The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-08-14
ACCIDENT IN .TURREI
OF BATTLESH|P GEORGIA
Officers and Men Die as the
Result.
SPARK lGNiTES A GUN CHARGE

SE ANN tOiXl iIS ~ 0OIt Oiif1ftSt
Lieutenant Goodrich and Midship'
man GoldtnEaite Succumb tC
Their Injuries and Many Sea.
men Perish.
Boston.-Eight officers and sea-
men of the new battleship Georgia
are dead as the result of an explo-
sion of two 100-pound cases of pow
der on the vessel at 10 a. M,
while at target practice in Massachu-
sets Bay off Provincetown.
Fourteen other men-one of them
a line officer-were terribly injured
in the disaster.
The injured men are at the Naval
Hospital at Chelsea. The Georgia
has returned to the practice grounds
where the accident happened.
These are the dead and injured:
THE DEAD.
Goodrich, Lieutenant Caspar, son
Of Rear-Admiral Goodrich, Com
mandant of New York Navy Yard;
appointed from Connecticut.
Goldthwaite, Faulkner, midship-
man, appointed from Kentucky; next
of kin w. Goldthwaite, Hopkinsville,
KY.
Burke, William j., seaman; next
Of kin Mrs. P. C. Clair, No. 351 Gran
tie street, Quincy, Mass.
Hamilton, George G., ordinary sea-
man; next of kin George w. H. Ham
llton, No. Al Wellington street, Souts
Framisgton, Mass.
Miller, George, ordinary seaman;
next of kin, no relatives; referred to
friend, George Charles, No. IS Sci
gel street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Pair, William F., seaman; gave as
residence at time of enlistment
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Thatcher, William j., chief turret
captain; next of kin Mrs. Louis A.
Thatcher, No. 1108 West Sixth street,
Wilmington, Del.
Thomas, William NJ, seaman: next
of kin mother, Mrs. Eleanor T. Thorn
as, No. "a Thomas street, Newport,
R. I.
THE INJURED.
Bush, John Arthur, seaman; resi-
dence at time of enlistment, New
York.
Cruise, James F., midshipman; next
of kin father, Major Thomas Cruise,
Quartermaster U. S. Army at Omaha,
Neb.; appointed from Nebraska.
Eich, Charles Leon, seaman; resi-
dence at time of enlistment Frank
fort, Ind.
Fone, John A.. seaman; residence
at time Of enlistment Trenton, N. j.
Gilbert, Harold Leon, ordinary sea
man; residence at time of enlistment
Southwick, Mass.
Hansel, Charles N, gunners' mate,
first class; residence at time Of en-
listment New York.
Maleck, John c., seaman; resi-
dence at time of enlistment Cleve-
land, Ohio.
Muse, L. O., seaman; residence at
time of enlistment Berea, Ohio.
R~osenberger, Sam Louis, seaman:
residence at time of enlistment Phil
adelphia, Pa.
OCuldpp, Tlduh, uOdIo"dlAo 'hoIC
Of second class; residence at time of
enlistment North Adams, Mass.
Thomas, James Patrick, seaman;
residence at time of enlistment
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Tagland, Orly, chief yeoman; resi-
ience at time of enlistment Ruch-
ford, MINI.
Walsh, Edmund j., seaman; resi-
dence at time of enlistment Lynn.
Mass.
News of Disaster by Wireless.
The first news of the disaster was
received at the Navy Yard, just be-
fore noon, in a wireless message from
Rear-Admiral Charles M. Thomas,
commander of the squadron. 1t
briefly told of the nature of the ex-
plosion, and that the Georgia had
left the target grounds, off Province
:own, for Charlestown.
When the Georgia, with her dead
and injured, was warped in at a pier
at the Navy Yard, there was made
known the details of one of the worst
naval accidents that has ever taken
place off the New England coast.
The explosion occurred in the af-
ter superimposed turret, where the
men, under command of Lieutenant
Casper Goodrich, son Of Rear-Admir-
al Goodrich, Commandant of the New
York Navy Yard, and Midshipmen
Faulkner Goldthwaite and John
Thomas Cruise, were opening the
eight-inch gun.
The guns in the forward turrets
had finished eight rounds of prac-
lice and the guns of the after turret
had fired one round. Two cases, as
the big 100-pound bags of powder
are called, had just been sent up
through the ammunition hoist and
we're in the arms of the loader, whose
name is withheld. The loader stood
at the breech of one of the eight-inch
guns ready to insert the charge.
At this moment 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 ignited and was smoul-
iering.
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
N- NTy.l