Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-04-27
SAN FRANCISCO LETTER
t,aox QUE. E.suIks oosz,rpSpnr.l
Bls::.. RSs., -, x.. =. IT,. 81 III
from the DNllies.

tAI8l W /
repeated the same thing
more than . thousand times on Satuf-
day, talked Of it on Sunday to the ex-
clusion Of all religious matters, and
will continue to talk of 1t for many
days vet to come. ShallI 60 over the
ground already trod by the ponderous
dailies, and describe how, when and BY
what means this great obstruction TO
navigation was removed? Well, let
me try il it is possible to compress into
a few sentences a clear statement, an
understandable description Of the
whole matter. Standing OIL Meiggs'
wharf at North Beach; In a line d.
yerging a little to the right Of the
monkeys and about a mile and a half
off, was a sunken rock, ak feet under
water, square In the track Of vessels
sailing to and from port. Congress
appropriated $4,000 for its removal,
and Colonel Won, Schmidt, now "the
celebrated Won Schmidt" prepared
plans which were subsequently adopted
for the destruction Of this submarine
danger. A Golfer dam was first built
and sunk on the rock, the water
pumped out, and a clear surface left
for operations. A chamber was then
excavated 40 by 80 feet, and Az 0
cubic feet Of stone taken away. The
rock was a soft sandstone, easily crum-
bled, and revealed a series of seams
running through It, probably formed
by some Of our numerous earthquakes.
The explosive material consisted OF
twenty-four tons of powder, contained
in 80 ale casks and Z boiler tanks, the
| whole charged with ~"villainous salt
| petre." Wires attached to Illuminating
cartridges ran through each barrel and
| chamber, and the material was fired
BY the Transmission of an electric
| spark. After many delays, 1t was f.
nally announced that the explosion
would come off on Saturday at half
past one, so from twelve to three on
that day the Golden City took a holi-
day. q "a 6 caLia .ir#
Believing that In describing any
event it is always best to see 1t from
the standpoint Of the public, your cor
respondent refused the kind offers Of
special accommodation, and mingled
with the forty thousand others, "most-
ly FOOLS" as Carlyle .once said Of a
zs-.sla aa~.N ~, n - ANNyIN0f GInNNIA p
occasion. Business was generally sus-
pended, the streets were as thronged
as on the Fourth of July, and thou
sands Of expectant sight-seers wendell
their way to Telegraph Hill. A Bios
som Rock explosion once = week would
reduce the mortality Of the city ten
per cent. Bar-rooms disgorgsd their
regular frequenters, the Barbary Coast
turned out en- masse, invalids and dys-
peptics for once took an invigorating
walk, clerks and merchants, whose
only exercise IL from the cars to the
| office and from the office to the cars, on
this occasion had to foot it ladies Of
languid constitution had nc other re-
source but to exert themselves and
climb, and altogether the aggregate Of
health gained must have depressed doc
tors and drug stores to the very verge
Of dependency.
It was a magnificent day. The glo-
rious panorama Of the Bay stretched
away to the horizon, the water rippled
| and sparkled in the sunshine, hundreds
| Of yachts, steamers, boats and every
conceivable specimen Of obsolete ma
4 .s~o n.nhtko olf,rnnI nhnttk LES
surface, while q balmy breeze came In
through the Golden Gate, painting
roses on the cheeks of ladies, giving
brightness to the eyes Of men, and q
general feeling Of gladness to the
assembled multitude.
All the unfortunates confined by
business to their stores ~charitably
classed those who were going as fools
and distinctly intimated their belief
that the thing would be q fizzle, which
latter opinion was secretly shared by
more than half the crowd.
One io'clock-a puff Of smoke from
Fort Alcatraz, nine seconds after, the
the prolonged reverberation Of a great
gun, forty thousand watches pulled out
to compute time, eighty thousand eyes
lazily looking. at the white wreath
melting in air.
A quarter past one-Again Alcatraz
speaks q warning word, another ring
Of smoke floats steadily away, adyen-
turous boats, big and little, hurry from
the dangerous neighborhood Of the
rock, a tired steamer tugs at a scow
lately mOored to the works, q small
skiff with the electrician and engineer
pulls off from the scene Of so many
months toll and skill; and so fifteen
more minutes pass.
Half past one-Another bang from
Alcatraz, a breathless silence seizes the
immense throng. the expectation Of
| weeks is crowded into q second, forty
| thousand eager faces are turned to that
little black spot In the Bay, and-no
explosion.
A flagstaff on the rock topples and
falls, ten thousand tongues deliberately
express their owners opinion that the
thing was q prearranged and deliberate
swindle, Won Schmidt Is voted an ar
rant imposter, and his professional
reputation is mercilessly demolished
apples, oranges, cakes and bottles are
produced from the recesses Of pockets,
and the inner a comforted for the
temporary disappointment by a surfeit
Of good things. Two pugnacious In
divfduals kindly help to relieve the
tedium by a fight, the inevitable dog Is
hooted and stoned into a mild state Of
hydrophobia, men light another cigar,
women begin to regret they have come,
and boys yell and make themselves as
obnoxiously disagreeable IS only boys
can do.
Now \ boat pulls hastily off to the
rock and remains there some twenty
minutes; again it returns, the occu-
pants rowing as If for life from the
the proximity Of 50 much powder. At
| the distance Of q thousand yards it
stops, some one in 1t waves = banker
chief to some one else in a steamer
near by, and simultaneously there Is .
huge column Of white and black smoke,
3 mass Of water thrown hundreds Of
feet into the air. and instantly con-
verted into an acre of foam, a slight
rumble as of distant thunder, a great
cheer from an army of threats, a cho-
rus Of whistles from the steamcraft,
and "thus is my blossom blasted" and
Colonel Won Schmidt made a hero.