The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-31 00:00:00

EVENING, OCTOBER 31, 1849

ROCK BLASTING on a GIGANTIC

SCALE.
BURNTISLAIND.—AIIIOIIg many and varied gifts
which science has recently conferred upon mankind,
that of blasting rocks by voltaic agency is not among
the least. The employment of a galvanic current to
ignite the gunpowder used in the process enables
the operator to fire as many blasts as may be
desired, so as to accomplish, by their united
and simultaneous action, effects which would bo
otherwise unattainable. The spirited tacksmen of
that valuable and extensive freestone deposit in this
neighbourhood, yell known as the Grange Quarry,
have for a considerable time past been employing this
potent agent in the blasting of rock, and on Saturday
week there was an exhibition of this process on what
may be fitly termed a magnificent scale. The
mass of freestone which it was intended to dis-
lodge, was one which protruded from the face
of the quarry, being a huge body of liver rock.
On the upper surface of this mass, and in a
line with the face of the quarry, from which it
was to be severed, there were six vertical perforations
about ten feet apart from each other. Each bore was
forty feet in depth, reaching to the bed on which the
block reposed, and three hundred pounds of gun-
powder were distributed amongst the six, thus giving
fifty pounds to each. The wires for conveying the
subtle agent of ignition to the- explosive material
depwited in each perforation in the rocky mass
having been properly adjusted, and connected
with the galvanic machine, every thing was
ready for the experiment. The battery was
then placed in the trough containing the requisite
acidious solution, and the operator seized a cord or
lanyard, and drawing the movable disc along the
cylindrical rod which stretched across the top of the
battery till it came in contact with the fixed disc—
thus completing the galvanic circuit—the cartridge
wires were quickly and simultaneously heated, the
powder ignited, and the object was gained, the
whole operation being eminently successful. There
was no terrific explosion, and the enormous block
thus dislodged moved quickly, but gently and
quietly, forward on its bed. On examining the vast
block which had thus been riven from its place it was
found, that it had been completely separated from the
parent rock in the rear, a fissure about five inches
wide, and quite smooth on each side, reaching from
the top down to the depth of forty feet, while in
front it overshot its bed to the same extent. This Cy-
clopean mass of beautiful sandstone measured 63 feet
in length, 31 in breadth, and 40 in depth! Its cubic
contents amount to 78,120 feet, which, at 14 cubic
feet per ton, gives 5,580 tons as its weight! The
total length of wire employed in the operation mea-
sured about 500 feet. The battery used on this
occasion was one of considerable power, the copper
and zinc plates being forty-eight in number, each
having a surface of twelve inches by eleven. It was
constructed by Mr. Kemp, of Edinburgh.—fife
Herald.

I OPENING OF THE NEW

COAL E UL.XCHAN

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(Co3tinu.d from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday )
INTERIOR OF THE COAL-EXCHANGE.
Tte inte:i3r of the Coal Exchange presented a
spectacle seldom or never perhaps witnessed in the
city of London. In no building in the me•
tropolis could a more imposing effect be ob-
tained by the congregation of beauty, rank, and
fashion, or one more gratifying to those
who formed the throng, than the Coal-Exchange
honoured by the presence of royalty to day. Its
circular shape, moderate size, and spacious galleries,
running up to the very summit of the Edifice—up to
the very dome—and the taste and elegance of the
interior of the edifice itself, and the full view which
may be obtained from every part of it, may be set
down as the cause of this. Indeed your Opera-house
and your ordinary theatre sink into the shade in
comparison with the perfect panorama which the
wandering gaze of the spectator may feast upon. But
when the spacious floor was thronged with hundreds
of beautiful and splendidly attired city dames,
wearing handsome and chaste head-dresses (and
among whom, we may remark, the beautiful brocade
of ancient days resusciated with a splendour which
was not its wont, predominated), and each tier
thronged, though not inconveniently so, with ladies,
Common Councilmen, and well-dressed gentlemen,
the scene was perfection itself.
But as the time wore on, for long before ten o'clock
the interior of the edifice presented the scene we have
so faintly endeavoured to pourtray, the picture grew
in beauty, like a dull landscape under the cheering
influence of the sun. The Aldermen in their furred
gowns came in one by one, with their dames
and " ladies fayre," and took up their position on
the floor, which had been railed off, so as
to present a perfect amphitheatre. Then came the
City guard of hononr,: composed of officers of the
City Artillery, who took up their position at the
northern door, whose martial appearance, soldier-
like attitude, and silver epaulettes, lent a:pretty colour
to the scene.
Immediately opposite the entrance, and on the

eastern side of the Exchange, were placed three
chairs, magnificently decorated and lined with crim-
son velvet, on a slightly-raised dais of crimson velvet
cloth. That to the right was surmounted by the
Prince of Wales's feathers, a magnificent plume
truly, with the motto " Ich dien" round the festoon
that bound them. The back ground was lined with
fluted white satin, and‘the whole was surmounted by
a splendid canopy of flowing curtains of crimson
velvet, over which was placed a gold crown and
cushion.
Shortly before 12 o'clock Lord Campbell, attired
in a very imposing dress of black velvet, entered the
arena, and was immediately introduced to the Lady
Mayoress (Mrs. Hill), whose imposing appearance was
the theme of much admiration. Her Ladyship wore a
dress of rich satin brocade, with light green flowers
on a white ground, a handsome white spotted ermine
mantle, and a head-dress simply ,composed of a tiara
of diamonds, with a necklace and stomacher of the
same superb richness:
At 12 o'clock the Duke of Wellington entered the

Exchange, and was received with much applause,
which the gallant veteran gracefully acknowledged.
His Grace wore the uniform of a Field-Marshal, and
looked in as good health as spirits.
The Noble Duke was immediately followed by the
Duke of Cambridge, who was heartily received, the
Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Devon, and by a
number of the members of the corps diplomatique.
A body guard of officers of the Horse Guards here
took up their stations round the arena, each bearing
a spear, and also on the first tier, on which had been
erected a marble bust of the Queen.