Evening star., 1921-06-02
VICTIMS Of BLAST
ARE BROUGHT HERE
Nine of Injured in Aberdeen
Explosion at Walter
Reed.

Nine OF the officers ana men IN.
jured in tho explosion Of the air
bomb at Aberdeen Tuesday are to-
day at the Walter Reed Hospital
here. They were brought in on q
specially .outftted hospital car last
night from the scene of the ex-
plosion. y
Capt. ]. e. Hall is reported to be
in q most serious condition, q num-
ber Of fragments from the bomb hav-
ing lodged in his BRAIN. Surgeons
at the hospital said to-day that no
efforts could be made to remove these
lfragmenta He also is suffering from
| shock. contusions Of the body and In
been destroyed. Little hope is held
Lieut.. G. g. Eliason and Private
+. w. Hall also are still in a serious
condition, and Army surgeons at the
it could not be said whether the
three would pull through. .
The others who were brought to
the hospital are reported to be rest
ing easily today. They are Lieut.. L.
r. Reese, Private F. p Naave, Pri-
O'Neill,z Private NJ B. Blevins and
Private Edward Jarry.
Invesffgation Under Way.
Secretary Weeks has Instructed the
inspector generals department Of the
Army to conduct a special investiga-
tion of the disaster. and today an
officer from that department is at
Aberdeen. Assistant Secretary Of
War ]. Mayhem Wainwright also left
last night to conduct a special inves-
tigation.
Maj. William A. Borden and Capt.
c. H. NJ. Roberts, who were dispatched
from Washington by airplane imme-
diately following notice of the acci-
dent, have returned and made re-
ordnance Of the Army, and Col. c.
LII. Ruggles. chief of the technical
staff. Col. Ruggles said today that
their reports would not be made pub
lic until after the receipt of the
formal report of the board Of inves-
commandant Of the proving ground
at Aberdeen.
Mai. Borden brought the first de-
tails of the disaster to the depart
ment today in an oral report to Gen.
Williams. While he did not attempt
officially to fix the responsibility. in
view of the separate investigations
ordered for that purpose. he advanced
a theory of the cause of the .exp1o--
sion. The facts upon which he based
his conclusions are regarded by ord
nance experts as most exceptional.
Holds Accident Extraordinary.
THE plane had been loaded with four
bombs" Maj. Borden said. That on
rack No. I. at the right hand end of the
plane. had dropped from the rack once
An examination showed no apparent
defect either Of rack or bomb and the
bomb was replaced. Then it dropped a
second time.
Meanwhile the motor had been
started and the airplane was being
turned around. The blast from the pro-
peller of the machine started the pro-
peller on the bomb revolving. A Ger
tain number Of revolutions of the bombs
propeller releases a striking rod or
plunger. The propeller had apparently
turned that point when the tail skid-a
piece Of metal attached to the tail of
the airpiane-swung around and struck
the propeller on the bomb, a most ex-
traordinary occurrence.
The blow evidently was all that was
required to drive the plunger into the
percussion cap attached to- the fuse
The propeller had apparently turned to
a point where the blow would have re-
leased the plunger. The explosion fol-
lowed"
Safety devices on the other three
bombs prevented their discharge, in the
opinion OF Maj. Borden, although they
were within fifteen feet Of the explosion.
Maj. Borden said one/of the men as
sisting in turning the plane saw the
second time. He shouted warning, and
Capt. Hall, seated in the bombers pit
of the machine, looked down and. into
the blast as the bomb exploded. He ex-
planned that Capt Halls facial injuries
were probably due to that movement