Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-07-22
OTHER WARSHIP ACCIDENTS
Sad Record of War Losses that Have
Occurred in Times of Peace.
LIST IS LARGE IN RECENT YEARS
Hundred and seventy-Three KILLED or
Injured since 1898. n Casualty
List Digger Than During
War with spain.
CFrom a stan Correspondent }

D
newest of our battleships, wherein num-
Der Of brave men lost their lives by a
powder fash while the ship was engaged
in target practice, sent a thrill of horror
throughout our own country and sorrow
throughout the civilized world. In war
such occurrences are expected, but in these
piping times Of peace" when a score of
men are burned to death or wounded be-
cause of the explosion of powder in the
turret Of a battleship while practicing the
arts of war, the nation stops to inquire
whether the accident could not have been
prevented and II not why not.
! 1t is a remarkable fact that in the thirty
three years covering the close of the civil
war in 1865 to the destruction of the battle
ship Maine in 1898 there were but twenty
nine accidents in the navy, including the
total loss Of twenty-five ships. These ships
were lost for the following reasons:
BY hurricanes or by tidal waves which
no human power could have forseen or
| controlled, six.
BY uncRarted currents or on uncharted
! rocks, six.
BY collision in cases which the men-of-
/ war had the right-of-way and therefore
their officers were not at fault, two.
The Maine blown up in Havana harbor,
| The Rogers burned
! The tug Lyden foundered in a terrific
Five ships were lost when presumably
the accident could have been avoided
Hundred Lives in Eight Years.
This story of thirty-three years, sad as
It is, covering as it does the reconstruc-
ton period of our history, is even more
appalling since the destruction OF the Maine
and the Spanish-American war In the
period between 1898 and today there have
been more than twenty-four accidents and
many of them OF exceedingly grave char
acter During the last eight years 100 lives
have been lost and forty-seven men injured
through accidents caused by explosions or
powder ignition. This is a greater casualty
list in time OF peace than could be shown
by the entire Spapish-American war, with
it's big battles of Manila and Santiago The
accident on the Georgia increases this total
casualty list to fully r7S officers and men
killed and injured during the last eight
years.
The most serious previous accidents of
the sort at target practice were those which
occurred in the turrets of the battleships
Missouri and Kearsarge
Thirty-Four Killed on Missouri.
That on the Missouri occurred during
target practice off Pensacola on April 1S,
1904. and resulted In the killing of FIVE
naval officers and twenty-nine enlisted men.
10 was caused by what is technically known
as a powder flare back that is. gases in
the bore of the gun found their way back
ward into an open hatchway and ignited
a charge that was being raised through the
ammunition hoist. This dropped below and
ignited causing injuries below as well as
above
Four officers and fourteen seamen were
those stationed below, one officer and If
teen men were killed by burns or suffoca-
tion by the deadly gases resulting from the
explosion Fortunately the powder maga-
zine was closed by seaman, who shut the
door and Jumped inside of the magazine,
thereby saving his life. After this incident
automatic shutters were placed in the am
munition hoist to prevent powder and gases
, finding their way down into the ammuni-
tion room.
Two years-to the date-after the acci-
dent on the Missouri. or on April 49, 1906
, there was a serious explosion in the gun
turret OF the battleship Kearsarge during
, target practice in the north Atlantic which
resulted in the death of f1ve enlisted men.
After Practice Was over.
Target practice had been finished on the
) the men were loading their guns. They
: had taken a charge out Of one OF the guns
and laid It on the deck inside of the turret
just to the rear of the guns. One OF the
gun crew was using a steel bar known as
| shell extractor, an instrument with a
long iron handle and heavy The man was
shifting this extractor over his shoulder
, when the other end came in contact with
, an open electric switch inside the turret
, and directly over the powder charge. This
, caused a short circuit and the fusng OF
some brass on the switch dropped molten
metal on the powder, causing ignition.
The accident on the Georgia, however
is not traceable to any of the conditions
, that brought about those on the Missouri
and Kearsarge. On first impulse It waE
, believed that sparks from the tunnels
, had fallen on the bags OF powder beng
conveyed to the guns but officials OF the
Navy department are inclined to scout this
theory. They lean to the idea that In the
. desire to make a target record for the
n Georgia. which was fairly on the way
somebody erred. the explosion resulted and
e brave and intrepid sailormen went TO theil
/ death.
' why don't they make powder bags OF
uninfiammable material?" asked a news.
$ paper man from a Prairie state of Admira
e Brownson chief OF the bureau OF naviga,
e tion. With kindly. almost fatherly smile
. Admiral Brownson replied: That bott
r powder and bag went into the gun and tho
- explosion destroyed whatever there was Of
$ the bag and that to make an uninhammablC
e bag would necessitate the pouring OF pow
$ der into the breach, a method long sine,
4 tabooed."
I Be It said 10 the credit OF the American
Z navy that every accident Is minutely ex
E amined into and reports and recommends
r tions made looking TO the elimination o,
I such accidents IN the future. And such
y will be the case with the Georgia. but
5 pail OF disaster still fingers. notwithstand
q ing.
Interesting Indian Dies.
There died here this week a most inter
) testing character. an Indian, Andrew JohT
by name. whom thousands viii miss from
the capitol OF the nation. John was I
Seneca. whose Indian name was Ka-sten-ot
which means Standing Stone" He wal
a large man. probably weighing 800 pounds
and as he ambled through the corridors o,
the capitol from the house committee OF
Indian AFFAIRS 10 the senate committee h,