Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-18
WOMEN ARE BARRED WOULD FIX B[AME| FAVOR MDRCH PL AN
udo Excludes Thorough Inquiry
Hearing Proposed Discuss Money Question
EXPLOSION CALL PRESENT SYSTEM BAD
tempting tt Poison
VIEWS OF MEDICAL EXPERTS
of Arsenic
BLOW hui Men
Another ikayto Pnd
Thorough Inquiry Into Acct
dents on Ships Proposed.
THE DEL AWARE EXPLOSION
Board Of Investigation Ordered to
Meet at Once.
CAPT. COVE SENDS REPORT
Three Backheaders in Fireroom
Blow Out, Killing Eight Men.
Another Likely to Die.

After encountering bad weather which
nece ssitated anchoring several miles of
Cape Henry last night, the battleshiI
Delaware arrived in Hampton roads thi:
morning. The Navy Department was sc
advised in a dispatch from Capt. Cove Of
the battleship.
Capt. Gove's preliminary report of yes.
terdays fatal accident on the Delaware
follows:
AT go an. January II. three back
headers. Nos. 8, and 10 of Boiler c
in fireroom four. blew out, killing eight
men and injuring one, who will probably
die, these being all the men on duty in
the fireroom. board Of officers was
appointed Immediately to investigate an6
report. 1t has not yet reported. The ex-
tent of the damage is ten backheaders
injured in boiler o. The cause has not
yet been placed
Laurence A. Thomas of Little Rock.
Arkansas. was the eighth victim of the
accident on the battleship Delaware
whose identity was not established in the
earlier reports to the Navy Department
published in yesterdays Star. Thomas
was q fireman and had been in the navy
about year.
Investigation Ordered.
Without awaiting a detailed report from
Capt. Cove as to the exact nature of the
accident and damage done to the ship,
Rear Admiral Nicholson chief Of the
bureau of navigation, wired orders to
Rear Admiral Marshall at the Norfolk
yard to convene a board of investigation
Immediately upon the ships arrival. The
officers of this board probably will be
selected from the South Carolina, Michi-
gan and Washington. all OF which are
laid up at the Norfolk navy yard in a
crippled condition.
In view of the unusual number OF acct
dents which have occurred in connection
with the machinery and engine rooms OF
the ships. particularly those more recent
~ placed in commission. the department
looking back to the antecedents of the
cases. which possibly may disclose a re-
sponsibility at the navy yards where the
ships were placed in commission or were
last laid up for repairs.
1t is also suggested that the blame pos
sibly may be traceable to the reorganiza-
tiOn of the navy yard administration,
which has loaded the engineering division
down with number of important duties
hitherto foreign to that branch of the
service.
Other Accidents Recalled.
The accident on the Delaware recalls
several disasters to American battleships
and cruisers. including the memorable
case of the Maine.
One of the worst Of these disasters oc-
CURED on the Georgia while at target
practice off Barnstable. in Cape Cod bay
July Is. 1907. Two hundred pounds OF
powder in the after turret ignited. killing
eight men and wounding thirteen.
July 20 1900, boiler tube on the gun
boat Wilmington blew out, scalding three
men SO seriously that one of them died.
Two accidents in 1908, those on the
kearsarge and the Missouri, marvelously
enough resulted In no fatalities The one
1raught with the greatest possibilities &C.
CURED on the Missouri in Magdalena bay
March 20 OF that year The muzzle of q
six-inch broadside gun exploded. but not
man was injured. The accident was re-
ported by Admiral Evans. who was in
command of the deet
Another narrow escape from a serious
accident was due to the pluck and pres
epce of mind of Lieut.. Hugh X. Cronan
OF the battleship Connecticut. The men
were just closing the breech of one Of
the big guns when Lieut.. Cronan dis
covered that powder had been spilled in
the threads of the lock. The lieutenant
instantly thrust his hand into the breech
and kept the block from Closing. thereby
aveFting an explosion.
Accidents on North Dakota.
The North Dakota had two accidents
from which she escaped without fatal
tiles. November s. 1909. while she was
completing her endurance tests off the
New England coast a boiler tube col
lapsed and sixteen men were badly scald-
ed. Again May ID of last year. while she
was at the Boston navy yard, q red-hot
rivet dropped into the ground cork in
one of her after magazines. A prompt
response to the fire call prevented an ex-
TENDER 8. 1910. when an explosion of fuel
oil in the boiler room killed three mer
and injured nine others.
one man was killed and seven were
badly hurt on the torpedo boat destroyer
Hopkins February Is. 1910, when a steam
pipe burst while the ship was at San
Diego.
Foundering of Launches.
Two of the worst fatalities of peace
times in the American navy recently were
not accidents to battleships at all, but
due to the laundering of ship launches
Twelve men were lost in launch of the
Minnesota on the night of June IL, 1907
They were returning to their ship from
the jamestown exposition grounds at the
time.
Perhaps the most pathetic. as well as
the most fatal. accident among American
bluejackets occurred last October. wher
twenty-nin men were drowned in q
sWamped launch Of the battleship New
Hampshire in the North river while re-
turning from shore leave. This probably
was the most costly accident in the his
tory OF the American navy not involving
the loss of ship.
Among the minor accidents, but by nc
means insignificant from the standpoin,
of loss Of life. was the sinking of the
navy tug Nezinscot off the Massachusetts
coast August II, 1900. with the loss oil
four of her crew.
Bodies Taken to Naval Hospital.
NORFOLK. Va, January 1s.-The bod
les of the eight victims Of the explosion
yesterday aboard the battleship Della.
ware arrived at the United States Nava
Hospital shortly before noon today Cpor
the same naval tug that bore the bodies
| of the victims from the Delaware was
| Eugene Phillips. who was probably IA
| tally injured in the accident. Phillips
| was FASTENED TO the hospital ward
| The next OF Kin Of each Of the dead sea
men have been notified and the bodies a.
claimed will be forwarded to the home.
! of the deceased for burial.
4 nx.la Of