The New York herald., 1851-09-12

POT ROCK AND WAYS RERP-lHK BLASTS ON FRIDAY
INTENDED OPERATION UPON DIAMOND ROCK, AT
GOVERNORS ISLAND.
The operation going at He'll Gate promise s'on
to leave that dangerous obstruction thing OF the past
in the psge of history but having other exs
terce except paper The name will be no Logger ap-
propate thought will probably continue in for
its real name-not Hurt Gate but He'll Gate,
found in all the old records, aid spelled in
coast surveys The obstructons at He'll Gate the
Pot Rock in the middle of the channel and Ways Reef
opposite to it, the Long Island shores The
Pot Rock a Of rock Of about l20 feet long and
about 40 wide and from SO to 20 feet high the top bs
Maefert commenced his operations being within
eight feet Of the surface Of the water at low tide The
is strong at all times except few minutes
of slack water at ehb and full tides and the water so
deep around TIE rock that 1t preciptatd like
acaaract and little beyond the rock boiling eddy
produced, which is appropriately called the Pot
the seethpg action Of the water At present opera
ons confined to Pot Rock but In the this
week the reef will be attacked There have bsen
twenty five charges fired against the Pot Rock aai
e bt feet Of water at low tide there twelve feet aud
Il Is intended to have depth Of twenty -four feet before
the operations completed When this is accomplish
ed, there will not be more thai ripple observabls
the spot where the Pot boils, rather has
beiled for already has very evident change been
duced large Of the top Of the rock severed by one
OF Msefert's blasts beer brought to the
shore prerents curious appearance by the irc lion
Of vessels passing has beenrendersd perfs,ty
smooth large quantity sheet copper, torn of the
bctoms OF vessels been found on the Pot ROCK por
tions Of which up sharp lodges ready for the
work Of destruction Some tons OF copper are lyns un
der the this spot. The high Of these subn.
rine cliffs has been shattered and as an evidence of
the Roed done we may mention the that Taurs
day schooner her snchor to avoid the Pot Rock the
current runpirg very strong but she dragged and
went right over the rock and would undonotsdy have
been caught it, had it been IN the coalition iI
when the French engineer found It, on Saturday a
rIf wi fha
Pot miniature Mseistrom which was never done be-
owing the change that had been produced in the
direction OF tie current The h-lm desired briug
the boat certain point in order to have the forcs OF
the bring him to another point but to his
astonshnent lie found the current net where 1t ought
have been and he had to tick back te Pot
On Friday afternoon. it having been Led that
two charges would be fired At six clock large numssr
OF ladies and gentleIoen assembled the Long Island
shore TO witness IT, and out in sm al boats to
frame supported by ling Ion ylinders somewhat
alter III fashion Of those used n the construction Of
the celebrated steamboat anchored TO facilitate
the operations Among those who came to look on was
MIR Francis the patentee VI the lteboat, in OF his
beats; also Lieutenant " Bart ett 5. n. who
Is the coast survey here, detailed by Professor Bache
the superintendent to watch the operations in order to
report to the United States is fortunate
that gentleman OF his scientific .ttann and great
experience hes witnessed wha: has been done, Con-
gress ard the government would probably be ncredu
lous we're hot the facts vouched for by authority that
cannot be doubted. We know that il is not long since
the idea ridiculed in Congress absurdty.
To the courtesy Of Lieutenant Bartlett and III Maiie
cernng the operations and for hs opportunity of OBJ
serving, from a good position the tSo ezplo' ions
FrdAy evening The apparatus may be described fol-
lows A tin vessel varying in size according to the
charge require and made waterproof l. hlled with
At either side aperture for the copper wire to
through for the purpose Of igniting the charge and
these openings stopped with corks in which the wire
IL inserted. and coated with pitch to pre-
vent water from entering 1t msy Be mentioned, as a
proof OF the viii which these matters prepared
that not Jingle failure has yet taken place The
attached to to sink it, and having sufficient length Of
wire attach 10 il make circuit large thst the
operator at ssf- ancs the canister is lowered on
the desired spo which ascsrtaDed by means Of pole
with feet marked on it. This being Done Maiilefsrt
moves Oh in bis boat with tie two ends OF the wre which
he attaches TO battery yrg the bottom Of the boat,
and on signal being given to those shore to
lock cut he takes hold of the two poles Of ths battery in
bis hands and the galvanc c cult being thus petej
the electric fluid through the aad his body
the explosion takes place The reporter stood on the
hoatn ng frame within about fifty yards Of the spot
where the charge was let down rsc distinct sounds
each like thunder shock followed in inStantaneou,
succession. and at the moment, the water
in a circle of considerable SIZE, was dashed
up IN foam, srd In the most magnificent manner, aud
the sound of this ,ompotion nearly equAd that of the
explosion Itself When the water fell back aud the
disturbance hat subsided IL observed TO bs
onpl.t,iy di cClored with the mud thrown up.
end charge fred and the effect far 6ner than
vsn the frs Though the charge rather the smaller
fthe two was only necessary to see IT, TO convince
ihe most sceptca that the agent which produced such
result upon so large body d water us feet dee2)
les
But IL is rot the explosions that the a,trac
tive 10 th eve md ear that are tbe most under
ya,er IN. Ysct on tbe surface in nro,orto, On the
d,nth ofi he water In shaow wst.r n Ia great IN d.sn
v.'.r n s mail On the contrary the ect ON the roct
h.low is Great IN desn water ana when tbe
5aox Hence ~. .I ides .re chosen Tor ,hs ar
nios,ons In rdr that grester f ,rum of r,tsr bs On
tlr.a ,r be rb.ry. III. onaratons ON thi. yock az.
necssssrly slow because slack water only continues
-, a., a. -, - ~ ,,r,,l,r~us ca.of ~ IN.
49,, ~ ,hs ,eet on. s1he chsrres f-ei vas eightv
-, .s.s. ~ . -. a, - ~ "a 49,. - t;rar Ill
s.sa,s =, ~ n1ssrina s,,aor a., Sew d,rs and ,s
-, =, = . .a.,- % 49, s.siIs =, .ha ssa.ss NO trscea
W. tc,,i ,,t.nS ,ne,ti,r ,ts ,,,c hv which
a. ,ss - ~ ~ i,a,as srs,o az 80, i,i.
,s.s 90 ,au i ~ ,srsor Who mn ssr...,ds ysirsn
a., r., Ss;, r,ra e. th. v.,.r NJ sx,Io-
- ,~Di, - - q, ,bs sisr, riri,v rouls he con
dus,.assa, very flexible thongh .,rong wire 8 e.