The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1911-02-06
ACCIDENTS
IN NAVY TO
BE- PROBED
NAVY DEPARTMENT REsENTs
THE CRITICISM CAUSED BY SEW
ERAL RECENT DISASTERS.
speciaI by UnILed Presg.

Special by United Press.
Washington, Feb. 6.-Are there more
accidents in the United States navy
than in any other navies? Are the
risks greater in service aboard the
modern dreadnaught than in machinery
plants Of an equal size on shore?
These two questions have been
placed before naval officers so persist
emily q late that they are determined
to prove to the public the reliability
and safety Of battleship management
by American naval officers.
The criticisms against the frequency
Of accidents IN Uncle Sans navy come
from sources that demand considera.
ton Following the recent boiler ex
plosion aboard the dreadnaught Della
ware in which nine men lost their
lives. Representative Hobson, the ex
pert Of the house on naval matters. and
formerly United States naval con
structor, said that the frequency Of
these accidents was due to the system
prevailing in the American navy OF re-
quiring officers to do double duty fight
ing as Well as engineering. which pre-.
vented them from becoming expert in
engineering or battleship management.
Concerning the accidents due to gun
explosions, Sir Hiram Maxim, an in
ternational authority upon explosives,
stated that the fault should be laid
upon the kind OF powder used in the
United States navy
Tie navy is fighting against such
accusations with all its might and
main. AT the request Of Secretary
Meyer, the bureau Of ordnance made
an exhaustive study of the charges Of
Sir Hiram Maxim and submitted re-
port denying their truth. The bureau
laid the blame upon the types Of guns,
an evil which, they say, is now being
eradicated and will soon disappear.
A special board Of inquiry has been
appointed to probe the question Of cer>
tain gun explosions and ordnance acci-
dents. Upon every accident Of a seri
Gus nature the navy department is ap
pointing a board Of examination to
make an exhaustive report.
The naval officers defend themselves
by saying that there are no more acci
dents in the United States navy than
in any other but that there is no navy
in the world that permits such wide
publicity to be given every disaster.
They point out that the death Of few
men in some factory ashore is purely
matter Of local interest commented
upon only in the press Of that neigh
borhood, whereas the national charac
ter Of the navy causes the story Of
every accident aboard ship to be her
aided in every corner Of the country
Other nations suppress the news Of
such accidents.
The modern dreadnaught, they say,
is a huge and complicated floating ma.
chine shop Even with every precau-
tion there IS always an element Of
danger under these circumstances, but
they maintain that statistics, il they
could be compiled would prove that
the enlisted man Of the navy il more
carefully protected than the civilian
employee working under similar condi.
tions
1t Is very probable that some precise
information upon this subject will be
gathered BIZ the navy department and
/ published to show the true compare.
tive extent Of accidents in the United
States navy This idea is being seri-
ouslv discussed al the navy depart.
ment now.