The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-11-22
AS 4 Result Of The Explosion Of a Gun al
Navy Proving Grounds.
MAY HAPPEN ANY TIME
lieutenant Arthur G. Caffee and
Three Other iiembers Of the Gun
Grew Were Instantly Killed or
aporta1ly Wounded and Another
Was Seriously Injured.

BY the premature explosion OF a
!. 5-,nch gun, at the Indian Head, Nd.
proving grounds of the navy, four
men are dead, including Lieut.. Ar
thur, c. Cafee, who was in charge
OF the gun, and one man, a. negro
seriously injured. The breech loch
Of the gun, VIII ich. was being, tested
blew backward into the crew WHICH
was firing the gun. The explosion
probably was due to bent OF loui-
ed firing Pin, which projected Dc,
vond the face of the breech plug OF
the gun. ,,.,n
ant Caffee, are: -
]. /. Brown, battery foreman IN
stantly killed
r i Leary, ordnance man. Ia
tally injured, died later:
Nelson Jackson, colored' oat.eiS :,
attendant: fatally injured and dled
shortly afterward. .z.,i -.
sydney. Dyson, colored, memoe1 4.
of Ike gun crew, was. seriously In
jured, :. .st y. oudor
the ordnance bureau has: order,
cd a board Of inquiry to develop de-
tails of the accident. thIe. only WI
nesses to- ~ which, SO far as can be
learned, were John G. Coleman anu
sydney Dyson, both colored.
The gun, which was a new one
from the navy yard gun factory and q
be,ne tested for the first time hdo
alTeady been fred twice. The &C,
cident occurred during, the thiro l
round, just as the breech was oelns
closed.
9 Lieutenant Arthur Gill Caffee was was
horn in Missouri and was attacheo
to the stag of Rear Admiral snros-
der on the Atlantic feet battlesnlp
Connecticut before ne was as
signed to duty at Indian Head as
-;nsnec,or of ordnance. He entered
the Naval Academy in 1900. Inc
assistants who were killed and IN
inred we're all civilians and lived IN
the neighborhood Of the proving
grounds, 40 miles below Wasning-
ton.
The naval ordnance bureau has
been trying for long time TO nnu
some safety device applicable TO
guns of this calibre, but so Tar WITH
ont success, and If the, gun captain
fails to obey the rule to pass MS
hand over the breech lock before II
is closed to detect any improper pro-
lection of the firing pin, then just
such an accident as occurred Satur-
day may happen any time, III is
said.
Every precaution ordinarily is
taken to protect the firing crews
from the failure Of a new gun unoer
test. 1t is required that after load
ing the gun the crew shall retire to
a bomb-proof in its rear and dis
charge the piece by electricity. The
trouble in this case lay IN the TACT
that the gun was discharged before
the crew had finished loading it.
The brass she'll containing the
powder and the projectile, had been
Inserted in the piece and the breecn
blocks had swung TO on its hinge
But before the heavy threads had
interlocked. the projecting firing pin
struck the primer on the head OF
the shell and exploded the charge,
which blew backwards, tearing on
the breech block and killing or fat.
ally wounding the crew.
The employers liability act will
come into play in this case and the
families or dependent parents of the
victims of the explosion will receive
the equivalent of one years pay.