The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 22, 1905, Page 1

Other :Paper' Published in San Francisco CALL - The Ca'_ll Prmts More News Than Anv THE THEATERS. THE WEATHER. msade ¢ San Francisco for ding midnight July 22 CHUTES—'Princess Fan Tan. o and vicinity—Foggy Inee. or cloudy Saturday morning, fatr dur- GRAND—"Jewish Hamlet."" Matines, esh west wind. “Kol Nidrey." G. H. WILLSON, Local Temporarily in Charge. ORPHEUM-—Vaudeville, TIVOLI—"“Reb Roy." Matinees at all theaters. | — + VOLUME XCVIII—NO. 52. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, PRICE FIVE CENTS. THIRTY-NINE KILLED AND SCORES ARE INJURED BY AN EXPLOSION OF BOILER ON THE UNITED STATES GUNBOAT BENNINGTON IN HARGOR AT AN DIEGD As the result of an 'explosion of a boiler on the United States gunboat Bennington yesterday morning at San Diego thirty-nine men were killed, more than fifty injured and eleven are missing. The vessel was getting up steam preliminary to its departure from the port. The boilers have for some time been considered defective, and without warning the explosion occurred. JULY 22) 1905. MEN HEMMED IN BY FIRE AND WATER Mangled Bodies Strewn About| the Vessel Make Scene of Horror. Several of the Wounded Willl Swell the List of The Dead. uly 21.—Broken and blackened, with her flag st and her hold filled with fifteen feet of water, i .S gunboat Bennington lies beached upon - the Sag Q@Mr Chirty-nine of ber crew lie dead at s, the fate of a dozen more is yet undetermined and score are stretched upon beds of pain in various. hospitals. the result of the explosion which wrecked the trim little wrought such terrible havoc among her crew at ock this morning. rs of San Diego Bay have never before been aster, and San Diego city has never before tates tirred by such scenes of death and suffering as those wit- nessed to-day. Twenty-one dead bodies lie ranged with grewsome precision Davis & Anderson’s morgue. The stark forms are outlined in naculate winding sheets. Thirteen victims are stretched upon provised biers at Johnson & Connell's morgue, while five others to be seen at Woolman & Bradley’s. The face of every victim is scarred and scalded, in many cases almost beyond recognition, Defective Boilers Said to Have Caused the Terrible Disaster At Agnew Hospital to-night are many injured, suffering in almost every instance from scalded bodies. Several are expected to succumb to their injuries before the night is over. On board the Bennington the unharmed members of the crew are working under great difficulties to reach the boiler-room and 1 bunkers, where it is believed a dozen bodies are lying wedged in the wreckage or submerged in the water, which fills that part of the vessel. The cause of the explosion, which, so far as ascertained, in- cluded boilers B and D on the port side, has not yet been deter- mined. There is talk among the crew of weakened and leaking boilers, but until a thorough inspection of the wrecked boilers can be made no definite official statement is obtainable. Deep Intonation Accompanies the Explosion on the Gunboat The Bennington, which arrived at this port from Honolulu last Wednesday afternoon, was preparing to leave port at half- past 10 o'clock this morning, and only awaited the artival of Com- mander Lucien Young, who had gone ashore on official business. h steam up and every preparation for sailing completed, the ung at anchor half a mile off the Spreckels wharf, opposite street. )fficers and crew stood idly about awaiting the arrival of the der and the order to heave anchor. Numerous small craft about the bay, and the big ferry-boat Ramona was leis- rning its way across from.the Coronado side ot the bay. y there was a deep-toned, rumbling intonation, like a osion of dynamite, and the Bennington was seen to reel m-stem to stern; a dense cloud of white steam shot the entire upper deck appeared to lift and then settle sh. Before persons on shore and aboard the moving bay craft awoke to the catastrophe enacted before their eyes men were leap- ing over the sides of the Bennington. Commander Young Immediately Orders the Desse! Beached First a fisherman’s rowboat, then the launch McKinley, upon which Commander Young had just embarked to'board his vessel, rushed to the rescue, followed by the tug Santa Fe and the Gov- ernment tug De Russey. The struggling sailors, some of whom PROMPT WORK B EXECUTIVE OFFICER YATES Remains Calm Amid | the Wreckage and Cloud of Steam. SAN DIEGO, July 2L—Lieutenant Yates, executive officer in charge of the Bennington at the time of the disaster, | was in the aft cabin. He rushed out, to | be met by a blinding, scalding cloud of steam as it swept the vessel. Speaking of the accident, he said: “I must have remained seated in my chair several seconds after it occcurred, and dld not know what had happened. [ then rushed out and the steam, even at the extreme after part of the ship, was so dense thal I could not get a breath {of air until I ascended the rail. | “As I ran forward, I passed one of our | | boys crawling along on_his beily. There was no time to attend to individual cases, | there were so many, and they seemed | | almost like an indistinet memory to me. | | About thirty of the boys were on the foredeck, all badly wounded. I called | for men to man the boats and only about | twelve, including officers, responded. All of the rest were injured or had been | driven over the side by | steam. ““Although I did not anticipate a great | deal of danger from fire, from the na- ture of the explosion, 1 immediately had all compartments closed and the forward magazine flcoded. “Afterwards the after magazine was also flooded to assure safety. The boat | listed sharply to starboard immediately | after the explosion. “We have no means as yet of ascer- talning the extent of our injurfes. As! far as can be learned, a part of the fur- nace feil against the boiler which ex- ploded. It is probable that the other | boilers exploded - immediately afterward i and the steam pipes were wrecked, liber- ating the steam. Every man in the en- gine rooms at the time must have met death. We cannot tell yet how great is the leak. The holes are probably small, | but we would have sunk had we not . had the ship towed ashore. The ship may be a complete wreck beiow, how- ! ever, as far as can be told at the pres- ent time. “Four bodles are still in sight in the boiler room, under the wreckage, and they will be secured as soon as possible. Men are now at work. cutting a hole into the scalding | Continued on Pase 2. Columns 1 sund 2. the ot.her engine room through the bulk- d." < hea ately. i “The explosion happened st the very | “Ensten - SCENE ON SHIP MAKES STRONG MEN WEAKEN Sailors Plunge Into the Sea From Burn- ing Vessel. SAN DIEGO, July 2L.—Thirty-nine dead bodies are lying at morgues, on plers and on the deck of a ruined vessel of the United States navy, scores of men are lying painfully injured in sanitariums and hospitals, and fifteen sailors are missing and probably bave found death in the waters of the harbor, as a result ‘of the explosion of a boller ow board the United States gunboat Bennington at 10:10 o’clock this morning. The Bennington at the time of the ac- cident was lying in the stream just off the Commercial wharf at the foot of H street. The warship had recetved orders | from the Navy Department at Washing- | ton to sail this morning for Port Harford, where she was to meet the injured moni- tor Wyoming and convoy that vessel to Mare Island Navy Yard. Steam was up and everything was in readiness for sal- UNITED STATES GUNBOAT THE BOILERS OF WHICH EXPLODED YESTERDAY IN SAN“DIEGO HAR! CAUSING THBE DEATH OF THIRTY-NINI MEN AND INJURING SCORES OF OTHERS. THE NAVAL OFFICERS IN WASHINGTON SAY THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION HAS NOT BEEN LEARNED, PARTIAL LIST OF THE DEAD. ing when suddenly, and without any OFFICERS. ~ | | warning whatever. ‘the starboard for- g ENSIGN N. K. PERRY. ward boller exploded with a deafening ORE . ‘The explosion was/a terrific one. Peo- F. W. BROWN, E. DRESCH. J. HUNT. ple standing on the shore saw a huge of white steam rise above the Ben- ‘ cl ooy o e nl:gon. Columns of water were hurled J. L. BURNS. 2 HES. s 2 J. C. BARCHU! X B BNzEL. o 5 KON, W.och WiLsoN: Wi the a Dk 4 dlatance of By A. KAMERER. S J. HILSCHER. C. F. NELSON. twice the height of the spars of the ‘W. CHERRY. L 6. BROWNLEE. Veasel. e e = g BOATS GO TO RESCUE. It was immediately apparent that an awful disaster had occurred on board the warship. The ferryboat Ramona was coming across the bay at the time of the gecident. Captain Bertelsen of the Ra- mona immediately gave orders to change A the course of the boat and, instead of tribute - the material in "the territory | continuing his trip to the San Diego side traversed by its lines, incidentally join- | of the bay, hurried to the aid of the ing with the exporters in the effort being | Stricken warship. The tug Santa Fe, ‘aich was tied up at the -Commercial pfude’ to secufe;a, raduction. from: the, I | WHCH T2 | inch’ McKhsiey; the QGov- CHARLES McKEON. E. W. BRUNSON. H. F. SAUNDERS. day. He was standing on the foredeck Just aft of the chart house. He m"u:’i | ernment launch General de Russey and a boats, v v