The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-20 00:00:00

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.

About two o'clock the top of the cliff was cleared
for a considerable space round the ground to be ex-
ploded, and also the beach at and near the front of
that portion of the cliff. This latter (the beach) was
the place selected by most of the spectators for wit-
nessing the explosion ; and it being low water an ex-
cellent view was there to be obtained. A consider-
able number of people declined to come anything like
so near the scene of operations as the line marked out
by the authorities; many stood a mile oft; and not a
few still further. The beach, in fact, was more or
less peopled all along the bay. It is almost impos-
sible to tell the number of spectators scattered in such
various directions ; it has been estimated that there
were 10,000 persons looking upon the operation which
was this day performed, and it is very likely that
there were.

As the appointed hour drew near, every eye was
fixed upon the place where the explosion was to be,
marked out as it was by a flag upon its highest point.
Just before three o'clock, apparently upon a signal or
instruction from the top of the cliff, the men who
"kept the ground " upon the beach, moved their
boundary flags some fifty yards further away from
the spot which was " the observed of all observers,"
and required the spectators to remove to a distance
which must have been above 300 yards, if not a quarter
of a mile, from the cliff to be blasted. This proceed-
ing seemed to create some timidity here and there,
probably from its being taken to indicate that the
best judges did not feel quite confident as to the di-
rection or effect of the explosion. With the mass,
however, curiosity overcame every other feeling, and
there was not a little reluctance to retire further back.
Some ladies were among the last to be induced to
keep at a greater distance, and give the gunpowder a
wider berth.
The next few minutes were passed in impatient
expectation. It was not until twelve minutes past
three o'clock that suddenly the whole cliff, along a
width or frontage of some 120 feet, bent towards the
sea, cracked in every direction, crumbled into pieces,
and fell upon the beach in front of it, forming a
bank, down which large portions of the falling mass
glided slowly into the sea for several yards like a
stream of lava flowing into the water. The whole
multitude upon the beach seemed for a few moments
paralyzed end awe-struck by the strange move-
ment, and the slightly trembling ground ;
every one sought to know with a glance that
the mass bad not force enough to come
near him, and that the cliff under which he
stood was safe. There was no very loud report; the
rumbling noise was probably not heard a mile
off, and was, perhaps, caused by the splitting of the
cliff and fall of fragments. There seemed to be no
smoke, but there was a tremendous shower of dust.
Those who were in boats a little way out state that
they felt a slight shock. It was much stronger on
the top of the cliff. Persons standing there felt stag-
gered by the shaking of the ground, and one of the
batteries was thrown down by it. In Seaford, too,
three•quarters of a mile off, glasses upon the table
were shaken, and one chimney fell. At Newhaven,
a distance of three miles, the shock was sensibly felt.
In a few minutes after the cliff bad fallen the crowd
upon the beach rushed for ward to it. A second fall
of chalk, when they got about half way, checked
them for an instant, and but for an instant.
They rushed up the mound which the ex-
ploded chalk had formed. Although it is a
mass of large rough stones for the most part,
difficult in many places to climb except by using
one's hands as well as feet, yet ladies eagerly clam-
bered up it, and one gentleman managed to get his
horse up. It will, probably, like the cliff still stand-
ing, be rather unsafe for a time, as there is reason to
believe that further falls will follow, considerable
masses which have not yet fallen being evidently
loosened. The mass which came down to-day is
larger than was expected; it forms an irregular heap,
apparently about 300 feet broad, of a height varying
from 40 to 100 feet, and extending 200 or 250 feet
or more seals ard, which is considerably beyond low-
water mark. It is thought that it comprises nearly
300,000 tons. The operation is considered to hare
been decidedly successful.
The work was under the direction of Sir J. Bur-
goyne, Inspector-General of Fortifications, but the
immediate direction was taken by Captain Frome ;
Lieutenant Ward, It E., had charge of the voltaic
batteries. Colonel Lewis, Lieutenant Greatorex, and
Lieutenant Crossman assisted in the operations. Sir
J. Rennie and a number of civil engineers were on
the ground. Sir C. I'asley was present, and, as we
understood, the Duke of Beaufort and Lord F. Fitz-
clarecce ; to also was Mr. Wright, C.E., who con-
ducted the operations at the blasting of Rounddown
Cliff, near Dever; and Colonel Sandhatn, Sir H.
Shiffner, and other gentlemen of eminence.
The cliff thrown down, and the place whence it
came, were objects of much interest for some little
time after the explosion; but the ground soon began

to clear, and the principal inn became a scene of no
little excitement. When the throng had obtained
there what they could, the general movement was to
the railway station ; and, by means of extra trains
sent out as fast as they could be got ready, a host of
people were dispatched to their homes well satisfied
apparently with their day.