Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-07
ORDERS BOARD TO
CONDUCT INQUIRY
INSPECT SCENE OF ACCIDENT
ON WARSHIP
ADMIRAL sEBREE NAMES MEN,
BERs OF COMMISSION
Old Charge Against Steel Tube Com.
pany Of Plttsburg May Be Re-
opened on Account Of Fri-
days Explosion

Rear Admiral Uriel Sebree, who had
hairbreadth escape from oeath sd,' = l.ut,y ,;,
morning In the boiler tube explosion on
his flagship, the u. S. cruiser Iennes-
see, off Point Hueneme at ii :OS O'CLOCK
in which six men were killed, tnree "a
tally injured and others seriously scald-
ed, yesterday ordered an investigation
into the cause of the tube rup.ure;
Captain Fox, commanding the Soutn
Dakota, Lieutenant Commander phey,
fleet engineer, on the South Dakota, ana
Lieutenant s. d. Raby, chief engineer
of the South Dakota, were named as u
board of inquiry. Captain FOX VIII act
as chairman. They went ABOARD the
flagship Tennessee at / o'clock yester-
day afternoon, and went Immediately
to the scene of the accident, where the
inquiry will be conducted.
But little business was transacted
beyond effecting the organization OF the
board Captain Fox was named chalr-
man of the board
Following an inspection of the rup-
tured boiler tube and premises, whlcn
was necessary before the tube could Do
replaced, the board adjourned to re-
convene at later date, which was not
designated.
Admiral Sebree stated 1t was not
necessary for the Tennessee to go 10 "a
navy yard for repair, as the expioueu
pipe can be replaced anywhere.
Officers and survivors of the firerooms
will be examined and every EFFORT Will
be made to ascertain the exact condi-
tions at the time of the explosion.
1.-The inquiry will last for four or nVe
days." Admiral Sebree said yesterday.
"The findings, when completed, will be
telegraphed to the secretary or the navy
at Washington and will be made pubic
later from the capital.
1t Is possible, according to ofncers OF
the navy, who refuse to be quoted IN
the matter. that the old charges mace
against the Shelby Steel Tube COM
pany. filed in Pittsburg, Pa, on NO
vember 0, 1907, charging them with fur-
nishing defective steel tubes to the yes
sells of the United States navy, VIII
again be revived by the present inquiry,
and that the navy department. at
Washington may order general in'es,
tigation into the tubes OF boilers on
vessels provided with them by this
company.
Among Vessels Named
The vessels named in the indictments
Georgia, Maine, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Vermont, Nebraska, and the armoreo
cruisers Tennessee, Maryland, Wash-
ington, Pennsylvania and Colorado ana
the protected cruiser Charleston.
These indictments, which caused
great SenS1tlOn III tnc navy oN e'S
charged that the lives of the ships
crews were constantly endangered wnen
running at high speed because or the
defective quality of the steel. III was
freely pointed out by many newspapers
that prior to this time many OF ths
ships had attained TO tneir requllsu
speed frequently after their acceptance
but that following the return OF the IN
dictmehts none of them again attempt-
ed to make excessive speed records
This. however, was denied by the navy
department.
While graft was not directly cnarseu
in the indictments at Pittspurg, the al
legged negligence which they cited, To-
pether with the alleged criminal substi"
tuition of a quality OF steer iiierior "
that called for in the specincatlons anu
contracts, practically showed the grano
iury's belief that some graft was IN
Fiqht Seems Imminent
To a can be shown that the death OF
the six bluejackets, and the horri-
HE injury of so many more, was due 10
boiler tubes Intentionally defective, OF
that the tubes are in any particular III
ferior to those demanded by the specln.
cations of the law, and the government
contract. a resumption of the fight pre-,
s,iomsiv heeun against the Shelby Steel
rruha company seems imminent. Ad-
,,,iral Sebree, on whose flagship the eX-
ninsion occurred, states, however, that
he believes the accident to have been
unavoidable. a.
The-e was a35 pounds pressure In
tho tuhes at the time of the accident
and the cruiser was running less than
twenty knots an hour, while snort
time nreyious there had been a pres
s,,,.e af 265 pounds and the vessel had
been Going at enty-two knots an
bour If is said by engineers, however,
Not tnhes have been known to blow
out at very low pressure after having
many times withstood a pressure 10
their full specified capacity.