Show a dozen more of gunboats Gun boats crew Is unknown while three score are lying in san diego hospitals ship will have to be dismantled to determine injuries san diego cal july 21 broken and blackened with her flag flying at hau mast her bold felted with fifteen feet of water the united states ship Berin inston lies beached upon the shores of san diego harbor thirty nine of her crew lie dead at city morgues the fate of a dozen more Is as yet undetermined and three scores are stretched upon beds of pain hi various hospitals this is the result of the explosion which wrecked the trim little naval craft and wrought such terrible havoc among her crew at halt past ten this morning the placid waters of san diego lay have never before beba the scene of such a disaster and san diego city has never before been stirred by such scenes of death and suffering as those witnessed tonight twenty one dead bodies lie ranged with gruesome at dails andersone Ander sona morgue thirteen victims were stretched upon improvised biers at johnsen cannells morgue while five others were to be seen at woolman bradye Bra dyB at the two latter places the work of the explosion was terribly in evidence the face of every victim fe scarred and scalded in many cases almost beyond recognition at agnew hospital tonight are many injured buttering in almost every instance from scalded bodies several are expected to succumb to their injuries belore tire night Is over on board the the tin harmed members of the crew are working under great difficulty to reach the boiler room and coal bunkers where it ia believed a dozen bodies are lyley wedged in the wreckage or in the water which fills that part of the vessel the cause of the explosion so far as ascertained secluded boilers B and D on the port has not been determined ter mined yet there is much talk among the crew especially the irresponsible pon sible member of weakened and leaking boilers but until a thorough inspection of the wrecked boilers can be made no definite statement Is obtainable the bennington which arrived at this port from honolulu last wednesday forenoon fp was preparing to leave port at 1030 this morning and only awaited the arrayal ot commander lu cieri young who had gone ashore on official business with steam up and every preparation tor sailing completed the vessel swung at anchor half a mile off the spreckels els wharf opposite H street officers and crew stood idly about awaiting the ot the commander and the order to heave anchor numerous small craft swarmed about the bay and the big ferryboat ramona was leisurely its way from the coronado aldo of the bay before persons on shore and aboard the moving bay craft awoke to the before their eyes men were leaping over the sides of the bermington then all were moved to action first a fis hermans row boar then the launch mckenley upon which commander young had just embarked to board the vessel rushed to the rescue followed by the tug santa fe and the government tug pe russey the struggling sailors some of whom were scalded and otherwise injured by the super heated steam and terrible concussion of the explosion wee quickly taken out of the water and hurried ashore even the ferryboat ramona with her crowd of morning passengers from coronado turned out of her course V immediately and came to render as sl stance commander young boarded the bennington but a few minutes after the explosion while there was much confusion among these who escaped unharmed the officers had already set about to care for the injured and look for the dead tha bennington began to settle rapidly listing heavily to starboard fearing she would sink commander young ordered the vessel taken in tow by the tug santa fe and one or two smaller craft r heading directly for shore at the foot of H street the bennington was run into shallow water where she hes tonight not more than yards from the chore she leans heavily to starboard her bow upon the bottom and about fifteen feet of water beneath her stern steam still poured out of the ventilating funnels and through every ap grature that gave opening from tha lower region of the snip and it was some time before rescuers could venture below taws of the explosion reached city within a few aln ires in response to calls ambulances were hurried bayward from every hospital and undertaking establish anent in the city besides these there were scores of volunteer vehicles carriages delivery wagons and ev n more humble conveyances hur rn upon their merciful errand an examination of the bennington above decks did not disclose any g dt damage the vessel covered aia a grey coating the color of ash ei e i the escaping steam carried a c n colored mud which smeared e even the sides of tha vess there were broken gangway s ano displaced machinery of a minor acter but no serious damage to the main was visible it was ex pis ned by those on board that the wreckage was all below bust just how this is will be fully determined only after a thorough investigation this cannot bo made until the awatar baa been pumped out and the vessel righted commander young declined to make any official statement for pub It CAtion ho said however to a re portia this afternoon the disaster waa caused by the explosion of boiler D on tho port side and that boiler B while not exploding had been damaged allowing the steam to escape and added to the horrors of the catastrophe lieutenant victor blue the man who made the perilous trip around the bay of santiago de cuba and reported the presence of cerveris veras squadron is attached to the bennington he was not aboard however having left last thursday morning by train tor mores larid hospital where it is said he will undergo an operation for appen one of the fortunate ones was gunners mate john turpan colored tur aln was a member of the maines crew when that vessel was blown up in havana harbor and escaped uninjured his good luck on that occasion did not desert him and he came through explosion without a scratch arrangements tor burying the dead have not been perfected but it Is thought nearly it not quite all the bodies will be interred at the military cemetery on point loma reservation on bay some may be sent to their former homes should their families so request one of the most pathetic scenes enacted at the hospitals was witnessed at agnew sanitarium the two men with bruised and blackened bodies lay on cots side by side they were close friends and bad enlisted together one of them wished only to see his mother and sisters again and he spoke feelingly of them the other tortured with pain cursed everything hoping to die soon and end all oto cant you be serious for once said the arst victim stop your swearing remember you have only a few hours to live so be decent for a few minutes at least in an hour both were dead after as many of the wounded as possible had been removed the work of taking the bodies ashore was begun they were piled into launches and carried over to the santa fe wharf where dead wagons and express wagons were waiting tor them they were at once removed to the undertaking der taking parlors and to the morgue some of them were BO blackened and burned as to be almost unrecognizable A number had gaping wounds in their heads where they were hit by flying debris and others had their limbs blown off the work of taking out the dead between decks was difficult on account of the steam it was dangerous to venture into some parts of the ship many deeda of heroism were displayed and the bodies were taken out as quickly as they could be got at within an hour nearly every one had been removed this afternoon there were still four bodies wedged between the bulkhead and workmen were bent for to cut away the bulkhead lieutenant newman K perry was the most seriously injured of the officers and the surgeon says he cannot live lieutenant zahn had his hands badly burned commander Com young was seen on board the bennington shortly after work had been completed and he said that it was probably the starboard main boiler which exploded although on account of the steam and debala this has not yet been actually determined the bennington bad five boilers tour of which are large ones commander young is of the opinion that there must have been a weak spot in one of them but there had been no visible defects as far as he knew the men who were injured including lieutenant perry tell a different story they say that it has been the talk of the ship tor at least six months that the boilers were defective and many of them had feared for a long time that just such an accident would happen one of the men said that a year ago last february while the ship was at magdalena bay the engineer of the battleship new york was sent tor to inspect the boilers and he reported that they were in good condition while the vessel was in san francisco last year the talk of defective boilers again arose but no step sere taken to remedy them the bennington had just come here from mare island and was on her way to panama the vessel where she was beached lies in about fifteen feet of water she la listed to starboard and the water Is rising in her hold the upper deck amidships presents a mass of wreckage the smokestacks smoke stacks have been blown out of place and the superstructure per structure is bent and twisted in all sorts of shape the plates on the side are bulging out and leaks in a number of places are letting in the water john turpan colored man of the crew who was on board the maine when she was blown up in havana was on board the bennington and again escaped injury he rendered soma valuable aid in rescuing the dead and injured the dead J newcombe drowned boatswains mate second class B A ordinary beahan A bensel coal passer A coal passer V W wryght C hogaboom Hogg boom coal passer H dresch ordinary seaman W parish coal passer it X G G brownlee Brownl ce seaman J L burns seaman W G jeffrey coal passer E G delss coal passer C kuntz coal passer seven unidentified on board fifteen others unaccounted for the list of injured as near as can be ascertained at 4 30 p m Is as folio ys campton Cem E U bronson colored D sullivan william J ezell A borg fer guson W C allson charles miller chief mastor at arbib L J guthorle Gu thrle pawtucket B I 1 chief boats walnes mate walter james martin new boyk at arms first class c W brockman des la apprentice preston carpenter arapa coq neb ordinary seaman H c doan inver colo electrician P R connella odessa wash J C barchus Dar chus omaha neb seaman A P Sch orgee P A house C lz cordelia cal E R robinson oakland cal W J new york F C meredith bushnell barbracke barbrake Bar brake tex apprentice seaman L K strobel littleton colo J H Br emerton wash dark ingersoll denver joe Hll thier washington D C A J worth en dayton 0 W vi kennedy lyons neb H F andrews springfield mo brown talley Fei kweller indiana fireman second class S E claram emerson wash N C chambers seaman broken right arm W A hawley japanese takato nofeio tim burk massachusetts chu L A arles sylvania Syl vanla 0 mac mckeen smith mo W F weller cleveland 0 G H hallot bakersfield cal D MI mcclintock pomona cal L B archer montrose col A nelson joseph hallier Hll lier N G chambers claud rushing D C archer eleven others are being cared for at private houses and their names have not yet been ascertained the bennington at the time of the accident was lying in the stream just off the commercial wharf at the toot of H street the warship had received orders at the navy department at washington to sail this morning for port harbord Har tord where she was to meet tha monitor wyoming and convey that vessel to mare island navy yard steam was up and everything was in readiness for sailing and without any warning the starboard forward boiler exploded ath a deafening roar the explosion was terrific people standing on the shore saw a great cloud of white steam above the bennington columns of water hurled into the air and for a distance of nearly twice tho length of the spars of the vessel it was immediately thought that an awful had happened on board the boat the ferryboat ramona was coming across the bay at the time of the accident captain bertelsen of the ramona immediately gave orders to change the course of the boat and instead of continuing the trip to the san diego aide of the bay hurried to the aid of the stricken vessel tugs which were tied up at the commercial wharf the launch mcknley the government launch general de russey and a large number of other launches and water craft which were near the scene at the time also rushed to the aid of the bennington and endeavored to lend every assistance possible by the time the ramona had arrived many of the sailors of the bennington who had jumped into the bay to escape the scalding had been rescued and the removal of the wounded which had already been commenced was being conducted in perfect order the crews of the santa fe de russe russey y and mckenley and the other boats present lent yeo santa fe de russey and mckenley man aid in picking up the wounded sailors and transferring them to the shore i at the time of the accident commander luceen young and surgeon A E peck were on shore the two officers as soon as they learned of the disaster hurried to the water front where commander young immediately took charge A section of the upper deck was carried away from stem to stern blood and wreckage was distributed over the entire ahle the after cabin and the vicinity of the ship adjacent to the exploded boiler resembling a charnel house over it all hung the great cloud of white smoke which had drifted slowly toward the coronado shore the news of the explosion spread over the city like wild fire at first some of the reports were that over halt of the crew had been killed this was later modified the rumor having it that the dead would at least reach seventy five the scene of hurrying ambulances hack and carriages of every description had been summoned added to the excitement every physician who could bo reached by telephone was called to the water front within a comparatively short time nearly a dozen physicians were on the scene and tending to the wounded A dozen or fifteen of the men were blown overboard by the force of the explosion captain wentworth who was looking af the bennington when the disaster occurred says he saw human bodies hurled over a hundred feet upward was black with smoke which enveloped the ship when it cleared away only a few men could be seen on the decks while a number were floundering in the water A boat was lowered from the vessels slide and most of them were picked up and taken on board the shock of the explosion pepe grated every section of the ship blood ana ashes being found as far as in the stern of the captains cabin portions of the upper deck were carried away and great damage was done in all sections all the available launches hastened to the wreck while most of the rowboats along the bay were brought into use most of tho dead and injured were taken ashore where the and were assembled the former took charge of the dead and the latter to minister to the needs ol 01 living I 1 the bodies of many of the men tali ken the wrecked interior of the ship were mutilated almost beyond recognition tho faces of many were covered with blood and ashes commander young as soon as he reached the ship gave orders that the air tight compartments be closed to prevent the listing ships sinking and that magazines bo flooded to avert further explosion temporary quarters ashore were arranged for the wounded and sixty alt liens volunteered and hurried in laun chea to the relief of aboss on the ill fated ship some of aba volunteers were unable to stand the sickening bight which met their gaze on the ben nl neton As fast an the wounded could be removed they were n am bu lancea carriages wagons and au to the hospitals for a long tine the hot steam prevented access to tho between the decks where most of the dead bodies lay and it was not |