Arizona republican., 1917-05-22
NURSES DIE WHEN EXPL0S|0NQCCURs
 OV AN ARMED SHIP
rRepubIlcan A. p. Leased Wire1

NEW YORK. May 21-Victims of an explosion during the practice firing of ammunition on an armed merchantmen at sea Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Edith Ayers and Miss Helen Burnett Wood of Chicago, American Red Cross nurses, bound for war duty in France. were killed, and Miss Emma Matzen, anoth CT nurse of Columbus, Neb., was in- jured although not dangerously. The steamship, only one day out from New York. returned here today and naval investigation is under way to deter mine the cause of the accident
 Unofficial reports were that de- fective shell was responsible. One ac- count had it that the shell exploded prematurely after leaving the gun, an other that a breach explosion occurred. | It wes learned. however, that the opinion of those aboard the ship hest ] competent to judge was that the shell was not defective, but that in some { unexplainable manner a portion of the structure of the cartridge had been ! diverted from it's course boomerang fashion.
 The shell itself hit the mark, it was ! said, but fragments of brass, apparent i ly from the metal disc that separated the powder charge from the shell, were 1 picked out of the flesh of the three women. The gun itself, 4.7 inch, was not damaged, according to the accounts l One of the two women killed was | struck in the heart and the other in ! the head. They were members of base hospital No. F with a personnel of more than 250
 ] It was a beautiful afternoon when the 1 tragedy occurred and nearly all the 1 sixty women nurses of the hospital were on deck watching target practice. According to Major Frederick Besley, professor of surgery at Northwestern | university and commander of the unit l the gun crew was not aware that any l body had been killed until so informed,
 which seems to dispose of the theory : that it was breach explosion. 1 jOr Besley said that the morale of
 the nurses and surgeons after the acci- dent and since was splendid Miss
 MatZen received prompt attention and
 is said to be on the road to recovery. An informal inquiry was made aboard
 ship and statements were taken of the ! circumstances i'll affidavit form
 There is no accurate evidence" said
 Major Besley. ito warrant making a positive statement as to the exact cause of the accident. That will be deter
 mined in an inquiry to be made by a
 naval board"
 The snip VIII De held here, 1t IS understood, until the evidence for the | naval inquiry has been obtained.
 A brass attachment of the powder
 charge. striking the water and boomer
 anging back nearly 200 feet after the firing of a naval gun in target practice killed Mrs. Ayres and Miss Wood. Sec retary Daniels explained in statement tonight that such an accident never had occurred before and that ordnance
 experts are puzzled. ss.
 This morning, said the secretary. q gave out the distressing statement
 that two nurses who were going to Eu- rope had been accidentally Killed on the steamship Mongolia Sunday afternoon.
 Today the Mongolia returned to New | York to bring the bodies of Mrs Edith Ayres and Miss Helen Burnett Wood, the two nurses who were killed, and full particulars were learned from the
 officers at the navy yard. ~The parti-
 culars of the fatal accident, which is
 deeply deplored. are thus furnished by
 the ordnance officers from New York {:
 When about one hundred miles to sea in accordance with the usual pro- cedure guns were fired to test mounts
 and ammunition and to practice the
 navy crew in their use The guns were (Continued on Rage Two)