Connecticut western news., 1876-10-06
THE HELL GATE BLAST.
A Triumph of Science.s-The Distractions to
 Navigation Blown Away.


 Triumph of science-..The Distractions to
 Navigation Blown Away.
 A victory for General John A. Newton greater than any he achieved in war A jubilee for commerce ! triumph. above all, for science The seven years toll of the drill and the blast on Hallett's Point reef at Hell Gate eliminated in a grant, explosion, which was successful in every detail and in the full accom- plishment of all the results expected of 1t, and without a single disaster to hu- man life or limb. Begun upon care fully matured plan; carried on with the quiet, painstaking persistence of sci ence, the long labor of demolishing the reef has been completed in a manner leaving nothing to be desired. The shock of the explosion, so far as con- cerned the island of New York and the portions of Long Island adjacent to the scene of the great blast, was perceptible only in the faintest vibration. Never in New York's history was there so much excitement over an expected event. Despite the assurances of the scientists that there was little or no danger of fatal consequences, an undefned fear was in the breasts of thousands. Pre- cautions, often of the most ludicrous nature, were taken to guard against shock which was to be communicated, some thought, by the underlying rock ridge, others by the atmosphere. Many feared the effect of the noxious gases that were to be liberated in hundreds of thousands of cubic feet.
 Tboro nos ohont tho oopoinor of tho blast one thing which had sobering in- huence even on the most assured. It was the unknown. After science had said it's most hopeful and confident word there was margin of the possible left dreamed of. So New York slept uneasi- ly on Saturday night, and arose early Sunday morning full of expectancy and curiosity. and with slight tremor of fear under the most assuring smile. A leaden sky and drizzling rain did not put the citizens in better humor, and by noon tens of thousands who had made up their minds on Saturday to get a far off glimpse of the great blast had decided not to risk drenchiDg in sddi- tion to blowing up. Such often is the influence of the smaller dread over the immeasurably greater. Tens of thou sands, however, Aocked by noon to the places overlooking Hallett's Point from the New York shore. A passing survey of the works at half past twelve showed group of nine or ten men going to and fro upon it. The Astoria ferry was run ming. An occasional tugboat glided past, and one or two trading schooners in tow came down from the sound through He'll Gate. General Newton's launch glided back and forth from the works on the reef to the firing point, and thence to the scow anchored off Wards island, whereupon the signal guns were to be fired.
 The rain had ceased for spell by one o'clock, and thousands begun to pou, along the lines of the avenues to the northeast of the island, crowding the | horse cars till there was literally room for no more inside or outside. The green carpet of grass, sloping dowr from Third avenue, above Ninetietf street, to the East river, was rapidly be- coming black With people. At two P M. the barometer had fallen from 29 9s to 29.9 97, and soon after the rain came on again, this time heavier, dampening but not quenching, the ardor of the ex- rectant multitude now intently watch ing for the final signals. The foul guard boats to police the four openings on the rock-dotted basin of He'll Gats arrive and take their places respectively
 between Astoria and Blackwell's 8 island Blackwell's island and New York Astoria and Wards island, Ward'l island and New York. They are crammee with spectators. Small rowboats hang in the rear of the marshaled steamer! and tugboats. Perfect order is main
 tained on the water and on shore. I'm
 Historians seem to have evacuated thei
 dwellings and gathered along the water
 edge in the rear of the firing point
 The inmates of the Wards island insan
 asylum have been removed to the opel
 air the prisoners on Blackwell's islan,
 are locked in their cells; the windows o
 the houses within radius of mile an,
 half on the New York and Lon,
 Island shores are opened and the pee pie begin to stand out of doors, for tn
 "general said so." Two millions o people in New York, Williamsburg Brooklyn, Jersey City and Westcheste are listening almost painfully for tn . dreaded thunder roar. The docks c the East river down to the Battery hay their hundreds of occupants. Befor
 every church and building with cloc Z tower from Harlem to Trinity churc , hundreds and hundreds are massec , watching for the moment which is , tell to the senses by shock to the ear f to the body by, mayhap, some unknow cataclysm, that He'll Gate stands ope , wide. People who have been to th F churches and swallowed nasty dime , swell these throngs, penetrated with a D infinite curiosity.
 There are fully 200, 900 people who's eyes are fixed upon the reef. 1t is rail
 ing smartly, but the drenching, so fo f midable in the morning, has become 8 secondary consideration to them roy r They are damp, tremulous and vigilan 8 The minutes wear on. The steamers = easily behind the heavily laden gual - the warmer regions for their momental s obstruction of a view of the works, 0 they lie dark and silent at the end 7 Hallett's Point, just as they have la n Sunday after Sunday for years pas n The outline of the coffer dam is ses s from the opposite shores, with the dal brown buildings Ouncned Ooh1nu al ), struggling out. Tho great charg, l. mine, with the dark water filling i @ tunnels that the teeth of the drill al @ the snap of the blast have hollowed ou l. lies still and silent-s menace and d promise. The second gun is fired 7. twenty minutes to three. General Ne
 ton with his assistants are still busy the bombproof. There is no und = haste; everything has been calculat - and foretimed. The cranks are turn u completing the battery. The bombpro F door is bolted; the little white lann X, steams strenuously away to the fri y point a tiny hut along the shore, sev |, hundred feet from the mine. The heal ,a ,a of the thousands are quickening, a ro o silence reigns everywhere.