The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-07-23
ACCIDENT IN TURREl
OF BAT7LESHIP GEORGIA
Officers and Men Die as the
Result.
SPARK IGNITES A GUN CHARGE

SFAkh l6RiiES a GUN CHaRGE
Lieutenant Goodrich and Midshiy,-
man GOldtITaite Succumb to
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 Massachn-
sets Bay off Proyincetown
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-AdmiraT 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. G. Clair, No. 351 Gran
lite street, Quincy, Mass.
Hamilton, George G., ordinary sea-
man; next of kin George w. H. Ham
llton, No. Al Wellington street, South
Framisgton, Mass.
Miller, George, ordinary seaman;
next of kin, no relatives; referred to
friend, George Charles, No. 95 'ai-
gel street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Pair, William F., seaman; gave as
residence at time of enlistment
Brooklyn, N Y.
captain; next of kin Mrs. Louis A..
Thatcher, No. 110S West Sixth street,
Wilmington, Del
Thomas, William M, seaman; next
of kin mother, Mrs. Eleanor T. Thorn
as, No. "a Thomas street, Newport,
r. /.
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
tort, Ind.
Fone, John A., seaman; residence
at time of enlistment Trenton, N J.
Gilbert, Harold Leon, ordinary SEE
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.
Rosenberger, Sam Louis, seaman;
residence at time of enlistment Phil
adelphia, Pa.
Schlapp, Frank, boatswains' mate
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-
dence 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
| rnNniUoA q hn ,,
| fore noon, in wireless message from
Rear-Admiral Charles M Thomas,
commander of the squadron. 1t
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 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-
,ice 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
aame 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-
1ering.
The loader discovered the spot al
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 seer
the spot were Eich and HanselI, and
they also threw themselves on the
floor of the turret.
Before the other men in the turret
Cordial Terms With Janan