The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-09-03
Most Of Skeletons Will Be Found
In Engine Compartment Indi-
eating Something Drove Sailors
Into That Section Of Raider
WATER MAY HAVE ENTERED
BOAT FIRST IN BOW HOLDS
Or Possibly Explosion Of Bat
teries Sent Doomed Men Aft,
But At Present Time These
Theories Are Only Speculation
THREE bodies of men or the sub.

THREE bodies Of men or the sub.
i marine F-4 have been identified
positively. They are: George II.
Ashcroft, gunner's mate, first elass,
identified Tuesday; Charles Harris
Wells, machinist's . mate, second class,
and Frank Nephi Herzog, electrician,
second class, whose bodies were found
Wednesday and identified yesterday.
Discovery of their identity ended be-
lief that one Of the bodies might be
that of Lieut.. A. L. Eide or Ensign 7.
A. Parker. ...". .E. '8f@ ~
Wells and Herzog were known by q
notebook and two missing teeth. II Is
believed that Identification Of the
others may be made out through Ike
means. No other bodies were taken
out yesterday, ,sy,s.is ~ - u
1fhe three bodies were found fhathe
middle compartment, and IL appears
that no other bodies are there, al
though cleaning out the debris has not
been completed. A complete inspec-
ton of the forward compartment has
not been made, but it is doubted that
there are bodies there; or, II any, that
there are many. 80.
Most Bodies Near. Engines
This leads to the conclusion that
most of the bodies will be found in
the after compartment, where the en-
gines are located. 1t appears that this
is significant. Only three or four men
normally would be on duty there dur
ing run. Why should the men have
gone into the third compartmentf is
the question that naturally arises. Il
is possible that water entered the boat
first in the forward or middle com
partment, and that the crew sought
safety, such as it was, in the after. Il
is possible, too, that an explosion Of
the batteries drove them aft Officers
of the salvage work will not discuss
these points; but undoubtedly the
presence of most of the bodies in the
engine room means something.
On the other hand, it may be, Of
! course, that some of the bodies were
lost when the big rent in the middle
compartment was made first; yet the
officers hardly see how this could have
happened. Even though some were
lost from the battery or middle COM
partment, it seems evident that most
are to be found in To engine room, and
that the question as to why most
should be there remains pertinent.
Battery Trouble Possible
Possibility of trouble with the bat
teries has been one of the most dis
cussed points since the submarine was
lost. Weakness of the type Of bat.
terry used in the boats of the F-4 type
led to the invention by Thomas A. Edi-
son Of another design, which was an
nOunced soon after the F-4 disaster.
1t obviates largely the danger Of ex-
plOsiOn should sea water become mixed
with the sulphuric acid of the batteries,
and also the resultant formation of
chlorine gas, which follows the break
ing up of sodium chloride, or common
salt, into its components Of sodium and
chlorine, the latter u deadly, green, ele-
mental gas. Hi.
Officers are loath to discuss the dis
| nnsitiOn Of tha F.4 Thav aav that
that question is up to the navy depart
ment in its entirety, and that no YES
sci may be disposed of without the sit.
ting of board, provided for by law,
so that no certain word may be had for
some time. On the other hand, one
remarked yesterday that ''she doesn'i
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