The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1908-06-12
CAUGHT IN HELL-HOLE
Seven Men Killed and Seven In.
jured on Flagship Tennessee
EXPLOSION OF BOILER TUBE

Great Heroism In Aiding Mates--
Admiral Sebree Escapes by Mar
gin of Less Than a Minute
An accident occurred on the armored
cruiser Tennessee while the ship was
steaming 10 knots on speed trial off
Point Hueneme, Cal, a steampipe in
the starboard engine room bursting I'M
der 235 pounds pressure, killing seven
men and injuring seven others, all OF the
men in the compartment at the time.
The dead are George Wood, water
tender; E. c. Poggs, second-class fire.
man: A. Reingold, machinists mate,
G. w. Meek, first-class fireman; S. Le-
maSais, first-class fireman; f. S. Max
well, second-class fireman, and j. z.
Carroll second-class fireman.
There were fourteen men in the fire.
room when the tube, which is four
inches in diameter and enclosed with
water inside the boiler, blew out, driv-
ing a torrent of sealding steam, coal
dust, cinders and hot ashes through the
ashpit, and showered the half-naked
men.
A blast Of white steam from the
ventilators told those on deck Of the
accident and Lieutenant Commander
Robinson, the navigator, instantly
sounded a general alarm and dropped
twenty lines of hose ready for instant
use in case of fire. Within the doomed
fireroom, which is one Of the sixteen
enclosed fire compartments, the sur
viving seamen were fighting for life.
Reinhold and Meek were stricken dead
at their posts. Poggs and Wood
crawled into the adjoining fireroom,
No. IL, and died almost Immediately.
The surviving seamen, all Of whom
suffered some injuries, acted with the
greatest heroisn in aiding their unfor-
tunate mates.
Rear Admiral Sebree himself escaped
death or serious injury in the fated
fire pit by a narrow margin. He had
left the room where the explosion oc-
cured not fifty seconds before the ia
tai blast. The admiral stood in the
engineroom adjoining the ireroom
with Chief Engineer Robertson and
Captain Howard. His first intimation
of the tragedy was as he mounted |
the ladder and a half naked fireman
leaped past him, suffering from severe |
scalds.
The ship was undergoing inspection |
by the commander of the second divi- |
sion, and had been under way for over
two hours, the engines, boilers and all
machinery working perfectly and fully
equal to the acceptance trial.
An official investigate of the acct
dent, the cause of the explosion not be-
ing yet known, has been ordered. The
boiler was of the standard, tubular
kind, the Babcock 81 Wilcox make,
used on many warships. 1t consists
Of large cluster of four-inch tubes
carrying water into the main boiler.
Only one tube, and this one of the bot
tom tier, exploded. The break was
less than six inches in length.
There was no wreckage, but the ex-
plosion was described by the survivors
as frightful. So great was the blast of
SCOT and steam that every man in the
room was blackened from head to foot,
while those closest to the break were
cooked alive. There are sixteen sim
liar firerooms, but each are separated
by steel doors and the men in adjoining
compartments did not feel the explo-
sion.
When the first outside rescuers en-
tered the fireroom it was In utter dark
ness, the steam and SCOT covering the
electric lights and ceiling and walls
with a thick coat The men in this fire
pit work naked except for short trou-
sers and slippers, and the dead and in
tured were blackened almost beyond
recognition.
at was a hell-hole," said one Of the
surviving seamen. Everything seem
ed all right, when, without any warn
ing. the shower OF hot cinders, steam
and ashes burst out OF the fire-hole.
The boys dropped all over the ROOM"
The impression among the officers
and crew is that Reinhold and Meek
were martyrs to duty, for they were
found dead where others escaped and
stayed at their posts to the last. The
accident served to demonstrate the
complete efficiency of the naval fire
drill. There was no confusion.