BATTLESHIP IN CRASH LIKE TITANIC'S; DAMAGE IS SLIGHT.

Value of Subdivision of the Hull Into

Large Number of Small Compartments Demonstrated

Washington, D. C., June 4--The battleship Arkansas, when passing throguh Two Bush chanel entrance to Penobscot bay, Sunday afternoon, touched bottom.

Capt. Fechteler, president of the naval inspection board, which reached Rockalnd, Me., last night, reported to the navy department today that the ship met with an accident similar to that which sank the Titanic.

The value of the naval system of subdivision of the hull into a large number of small compartments is believed to have been demonstrted by the accident, for the blow to the Arkansas is thought to have been just such a rip as the heel of the iceberg inflicted upon the bottom of the Titanic.

At the point where the Titanic was struck there were no inner compartments, not even coal bunkers, but only the thin skin of the ship.

Naval constructors today said that had the Arkansas not been subdivided doubtless it would have gone to the bottom also. The damage to the Arkansas was slight, and it was able to go out again today to finish its trial.

Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, June 5, 1912, p. 4, c. 3: