The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-08-14

| could understand what caused the
leaders cry of warning there was a
binding fash as the burning powder
exploded.
Flames, smoke and nauseous gases
filled the little superstructure, in
which more than a score of men were
confined. Inasmuch as the powder
was not confined, there vas no deaf
ening report, and every nook and
Granny of the turret was filled WITH
flame.
! Blinded by the smoke and fame:
, choked by the acrid. penetrating
fumes, and maddened with pain, the
men screamed in agony. Some stag
gered blindly up the ladder to the
hatchway in the top of the turret,
while others crept along the turret
floor, crying for assistance.
Lieutenant Goodrich and Seaman
Maleck became crazed. staggered up
the iron ladder to the top of the tur-
ret, and threw themselves headlong
into the sea, in a despairing effort to
escape death by the fire that was
consuming their clothing. .
Meanwhile some Of the burning
powder had cleared away, and the
shipmates of the unfortunate men
rushed to their assistance. Tenderly
the suffering sailors were lifted out
of the fire-blackened turret and taken
to the ships hospital, where he sur
geons attended them.
Lieutenant Goodrich and Seaman
Maleck, struggling in the sea, were
seen by men in a launch returning
from an inspection of the target. and
were rescued.
The surgical staff of the Georgia
was 500 reinforced by the surgeons
of the other vessels in the fleet, sum
moned by wireless t~elegraphy, signal
flags and the wig-wag.
Lieutenant Goodrich had his eye
sight destroyed and was otherwise
badly burned. He was brought back
to the Charlestown yard alive and
fingered in agony until 11.45 o'clock
p. m. Happily he survived until his
father, who took the first train for
Boston, reached his bedside.
There were twenty-one in the tur-
ret at the time. Not n of them es-
capped injury. The ship was not dam
aged, and Immediately after the ca
tastrophe made a record-breaking
dash to Boston to land the wounded
at the United States Marine Hospital
at Chelsea.
Then the full story of the terrible
catastrophe was told-a story
Astounding at once in heroic deeds
and %unutterable suffering. In five
minutes of a modern inferno brave
officers and men had their eyes
burned out, their bodies scared with
flames their lives choked out with
noXious gases.
The name of Orly Tagland, a COM
mon seaman, goes down to imperish-
able glory for having, when the dan
ger was at the greatest, thrown him
self upon the body Of Midshipman
Kimball, and preserved his superior
officer from the flames which con-
sumed his own body.
Midshipman Cruise refused to have
his burns dressed.
stake care of the other fellows"
he cried.
Half-masted flags. and crews drawn
solemnly at attention, received the
bodies of the dead and dying when
the Georgia steamed into the Navy
Yard.
Rear-Admiral Thomas has ordered
an investigating board to examine
into the cause of the accident I'm
til it makes its report the real aus
of the explosion will be in doubt. 1t
is uncertain that the board will be
able to determine definitely what lg-
nited the cases of powder.
One belief Is that a spark from the
discharge of the after-turret guns
foated back to the turret through a
gun port and settled on to the pow
der cases. Another theory Is that
the spark that caused the trouble
came from the smokestacks Of the
ship and foated through the ventila-
tor. A floating spark seemed evident
to naval men, but whether from a
gun or a funnel furnished a topic for
discussion,