Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-07-17
SEAMAN WALSH IS DEAD
Ninth Fatality Among Victims of
Accident in Turret.
MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE W0RS
Omaha Boy and Seaman james
z. Thomas Of Brooklyn Are
Not Expected to RE-
n, cover.

TEN July 16-Edmund J. Walsh,
sea y z ed at the naval hospital at
Cheh = afternoon. This is the ninth
fatalits ~ ing from the accident on
board IT, e. u ship Georgia in Cape Cod
bay yeste. III welve injured remain in
the Hospital. y, am Midshipman James
T. Cruise Of <ka and Seaman James
z. Thomas of L ooklyn are not expected to
recover.
When the Georgia arrived yesterday it
carried the corpses of six of its crew who
had died from burns on the way from the
target grounds to the hospital and las!
night two more succumbed to their injuries.
One of those who died last night was Lieu
tenant Casper Goodrich. . son of Rear
Admiral Casper F. Goodrich, commandant
of the New York navy yard. Admiral
Goodrich arrived at the hospital with MS
wife iast night just before his son died,
after a hurried trip from Brooklyn.
The cause Of the accident was the falling
Of spark which probably was blown from
one Of the Georgia smokestacks on bag
of powder which a loader was carrying to
a gun in the after supermposed turret Tho
powder burst into flames and enveloped the
twenty-one men who were penned in the
steel cage The battleshp suffered COM
paratively little damage from the explosion
and resumed target practice under orders
of the Navy department.
Condition of Injured.
WASHINGTON. July ia dispatch 're-
ceived this afternoon from Admiral Snow,
commandant of the Boston navy yard,
gives the condition of the injured men AS
follows: Midshipman Cruise. worse; Seaman
Walsh, fatal; Ordinary Seaman Meese,
worse; Seaman Bush, critical; Seaman
Fene, critical, but hopeful; Boatswain' 8
Mate Schlapp, favorable; Chief Yoeman
Tagland, critical. but hopeful; Seaman Gill
bert, critical; Ordinary Seaman James +.
Thomas, critical; Seaman Rosenberser,
fairly good; Ordinary Seaman Eich, favor
able; Gunner's Mate first class) Hansel.
favorable Ordinary Seaman Malek, critical.
Admiral Snow says that the commandip &
officer of the Georgia could not explain Je
cause of the explosion.
Admiral Brownson, chief of the bureau
Of NAVIGATION. conferred with Acting Sec
retary Newberry today regarding the ac-
cident on the Georgia. The report of the
board of investigation is expected to com'
! by wireless telegraph from Admira
| Thomas, commanding the second division
of the battleship fleet. as soon as com
! pleted.
The explanation of the action of th'
| Navy department in ordering the Georgit
/ TO resume her target practice as soon al
the victims of the accident had been re
moved from the ship, is found in the fac
that there is extreme danger Of genera
decentralization of the crew which has sus
tanned such an accident If they are per
mitted to brood over 1t before undertaking
again to handle the big guns
The almost inevitable result is a loss o
nerve" such as acrobats suffer when the.
have sustained a fall, the only means o
avoiding which is to Immediately renew
the attempt to accomplish a particular fea
of strength or agility which led to tn
accident. so in the case of the Georgi
1t was felt to be absolutely necessary t
get the men again into the turrets and a
their work of handling the big guns, treat
ing this disaster as just such an inciden
as might occur in the heat of action wit
a foe.
The bodies of the dead will be sent hom
for burial at government expense where thi
is required by their relatives or friends
in case the bodies are not claimed, they Wi
be inferred In the naval cemetery at Bos
ton. The navigation bureau has been in
formed that the board of examination t
inquire into the cause of the accident in
tended to begin it's examination today.
Two great boxes, one addressed to Mid
shipman Cruise and the other to THE Sail
ors of the Georgia." were received at tn
naval hospital today. They contained flow
ers and inside OF each box was the card O
Admiral Yamamoto. the japanese nava
nf7cer who visited Rostop vasterdav