The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-10-14 00:00:00

tATURDAY, OCT. 14,

AN ACCOUNT OF THE HELL-GATE
EXPLOSION. -- ,
• •
The American Correspondent of The Times, writing
tinder date Sept. 26, gives the fclinwiug interesting a
$2 the explosion of the mine at Hell-gate, East Itivereitr,
-I(4k
• The explosion was successfully made at 2.50 p.m. on
!Sunday, September 24, to the entire satisfaction of
the engineers who had the work in charge. The huge
trowd, however, that covered every available spot of
land for eight seeing in the neighbourhood, and dotted
the water, outside the guard boats, in myriads of craft
of every description, were sadly disappointed. There
Was scarcely any detonation or vibration of the atmos-
Phere, but a very slight vibration of the ground along
the strata of rook which forms the reef, and nothing of
any account that was visible to reward the sightseers.
The htmdreds of thousands of gazers expected to see
buildings toppling over and rocks thrown high in the
air' but little else than the discomfort of a north-
east wind and drizzling rain rewarded them. For
" blowJsp " of which so much had been expected
to end in such a small denouement, for the hugest
dynamite mine ever charged to go off without hurting
anythinerir anybody, was disappointing indeed. The
sensational New York Press had laboured diligently
for a week to wind up the public feeling to the highest
Pitch, painting in glowing colours the destruction that
Plight enve been, so that the engineers had difficulty
ntlaying the apprehensions of the timid, thousands
"s 4 whom fled from New York; but the mine exploded
Just as they said it would, without damaging anything
lii the reef that was intended to be blown up, and
Without providing anything in the form of a "eight "
that was worth running to see.
About a year ago, when all the excavations had been
finished under the reef, and the preparations for
drilling the holes which were to contain the dynamite
Charges began, I spent half a day creeping about in
the shaft and tunnels and then sent a full description
of the work to The Times. This work has been going
on over seven years, and has cost over 1,700,000 dohs.
Hell-gate is the narrow strait connecting the East River
of New York Harbour with Long Island Sound. It is
not only narrow, but filled with sunken rocks. Skilful
pilotage Is necessary to take vessels safely through its
dangerous channel, the difficulties being aggravated by
the tide, which rushes through at rates varying from
six to ten miles an hour. For twenty years work has
been going on at blasting the sunken rocks ki the
channel, but the great difficulty was the tide, and it
was not until General Newton began work in 1868 and
1869 that any comprehensive plan for improving the
tide-way was put into execution. On the east side of
the strait—Hallett's Point—a mass of rock juts out
into the slater, and the sub-aqueous extension of this
Point is the reef which has just been blown up.
General Newton's plan was to remove this reef and cut
awaY this point, so as to give an additional channel
and tide-way, and the most economical method was to
undermine the reef, that being cheaper and surer than
the Precarious one of surface-blasting in so powerful
S current. He cut away the sharp point of land, so as
to make a perpendicular curved wall of rock as the
future bank of the strait. Sinking the excavation
• a depth of at least 30ft. below the surface of
,„‘uute water, he ran out tunnels from it under the reef,
le the spokes of a wheel. These he connected by
transverse tunnels or galleries. He thus had a rocky
ro&_ of under the strait, surmounting about 7,6001 t. of
"ulnels and galleries, which was supported by 172
o_,ol__umns of rock. Into the roof and columns were
ed a vast number of holes to receive the dynamite.
-6c"rnes,-and the whole were exploded simultaneously
.
electricitY. Nearly three acres were thus, under.
-bled, and the water, when the dibris is taken out so
as to give the uniform depth of 301 t.., will not only
P_rovide a safe and commodieurs channel for the deepest-
"'den vends, but will also reduce the tidal current by
Providing at least double the former tide-way.
This is, in brief, the plan and object of the Hellgste
explosion. Id order to make the explosion safer, and
insure its not damaging property, the moment of high
grater Was chosen, and the excavations were completely
LOoded, this; to secure safety from a premature blast,
lo,_1? done by means of a syphon and requiring abOut
2,., ue
°ours. There were used in the charges 28,9011 b. of
Zelutulite, 9,061i1b. of "rendrock," and 14,24,41 b. of
vuleen powder, an aggregate of 52,206i1b. of pre-
rations of nitro-glycerine. These were made up
Lot° cartridges, enclosed chiefly in tin cases, and were
Ent into 4,462 holes and cavities, the design being to
ure_,alt up the entire reek into small boulders which
;3'44 be easily grappled and taken out of the water.
..ue hundred thousand feet of telegraph wire were
:4',!ed in connecting these charges with each other, so as
i• 0 aecure a perfect exploeion, and 120,000 ft. more for
ii4Cling to the batteries which exploded the mine.
here were 12 batteries of 40 cells each, four of 43
Zile. and seven of 44 cells, making 960 cells in all ; and
eY Were placed in a bombproof structure, about 6501 t.
what of the mine.
General Newton had two conflicting duties to per-
-1.05ni in a few days before the explosion. He had to
:LeeP off that portion of the population whose curiosity
Was greater than their fear • and to soothe the other
Pertiou whose fear exceeded 'their curiosity. To take
• cu.° of the former there was provided an extensive
Patrol by boats on the water and police on land, so
T•uat no one was permitted upon Hallett's Point, nor
lwai_s?lierliaoa radius of about 600 ft. of the mine. For the
got out a sort of proclamation, assuring them
there
Was- no danger- describing what actually would
—cur, which was fulfilled to the letter; and advising
People in the immediate neighbourhood to stand out.
tide their houses and leave the doors and windows open.
'•,y_her railways and steamboats bound to and from New
o
k on Sunday morning were filled with crowds both
w-
aYe ; some anxious to get out of harm's way, others
I,k,tixions to get as near the mine as possible. As it was,
use curious far outnumbered the timorous, for the
genera:l had for his very disappointing display, pro-
bably, a larger audience than has ever been attracted
to any previous show in New York.
To avoid any risk of accident by delay it was
arranged to have the explosion at the first high tide
after the priming and flooding of the mine were corn-
Dieted, and in making his calculations aboutthe middle
of last Week, General Newton found that he had to fix
it on Sunday. This, as soon as promulgated, stirred
nP a commotion and was widely discussed. The
Sabbath' Committee of the Bible Society sent General
,Neewton a protest against it, tip which he replied that
a respected the Sabbath as much as any one, but the
exPlosiors oa that day was a necessity. The news-
IlaPers had much to say about it, generally supporting
the General in not risking any accident by delay.
'lr. William E. Dodge, a prominent New Yorker,
Ilsteutatiowsly declined an invitation sent him as a
itember Of. the Chamber of Commerce, for this reason,
tad in hie refusal, which he gave to some of the papers,
ce read General Newton a lecture for thus desecrating
the Sabbath, and inviting him to join in his "Sabbath
excursion." It was then, for the first time in all the
,
▪ of: his. great work, that the -General lost his
„ He at once sat down and wrote Mr. Dodge
riplinto his declination :
• e . "Hallett's Point, Sept. 23.
"Sir —I received a communication from you dated the
22nd of September, in which you decline an alleged invita-
tion from me to witness the explosion at Hell-gate on Sunday,
the 24th inst. As you take a great deal of pains to go out of
Your way to violate the common courtesies of social inter-
Fourse I take this occasion to inform you that I did not
'write 'son, nor even know of your invitation, until the
receipt of your refusal to accept one. The truth is, I left the
Itenant 4tter of invitation to the Chamber of Commerce to Lien-
Williard, United States Engineers, with instructions
r hrite a certain number of gentlemen. I regret to find
Ihat in one case has made a mistake.—Your obedient
lrYant, Joni NewTON, Lieutenant-Colonel Engineers,
clsYet Major-GeneraL
"Mr. William E. Dodge."
The enoodon wan preceded by a couple of signal
RtaTita to warn the guards and prepare the public for
reut, and the report of these was heard more
isTMT and mush further than the explosion itself.
•Plon was heard or felt at points five miles away,
• ough the signal guns were distinctly heard at those
On Blackwell's Island, directly on the strna-
ra: of rock, and within a few hundred feet of the
?) only a slight vibration was felt. The explosion
ettl,lntoed and broke up about 43,000 cubic yards of
cen"r°(lin weighing 90,000 tons. There were 47,461
lo yards of water in the mine, which, added to the
wAter over the reef, made about 143,000 cubic yards of
teater_displaced by the explosion. The problem was
eocrvide enough explosives to (Replace this water and
if
__ without causing any atmospheric concussion, and
• ieerns to have been successfully solved.
thThe Coins was touched off by Miss Mary Newton,
"xterare infant daaghter, aged two years and
tal"tlir, mouths, who was held up by her father in front of
n,7 11?-etrurnent, and pressed the key that commuicated
electric current. Eye-witnesses of what followed
l'▪
ey that the timbers of the ooffer-dam, where the reef
J:ulaed the land, at first disappeared under the water,
ne then from the outer edges of the area of the reef a
isoetriessf
151 t These
cTolhuemsns of . water rose to the height of 12f t.
cill,lFklY Moved towards the centre of
the reef
bee gradually Wending higher, until they
I,,_anae A solid mass of _ discoloured water and rocks,
'4o'orta up, perhaps, 7aft.,
vsi
a and immediately falling
hound"thud.' The tremulous motion of the
04,4 _ -occurred at the time of this fall, and at
45,4,5.1 t:lal wave sped across the river and ran
seeder t tip the opposite bank and at once re-
er four-
,The whole ecene did not take more than three
erowd lecoude, and, in fact, was over before the
kiiht7realised that it had begun. Then they set up a
.Shout, while all the steamers blew their
boethoe% and at once every small boat in the neigh-
oyealarted for the reef, so as to be the first to
The creTe,‘• JPot where the explosion had just oocurred.
eivect.i.ll2oll arstoerse4, but it was. 801320 time before
~L4ke the.. ain.o,eeenrged its usual come. The sonnd-
evrtoti,lFire. ,titienyeriteiday demonstrated to General
tilorough. 7-. same faction 'that the explosion had , baen
workletn: c9.l3apretpli loiestkinF nm. the reef; and ,the
twkjk?*jotictw "91 aßpluig !fir tbe broken rocket
- the OenTel.
I
•..-
WO • • • . .
IatIUMPHS FOR CHLOROFORM.
'
A.nsesererirs remarkable statement has been made by an
found 4.'4 journal to the effect that anreithetics are
Areanser exert upon plants and flowers an influence
(rerriad tie:tiler to that which they exert over animals
hen,
_ll the Glebe). Vegetables, it has been observed,
aninairlething like a nervous system as well as
telicht 4,,,rnd it was suggested that possibly they
setaliser.totatntialted by chloroform or ether in a similar
experiment has, it is said, proved
g
the case, to various flowers and plants appear-
4ueria,e, e quite as amenable to their soothing in-
Were as animals or men. Sprigs of watercress
Pettee_zd side by side, one under the influence of a
14e• ' the other without it. On examination
was found that one had germinated,
been literally put to sleep, and re-
in state quo. On the removal of
np and resumed its suspended
at once to sprout out just as the
Experiments were tried with various
ant life. Amongst others, the yeast
placed under an ante,thetic and corn
its growth, though, like the other
upon it woke up and resumed its
_ the removal of the soporific. Whether
thj _ —womb' are new or not we are unable to say,
ititer.reault is certainly a curious one, and opens up
anis possibilities of the indefinite development
viy_leeetion sensibility. There are poets, we
tali; ,rith whom it is an article of faith that flowers
= life they lead. If so may they not also
'Yvon Wounded and mutilated? We hays only

tbt oroe.titne after it
other had

it woke
commell°l2g
of plant
was
.4tedjn
Rol
pBrated
.ctivity on
6oeae eitierimf
but tu-

the
kabled precisely
„the ether
Ituactione, other had
s.
other forma
ir,k4t.4 of beer
lu .
1)'6,1/ ureate'd
itate operat
Ated activ:"