The New York herald., 1876-12-18
MENTIONS CHANNEL.
The Work in Progress at Hell Gate
HOneycOmbing Flood Rock.
MORE MONEY WANTED.
Condition Of the Broken Gneiss
at Hallett's Point.

the memory OF II Is almost crowded Out OF the public
mind by the thousand and which have
happened since that notable Sunday when little Mary
Newton, with her tiny finger, fred tho mine and
blasted the great rock at Haetts Point
The approaches to the Point not materially
changed. The old struggling low-storisd structure
known Millsrs saloon presents tho character
istcs that il did before New York trsmbled for It's
safety and the sound Of General Newtons signal gun
was taken a warning that there was prospective
damage to window panes aud ceilings, and when up
town people were more nervous than usual at the
chances of ycerine thquaKe. The curious
looking shooting gallery has disappeared; the
crippled Teuton with the Santa Claus twinkle 70 his
eye, and tho gray beard Is no more heard crying out
'Trec shots for ave cents, gentlemen" " and tho fenoe
which shut the eyes OF the muItitude-the
whch the barrier 10 all gatherers
of the pressIes broken neglected and scattered
the dreary marsh.
At the lett hand OF the visitor as he the dis
torted outline OF the tie landing place Tor the
workmen now employed Flood Rock, and q rough
looking spot Il Is. There Is elaborate staging,
carefully prepared awning TO shield passengers while
waiting in wet weather few pieces OF board nailed
couple Of upright posts are the means Of ascent
and descent from tho little steam launch or the row.
plying the point and the rock where the
operations in progress
CESSATION LABOR.
Although the public may have lost sight of the werk
at He'll Gate, active operations have not stopped The
work OF dredging is still going on, with view of
potely clearing the channel of all rock As far
as can be ascertained the blasting at He'll Gaze was
well done, and the rock Is coming out, much
expected though there may be larger rocks
which will nccesslta,e surface blasting. About 500
tons OF rock have already been hoisted. When the
contractors commence work with new drcdges new
grapnes and their machinery is In good working order
it will be possible to determine how much large rock
remains and much surface blasting will be neces-
sary
BLASTING FLOOD ROCK
The work to which especial attention is directed s
the destruction OF Flood Rock. There are about
eighty mon employed, including drlors, blasters
ho,sters clerks ovorseers, carpenters. blacksmiihs
engineers, hremen, pumpnen, helpers, surveyors,
draushtsmen and aborers when the works are fully
organized, there viii BIO at least 800 men employed,
but the number at any timo must depend entirely
the amount OF the appropriation at the disposal Of the
engineers. They are rough looking set Of men, these
workmeu, who do the drilling, the cutting and the
blasting all under the water and under the ground
Their faces rough from exposure and their hands
are brown and bard, while their costume consists of
store woollcn clothes, and plenty Of hem with large
heavy waterproof boots and they look like wanderers
in New England seaport town. or wreckers upon the
Jersey beach alter a Storm
The work IN progress under the control OF Captain
Mercur general SUPERINTENDENT, and Barney Boyle. OF
Explosion Day. fame istne omnpresent factotum to
the Captain and foreman Of the workmsn. The Gap
tam pleasant faced, genial and communicative, and
he strokes his well trimmed blonde musache with
viewed
HERALD reporter visited the works upon . cold
day, when tho wind was howlng about the point and
Hell Gates waters looked angry, but the Captain
snugly ensconsed IN his 'olce beside roaring 1re,
and, reply TO the question of giving story TO the
reporter, quietly renarked:-
.sYou gentlemen Of the press have nearly pumped
dry, but there may be some facts ana the public
will look for them in the HERALD. You secn continued
Tho Captain. "what dong now, though certainly
very effective work, could DO rendered effective II
we had more money IfCongress next June makes
sufficient appropriation can make rapid progress,
but any parslmonIous spirit IS shown II VIII retard
or bc nsca year
June. We doing good work with present meens
and certainly those means were larger could do bot
There are AZ present hve headings In the rock
Two Of these headings are, respectively. $50 ana 100
long the other three about LOO feet in the ag
commenced"
"Bus The extent Of the rock. Captain. quoried our
reporter, scems much larger than 1t months
ago. How do you account Tor thisy'
EASILY enough sam the Captain "All the rock
that Is blasted Is hosted from the bottom OF the shafts
to the surface and dumped on the eastern extremity
This double purpose The sharp pointed rocks
known MS the "Grdiron" were serious danger, and
tho debris and large pieces taken from the headings
and the work generally thrown directly the
Gridron which Is on the eastery point OF Flood Rock
and ms you can see, these heads as they are called
arc covered to great extent So valuable piece
Of work effected But thcre is another reason
shall have to build engine shops boiler sheds,
machine shops and carpenters and blacksmi
shops, with storc sheds and Offices, upon the rock
ITSELF and wore making ground Tor this purpose. The
blasting operations do not interfere with the surface
work, and We must hurry up the improvemcnts' We
want, the distance from the Astoria and New York
shores to the rock is not short span and there's
fearful current on the Astoria side
.Wc are 600 feet from Astoria, and q 900 feet, or
nearly, from New York, when we are on Flood Rock,
aud when We cover up the gridiron heads and dump
the broken stone the eastern point Of Flood Rock
we are doing away with one Danger and making good
ground to build the shops upon.'
WORK BEGAN
Referring to the present condition Of the rock and
what il was when the operations began Captain Mer-
cur SAID d.-"When we started work upon the rock
there was surface al nigh tide Of about $50 square
feet above the water but as you may see recent add
tions have largely increased this"
The rumor current that the rock upon which the
men now working is soft enough to be readily
the opinions also expressed by of tho engineers
that the work could be completed In two years
ous The rock Ut Flood Rock Of tho same character
as at Haett's Reef; II is OF gneiss formation,
and that is not as you are aware yoarse noted for It's
soitness We compelled to steam drilling
machines 10 bore the holes into the rock and then
alter these have done their duty, to Vulcan powder
and various ntro-giycerine compounds 70 blast the
rock into pieces suitable for hosting Occasionally We
usc other explosives, cxpcrimentay but their force
must be equal 10 the first two compounds or they
wo1d be useless Regarding the second point, there
are least acres Of rock to be mined here ard
Haictts Rect, that took years TO complete not
onc.half the extent; and with full appropriations by
Congress, it will take moro than two years of hard
work TO honeycomb Flood Rock, with It's seven acres
Of good hard stone, and get 1t ready for the ANAL
blast"
FUTURE WORK.
We are dong the best wc can at present, and are
making rapid progress oo but future will all de-
pond upon the action of Congress June We need
money, men and materials II get the first the lat
ter will follow.
Suce have had charge OF tho operations at Flood
Rock there has been about 1000 yards oil rock re-
moved, but this all that has been IRON the
mines. large quantity was taken out before took
charge. The actual amount cannot at present say.
We removing the rock at tho OF TOO yards
Dcr month. l twenty-six working DAYS a