THE BENNINGTON DISASTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 13

THE BENNINGTON DISASTER.

A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY. A NEW ZEALANDER KILLED. (Per Sonoma at Auckland.) A despatch from San Diego dated July VI states:— "One of - the most frightlui disasters in fche peace' _ history "ox -the American navy, excepting the, sinking uf the Main© in Havanah.l Harbour, .occurred in San Diego Bay shortly after 10.30 a.m. to-day on board- the- U.S. gunboat Bennington, at a. moment when . the warship was lying at anchor, and with- her officers and crew quietly attending to their duty. She was an object of interest to hundreds of persons watching her from the pieTs," pleasure boats, -and., passing ferry boats. A cloud of steam suddenly burst from- a -point" just forward of the smoke stack, out of "which the spectatora. were horrified to see i»odies-and human . fragments, hurled high in the' air and scattered over the surround- J ing water. " The outburst was accompanied ! 'by a roar .as/of ' thunder; and a shock which ' rocked .the vessels near. by. In an instant •the air "was .filled: with, shrieks and bellowß of padnV'from the- wounded, whose "crks could be heard ashore,^ .and wifch flying -fragments oflhiimao. beings;; arid*, pieces-" 1 "of the -' ehip' sv. superstr ucture;£ s -- The ' ■ next moment c Weeding. -.sailors H^wei»> fighting,' - crippled in lhe^-wat£r, against * death' in only.' a less sudden" form than that' from* whiohi they had escaped; while rowing boats, sailing boats, j launches, and tugs were being driven to the rescue "as fasC'a'as. f 'arnis, wind} and ""ste'am ! could carry 'them. f-^ATierryibbat' -whioh was passing near : 'by /tutned,'. and hastened to ' render - assistance"; - i'though - her- "own '" deck "was crowded''- with- v frightene'd men and , women. The hqrrible' sight- sickened those who approached: - -In -the water men with, •blackened faces were • struggling, ,;. though ihanddcappe'd by their injuries'; while othe~rs on deck "were covered" with, blood _and grime, .some being dead,, some wounded" frightfully, and 'others ' working to rescue their comrades who were yet below, either dead or. dying. - The smaller boats^ turned tb.eiT attention -to those in the water, taking them to the _ wharves as fast" as a- few had been taken on- board. At tne wharves preparations were speedily "made for taking care of "the injured, in what, by this time, "was seen.t6.be a, disaster of awful-propor-tions. . Ambulances .'were telephoned * for, and every who- could be reached-- by vjeleplione,'- was- summoned.. Physicians ;were. : hotified, "and the hospitals informed,- an3.;-iwithmVTia.lf' ai hour ; from the timo of. £he- explosion" carriagies,-buggies, eutombbiles, and-- street cars -"> were bearing . their, burdens; of 'yiefcims toward 'the hospitals. " ; The-- sight ."which" met the eyes of hundreds .along the * streets was a never-to-De-forgotteri one. - .Waggons with a dozen wounded men - were", not .rare. ' One had eight sitting, or •kneeling against the sides, ' and holding in", their- laps the heads of com■rades near" to deatjfci%ll of them with faces ' iblack with snioke^and grime, and" many clothed. in- but trousers. I Some of : those ' -whose bodies were bare--, were- not "'injured- in vital parts, i cut- were - .suffering"'; the agonies of torn fleshy 'and|-sat: uV_ with Sieir lacerated' bodies --exposed" 'to the wind. Scores, of men, '-all-- wounded and with blackened. bod'_es, werc v hurried 'through the streets to , places where the blood" could be stanched,- the : gaping '.wounds stitched, or more , heroic" treatment given. Meantime a re ere awful sight, awaited those ' who bed hastened to- the ill-fated "ship, froni which seam continued to pour in great clouds. E.very whore jwas blood, and "in all directions were -mangled' bodies." Tugs and launches ■ scon were , headed for the shore, bearing the bodies . of . the dead and those whose it juries' permitted- their- removal. All the time tlie\~work of rescue was going on tie ship was .settling td*%fcarboard, and. clouds of- white steam poured' from her interior News of the' disaster spread like wildfire over the .city, and- soon tne harbour was lined with 'people.;.- Commander. Young, who was"' ashore getting final orders 1 preparatory to sailing, was- soon' 6iT deck.- He at or.oe ordered" the .airtight compartments to be closed", and. signalled a tug to 'tow "the 6hip into shallow water. h Then.ihe took charge of the sickening' work at hand.' The explosion - occurred in- the main "starboard boiler, forward 'at the smoke ' stack. It is now known that SO lives were' 'snuffed out almost instantly, that' in, all probability this number will , be increased by at least 10 when .the interior of "the "ship can be more tully explored, arid-that almost every man on board at the tune. was injured, many of them so badly l that death is inevitable. The force, of the explosion was terrific beyond conception."-- -Human bodies were hurled into"- the air to a' 1 height of probably not less than 200ft. "The, Bennington was quickly run into " shallow water on the shore near- the .foot- of H street, and tLe work of rescue began at once. Many perBons witnessed "the explosion from" the shore and from. , the- ferry boat, and launches and rowing boats were quickly "brought into use -to' save those who were blown- into- the water. A^ frightful sight" met th© eyes of-tiKose-who first boarded the gunboal. Pead. bodies were^ strewn all over the decks," and"- the scalded' men were writhing in agony.: The uninjured on the boat kept their wits, however, and the worlc"~"of bringing the ' dead and, wounded up from "below decks was T commenced. . Commander .Young was soon on the scene, and he gave orders that the wounded be looked after first. Some of them were a terrible sight. They bad been literally blown up, and their faces, arms, and bodies were , frightfully iburned. Launches wore run to the side of x the gunboat,- and the, injured were hurried to the shore, where they were taken to the hospital. All the doctors of the city were summoned, and citizens were called into .requisition to. relieve the sufferings of the men. A telegram from Washington dated July 25 says: — That the boilers of the Bennington had been known to be in a bad con"dition for eight months past by the Navy •Department was shown to-day by an examination of the records of the department. *Ju November last" Commander -Kossuth ■Kiles, who was in command of the vessel at the time, reported that "unless the jboilers should grow materially worse there was no urgent necessity for sending the fjennington to the dry dock." He subsequently informed the • department that the boilers were good for only a few Tnon'ths longer. In April the Bennington was sent to Mare Island for such repairs as could be made in a limited length of time, ffhe boiler tubes were repaired, but the OipjXar *J»«U """''■"s .not. The ship, being one

of the most useful in the navy, was allotted too short a time in the dry dock by the Bureau of Navigation, and has therefore not ' been in first-class shape since Commander Niles reported- on her condition last fall. During previous administrations in the Bureau of Steam Navigation" it was a settled policy thai any report of bad boilers resulted in taking the ship so afflicted out of commission at

once, no matter what urgency of demand there wa3 for her services, bui since line

officers have been substituted for staff [ officers in the superintending of these duties it is alleged that the care of the boilers in the navy has been more lax. This question will be investigated by the Board of Inquiry when it meets at San Diego. Forty-seven of the men who died on the Bennington. were buried at San Diego on July 23. The bodies, were carried 10 miles over xough mountain roads to the cemetery on the crest of Mount Loma. Many soldiers and sailors, with officers of rhe army and navy, were in attendance. The services were severely simple. The citizens of San Diego cent beautiful wreaths of asparagus fern for all fcho caskets, arid the United States f\u'nifchied flags, with which the caskets were : draped. The episcopal burial service Mas read, and afterwards Venerable Father Übach, of the Oathoiic" Church, read ohe service of tEat Church" * Many then turned to go, . but Commander- Lucien Young, of the Bennmgton,- stepped" -forward. Com- ■ mareder Young was ashore -at the time of rthe disaster to his ship,. and- -this escape was riot his first. 'He was. aboard the U.S.fcj. 1 Huron, which was lost in a storm off the Atlantic coast in 1877. , Young swam ashore from the wrecked vessel with a line, 1 and through his efforts a number of lives | were saved that dreadful 'night. At the funeral services at San Diego -Commander Young raised his hand for attention, ar.d in a ,de-ep gruff voice said : • " Captain Scott, commander of. Fort -Roseorans, and his successors, I commit to your tender care the bodies of our unfortunate shipmates and patriot dead. May their graves never be forgotten by the hand of , affection; may there rise above this, their last resting place, marble slabs to mark the place a 6 sacred* to the nation's care; and may "the morning sun ever kiss the green sod above their dust, emblematic of our love and affection." Volleys were fired over the graves by the naval reserve. boy&" oast their flowers upon them, and the services were over. Frank de Curtoni, an oiler on the Bennington, whose body was recovered" from the wreck, was a native of, Nelson, New Zealand. .Be came to America 13 years agio, and took up his residence' with his uncle, J. de Curtoni, a grocer, seven years ago. He enlisted in the navy, and was^ assigned, to tho Yorktown, when that vessel was in the Philippines. -He was^ afterwards transferred to ■the Oregon, and' upon his second enlistment three years ago ho was detailed .to the Bennington. Four sisters — Lillian and Elizabeth Curtoni, Mrs P. Harding, and Mrs, A.' Burton — and two brothers — Edwin (residing in this city) and Louis (engineer ' on the _ transport Logan, and formerly of \ the cruiser Olympia) — survive him. At the time .of his death Mr d© Crutoni was 29 years old.