The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-07-23
m: nr;;,;:;;;s:;;;;;;''QISM 80
FAILED ID WORK
Army Officials Have Found the
Cause or Fortress Monroe
Accident

washington, July ZS-OW1ng TO Cne
failure of a safety mechanism to OPP
crate when sudden and powerful
pull was given by an artilleryman in
attaching the lanyard. is now laid the
responsibility for the accident which
cost the lives of eleven men at Fort
Monroe, Va, during the battle prac-
tice.
Such is the conclusion Of General
Crozier, chief of ordnance, U. s. A.,
who attended the practice and who
has been in touch with the inquiry
made by the Investigating board.
Never before in the history of the
navy had the device failed to work.
The possibility of its occurrence was
demonstrated, however, by Gen. Gro
zier himself shortly after the accident
by test made of all the" guns which
participated in the practice. In an
other gun Of the ill-fated DeRussy
battery the device was found defec-
tive when Gen. Crozier applied un-
usual force, such as was never DEEM
ed necessary In tests and examina-
tions.
Just before the accident the gun
was pronounced by officers to be in
perfect condition and in April a coast
artillery officer. on Inspection duty
reported that its premature explo-
sion was beyond the range of posi-
bility. Steps will be taken at once to
improve the device.
"The firing mechanism Is somewhat
delicate" Gen. Crozier said in dis
cussing the accident. because of the
lack Of sufficient space for the utili-
zation Of larger and more robust
parts, but it was supposed to be suf-
ficient to withstand all reasonable
usage.
"The operations Of loading and fir
ing are conducted with extreme rapid
ity, in the praiseworthy effort to
make good time record, and 1t is q
necessary consequence that the mo-
tions are made with great force and
violence.
I'm this case it appears that the
gun started to rise to the firing po-
sition before the breech block was
pushed home preparatory to rotat-
ing and locking it, and before the
lanyard was hooked. 30 that the man
whose duty 1t was to hook on the Ian
yard had to do 1t while the gun was
in motion.
Testimony is to the effect that he
had some difficulty in hooking, maxi
Ing several passes in his attempt to
do SO, and that he finally succeeded in
getting 1t hooked just as the gun was
passing, out OF his reach. when the
explosion Immediately took place. It
is presumed that he Inadvertently
clung to tn elanyard and gave the
sudde npull which in the case Of the
neighboring gun with which It was
tried later, proved to be sufficient to
defeat the safety object of the
mechanism.
'Thls particular model Of firing
mechanism has been used for several
years; in drill and at target prac-
tice 1t has been operated thousands
of times and by hundreds of men un-
der the supervision of dozens of off,
GERS. but no instances of failure have
been reported. It seems likely that
continued use and cleaning of the
mechanism Of gun No. 1 had 80 worn
and rounded some Of the parts as to
permit its wailure, under the violent
pull which probably was given it.
"All the mechanisms were tested
for safety shortly before the firing
began and all apparently were in the
proper condition. 1t is probable that
in testing the officers subjected them
only to stresses which they consider
ed such as they would be reasonably
likely to meet, but which were less
than the violent pull which it "a
supposed caused the accident, and to
which, in an effort to reproduce 1t,
the mechanisms Of the other guns
were afterwards subjected.
"Of course 1t is possible to so
change the mechanism as to prevent
the particular accident which hap
nanedn