Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1876-09-26

dancing upon the hcaviug waters, aid men.
with scoop pets were gathering up The d lad fish
whose air badd rs had been burst by the ex-
pIosion When we reached the laudlGg, aud
advanced up to the scene OF action, it became
almost difficult to reconcile what We saw wi,h
what we knew. For il was fact that there was
nothing iojured, nothing broken, twisted or
contorted until one reached spot within five
feet of the northern end OF the cotfcrdan.
Here the trauway was brukeo, the sleepcrs
shivercd, and the rails fractured. The earth
had beeu apparently delugcd with water, but
there were 20 rocks, and therefore there had
been evidently 10 shown of them, as was an
licipated The bank along the cotferdam
showed tremendous rcndlug OF the hard sand
stone stratiicatlon, aud the Office Of Mr.. Boyle,
that stood 10 the right of the stairs 20
ing down into the pit, had beeu lifted from its
piers and thrown upright some twenty five feet
away Yet even here only two Win lows had
been shattered. aud this evidently by the tor
rents of water that had fallen On it and washed
il trom end to end. The top section of the
stairs had bsen unjonted ard pIacdly deposit
ed on the bank, the sccund section was fJatlnu
calmly upon the waters, but The third aud
fourth had evidently been reduced TO what the
Westcrners cali "etcrua sn ash" 10 the com.
pressing house and the engine huuS= not psle
of glass had been stirred, and even that re5o
lutte black and white Cit Was alive and unhurt.
She stood upon the top of ooe of the boilers
mcwing ptenusly, with her hair and tail in
highly electrical aud disturbed condition, from
which it might be Inferred that the ;relnur
which had been 81 lightly felt at the fring
point had given h~r 4 mrst Unpleasant expert
ence. Yet, without doubt, The whole party
might hav" relnaloei in the bomb proof erect
ed Tor the protection OF the eivctrc batteries
wti.yut the least bad result, though, like poor
busy, the nerves OF soma would have been uu
pleasantly shocked.
The sc.nc now b came cxcoe1icgiy animated.
The steamers cfuised a. cose to the spot as
they dared, aud gave forth series of steam
shrlekingS as proof of the general joy. The
people il the boats Landed. aud comm need 10
| forage for bits ct ;9ire, for these abouudeI in
! every direction. let tier. We're lm Iensa mass
es that remained uuIni ured, and the police had
some difficulty lii pcr,uadlng Individuals that
| they nus Dot Az npt 10 Gu 1T s9ctlnEs OF
| Thu, Vast crow is had nJH crossed over from
| the New \ ork side aud were liurlng IN upon
| the spot, and thvG-anu, more We're Advancing
through Mapton street, all OF them filled with
| the widest curiosity to see the effect OF 30
great an explosion. Those vino had seen co.
cUultercd those who wanted t. see, AID as both
parties were excee iing!y eager to ge; Oh ao'l
| the road vas very narrow, progress became al.
most a. difficult Is civil service reIorm. When
! upcn the ferry boat there was IL similar scene
On arriving at tn dock al Nlncty sec3ud stree,
| f r the crowds there were equally great aDd
/ equally ImpeluouS, aud burst upon the boar
| before the laDdlng was made, forcing their
way through the people by sheer impetus.
| There was iorce of policemen III the
ferry entrance, and they We're Compelled 10 use
their clubs TO restrain the ardur OF those who
would not get into line and pass through the
! ferry eutrarce in their turn. 10 fact all the tcDs
of Thousands who had swarmcd upon the slopes
ADD blackencd the green sward hal poured
down upon the ferry and were eudcavoriug to
take it by storm. Third aveaue Was equally
| crowded, and the condition Of the horse cars
vas something equally iudrcrous aud painful.
They were SO full that dog could not have
got on, or ia, "yeu OF the smallest breed, and
as each hopatu pedestrian emerged from the
bill up Nlueiy Stc md street. upon the av'7uo,
aud III fully surveyed them h. was saIutct
by the street Arab with dcrisve cheers and
cheerful cries OF plenty IF room, Cap'n; hang
on to the bell puuch" The hasty and SPEED
thrift took the hacks which had been brought
there by the speculative drivers. the impatient
| but Active walked co to Madison avenu5 and
| took the cars Of hat line, ana the patient sat
! down and waited until Car came along which
| had not been filled before reaching that pGlnt.
| This was not for hours, for the crowds we're i'm
meuse.
The crowds aIong the New York side of the
East river yesterday We're immcosc. There
were never before so m.uy people Collected on
! this continent, perhaps nowhere 10 the world,
to witpess an ACT attempted by huwan skill.
The day was WEI! sometimcs only fine mist
falling but often sharp, heavy showers Ii was
most uncomfortable day to be out Of doors.
! Little else save The coming explosion had been
take ed about for thr e rrevous days, and public
curiosity had been worked ~ to the hiyhcs!
pitch by discussions iu The newspapers. where
there had been vile ditfcr.oca of oplnl n u, to
the effects tina. would b. produced A. early
as nine O'clock small streams of footmcn began
to pour along all the avenues leadine up town,
more especially the Second and Third avenues.
| Cars that usually III aim ST empty on such
day were full. By 10 o'clock they were crowd
ed. At noon they we're overrul. Al o click
ueD and boys we're riding with one foot on The
step or one leg out OF the window or astrldc oil
the dash boards At Folty.s ,cond street it
was simply impossible even to hang 90 10 any
car. AL the lines, from the oGcouu avenue 10
the slow and easy Ninth, had twice as much as
they could do. The Third avrnuc got on their
Lcxnrton avenue cars, and ran SO close as to
make almost q 81 ID line, driving, too, mu,h
faster than usual. Ii was the Sauc on the
Second, Mau,s)n, Sixth, Broa lway, and the
+ ghth avenue lines, while the Bet road was
a.most as heavily loaded.
Then there we're hundreds and hundreds of
bool-. md o,hs and hnr,iro1s If ,,,io.ta
riag4s, and a vast Number OF bu lness wagons,
all hurryiog like mad for some point where a
view Of the mice could be obtained. Besides
all these, the cross iowa car lioeS were crowd. d,
especially the Mauhattao0ile and Thirty. fourth
street ferry lines.
Notwithstanding the usa of twelve hundred
cars and as uauy carriages, all the large and
small water Graf. available re in service. \
dlzen steamers scurns Of liLtle tugs a vas, 4 ,et