, whose name was withheld by
the ships officers
The loader stood at the breech Of one
Of the eight-inch guns, all ready to insert
the charge At this instant the turret was
seen to be smoky and two men who stood
near the loader saw a black spot on the
bag, indicating that the charge had ig-
nited and was smodering. The loader
discovered the spot at the same instant
and threw himself forward on his face, at
the same time shouting a warning to his
turret mates. The other men who had
seen the spot were Eich and Hansell, and
they also threw themselves on the floor Of
the turret.
Before the other men in the turret could
understand what caused the leaders cry
of warning there a binding flash as
the burning powder exploded.
Fla ,eS, smoke and nauseouS gases filled
the little superstructure. in which more
much as the powder was not confined there
was no eafening report, nor did the vessel
suffer any injury, but every nook and
Granny of the turret was filled with fame.
Loader Terribly Burned.
The loader who was. of course. nearest
the powder. was terribly burned. was
every other man In the turret with the
exception of Eich and Hansell, who, al
though scorched. escaped with injuries
much less severe than the others.
Blinded by the smoke and flame. choked
by the acrid penetrating gaseous fumes
and maddened with pain, the men screamed
in agony. Some staggered bindly up the
ladder to the hatchway in the top of the
turret while others crept along the turret
floor, begging piteously for assistance.
Lieut.. Goodrich and Seaman Maleck pc
came craZed, staggered up the iron ladoer
to the top of the turret and then threw
themselves headlong into the sea, in de-
spairing effort to choose a death by dro"n-
ing in preference to death by slow nre.
The smoke of burning powder having
cleared away, the shipmates or the un1or-
tunate men rushed to their assistance ana
tenderly the suffering sailors We're lifted
ont of the fire-blackened turret and quick
lv convened to the ships hospital, where
their burns were dressed by the surgeons.
Caring for the Victims.
In the meantime Lieut.. Goodrich and
Seaman Maleck had been rescued
The surgical staff of the Georgia was
soon reinforced by the surgeons of the
other vessels in the fleet, who had been in
formed OF the accident and summoned to
the scene by the combind use of wireless
telegraphy, signal flags and the wig-wag
system. .-..-.r
A wireless message telling the brief de-
tails of the accident was sent to the gov
eminent wireless station one the highlands
of Cape Cod and thence overland to the
Navy Department at Washington. An
other message was sent to the Charlestown
navy yard telling of the disaster and re-
questing that twenty stretchers be provided
to remove the wounded men to the naval