European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday september 18,1989 a a Jar Uria scents Able approach these nol so Subtle Cool cats Don t want to appear to Vantage of it. Even Iho Urh they can t read the sign be too interested but if a free fish should Flop their below them their noses know there s fresh fish for Way. Well they re in a purr feet spot to take and dinner at Fulton fish Market in new York. Waikiki tourist area unsettled by pumping of ground water Honolulu a a six Block area of Waikiki Beach is sinking splitting sidewalks Tilting Small buildings and making str cos uneven but a building contractor has Lakin responsibility. As pan of a $50 million commercial project. Pacific construction co. Has been excavating a Block is area in the heart of the tourist Mecca to a depth of 30 feet and has had to pump up to 7,000gallons of ground water out of the Hole every minute since May. Officials of Pacific construction accepted responsibility and have had Crews scrambling around to fill and Patch the newest pavement cracks or gaps Between sidewalks and to repair sagging Walls and buildings As soon As they arc reported. Engineers and consultants who planned the project and City officials who approved the plans assumed there would be some soil settlement said the City s chief building inspector Sadao Kanshiro. The water table in the area is just 6 feet below the surface. Whenever you take out ground water the sur rounding areas will be affected Kanshiro said. They knew that but it s a matter of degree. They did t know How  in some places the subsidence has been As much As 4 inches. Pumping and officials Hope the sinking will Slop when construction reaches the fourth floor level in about six weeks said Trudics China Pacific construction s marketing manager. Managers of neighbouring buildings arc pleased with Pacific construction s response but Don t like inc nuisance. They think the contractors and City should have anticipated the problem. After All Waikiki is built on a swamp and these Guys arc draining the  said John Van apell building manager of the nearby Royal Kuhio Condo minium. Steve Winter general manager of the Waikiki Joy hotel across the Street from the Hole said he is trying to take the problem in stride and can t give enough credit to Pacific construction for trying to repair the  Kimberly line administrator of the 13-Story la Niolu retirement Home and care Center said it s not just the actual damage but the mental anguish the residents go through. They ask me Are we still Safe is the building going to fall Down " risky Iowa test reportedly held at time of blast Richmond. A. A the battleship Iowa was being used As a floating Laboratory for High explosive experiments and crewmen were using improper gun powder when the no. 2 Turret exploded and killed 47 men. A news service  from the Navy investigation into the april 19 explosion also showed that the commander capt. Fred p. Moosally had not authorized the firing with experimental loads when the explosion occurred. Media general news services reported sunday. The investigation also showed that the Navy command that requested the experiments was the same command that performed the tests that led the Navy to conclude the explosion was Likely an act of sabotage by a Sailor. The Pentagon released a report in Early september that said circumstantial evidence indicated gunner s mate Clayton Hartwig of Cleveland intentionally sparked the explosion. However the report said it would be impossible to prove because All those nearby died in the explosion including Hartwig. The Navy when contacted by the associated Presson saturday stood by its conclusion. Everything was very carefully considered said cmdr. Mark Baker a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon. According to the 7,007-Pagc report which was Avail Able to the Public the Navy found that gunners were firing an experimental Load from the Iowa s no. 2 Turret with powder not approved for the weight of the projectile. The powder was clearly marked that it not be used with the heavyweight projectiles being fired the report said. The experiments were at the request of researchers at the naval sea systems come at the naval surface warfare Center at Dahlgren  to the transcripts the tests were designed to improve the accuracy and Range of the ship s antiquated 16-Inch . Eugene j. Kocmich who was the Iowa s weapons officer Between 1986 and 1988, told Navy investigators that the experiments alarmed a number of officers on the ship who did t think a fully Manne battleship was meant to be a research and development vessel. They argued that tests should be conducted under safer conditions. To fulfil the experiments Iowa gunners tried reducing the powder Load by using five bags instead of the Normal six. Master chief . Sec ii who was i charge of the experiments had discovered that using just five bags improved the accuracy of the guns. I knew they did t have any authorization said it. Cmdr. Kenneth m. Costigan the Iowa s gunnery officer i think there were big signs Down in the magazines you cannot use d-846 with heavyweight projectiles it was pretty Clear what the rules  but Costigan said he never did anything about it. Moosally said that on the Day of the explosion he did not know a five bag charge was going to be used in Turret 2 or that Turret 3 which never fired because of the explosion was loaded with an even More innovative four bag charge. Moosally told investigators he approved the use of a reduced charge but said he thought that meant six 55-Pound bags of  combination of experimentation on the Iowa and the High turnover inexperience and poor manage ment on Board initially attracted the attention of investigators looking into the explosion. The investigators had been pursuing the theory that Hartwig who look Over As gun Captain in a last minute roster change perhaps was confused by seeing Only five bags of powder pop out from the powder cars instead of six and that in the confusion the powder got rammed into the barrel too quickly splitting a bag open when it crashed into the projectile its volatile powder set off by friction. The friction theory was eliminated by a series of technical tests under the direction of the naval sea systems come. The discovery of a 5100,000 life insurance policy taken out by Hartwig naming a shipmate As Benefi Ciary put the investigation on a new course. But judge the sign said 75 Miles per hour and new Brunswick . A heavy footed Drivers May thin they be taken a wrong turn on the new Jersey Turnpike and gone to heaven some of the electronic Speed limit signs Are mistakenly Reading 75 Mph. State police and Turnpike authority officials said the erroneous Speed limit has been flashing on about half a dozen of the lighted signs in North Ern new Jersey because of a computer programming error. The Legal limit is 55 Mph. Gordon Hector a spokesman for the Turnpike authority said technicians were trying to track Down the problem. Meanwhile workers Are adjusting the errant signs manually. Some motorists find it funny. It was kind of strange to Sec every body below the Speed limit for a change joked Casey Raskob an attorney from Springfield. A state police official said no traffic problems were reported As result. But i Don t think any judge is Gonna buy that excuse for speeding he said