The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-07-22

Of the big guns while the men were en-
a half dozen others are in the post hoi
The cause Of the explosion is not
yet definitely determined. although a
board OF inquiry was appointed imme
diately after the disaster by orders
from the war department in Washing
ton.
List OF killed.
The list Of dead follows:
Sergeant Harry G. Hess OF Phoenibus.
Va. gun commander.
Corporal Charles o. Adkins. address
unknown.
Corporal Albert Bradford. Dorothy.
Privates A. J. Sullivan Of Perkins.
Ky; Roy Duffy. OF Kenova. W. Va;
II. Adey. Brandonvllle. W. Va. {. W.
King. Of Dayton. Ohio. John W. Chad
wick. OF Tazewell. Tenn. Alfred ".
Smith. Of New York: Judd F. Hogan. OF
Geyer. Ohio and James H. Turner. of
Ripley. Tenn.
Great Heroism shown.
The toll Of death. It is believed.
would have been larger had IL not been
for the heroism displayed by the off
GERS and men in the battery. The
wounded forgot their hurts and aided
the uninjured in stamping out the
burning powder that threatened the
charge for a second shot
The explosion occurred in Battery De
Russy. No. 1 gun doing the damage.
The gun was in charge Of Capt. James
Prentice. who had with him Bieutenants
George +. Halves. ir.. and George l.
Van Deusen. Lieutenant HAYES had
gone forward from the breech TO ex-
anime the range wheel when the charge
was exploded. He was thrown down
and momentarily stunned. but other
wise uninjured.
Eight men were killed outright. their
bodies lying scattered around the en-
placement. Capt. Prentice and Lieut..
Halves foresaw a further sacrifice OF
life II the other charges caught from
the smoldering sparks. and the two
sent out a call for surgeons while
they attacked the flames with their
bare hands.
RiSked Their Lives
Capt Prentice reached the emplace-
ment first and pushing his way
through the smoke and sparks he car
ried out a bag Of powder. He then was
Joined by Halves and the two complet-
ed the task OF averting a further eN-
plosion-
Meanwhile Lieut.. Van Deusen lay
crumpled beneath the gun. his leg
broken in two places. He was suffer-
ing agOnies. but when his brother Off
GERS sought TO remove him he would
not permit them to touch him.
See to the men first" he said. and.
prOpped against the gun carriage. he
aided In directing the work.
Corporal Humphreys and Sergeant
! Brinkley. n gun pointer. also distin-
guished themselves. The formers head.
| body and arms were filled with pieces
/ OF flying concrete that had been blown
from the emplacemcnt. In spite Of his
painful wounds he rushed to his dead
and wounded comrades. eXtinguishing
| their burning clothing and then hur-
/ ried TO the nearby enCampment for wa
| ter. Sergeant Brinkley was close 10
/ the breach when Il blew out He was
] -. -
when he regained consciousness he
/ found himself hanging by one arm
! from the railing OF the sighting plat
/ form. Although severely bruised and
! suffering from the shock. Brinkley de-
| clined to go to the hospital or permit
the surgeons 10 examine him until they
/ had assisted his comrades.
Investigation Ordered.
Col. g. p. Townsley. commandant OF
the fort. promptly ordered an investi-
cation.
ut is evident" he said. that the ex-
plosion occurred during the insertion
/ OF the breech block into the breech
Of the gun and before II had been rotat-
ed and locked in place. The safety de-
vices on the gun are intended TO make
a premature discharge impossible Just
now they failed to operate probably
never will be known. Every member
OF the detachment who could have OK
planned It was killed
The inquiry. however. is TO be thor
ough. Assisting in the investigat ton
are some OF the reading officers OF the
army who we're present at the time of
the explosion. Among them are Gen.
Crozier, chief or ordnance Of the army:
Gen Carter. assistant chief Of staff;
, Gen. Murray chief OF coast artillery,
and Cen BiXby. chief of engineers.
The fatal accident occurred while
target practice at floating targets
which were built to the proportions OF
battleships. was going on. The firina
was conducted as nearly as possible un
der battle conditions. and was on a
more pretentious scale tnan ever has
been attempted before.