Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-09-23
THE BIG BLAST.
Dangers OF Dynamite He'll Gate and
the Hell Like Preparations to Blow
it up-ApprehensiOns Of
Damage.
Method of Making the Simultaneous Ex-
plOsiOR-Ingenuity and Caution
Assurances Of the Engineer
in Charge.

NEW YORK, September % The ex.
plosion at Heli Gate is definitely fixed fol-
sunday afternoon next, at two O'Clock Gene
raj Newton, the % engineer t9e IN charge, pu5nshe:
the air, and the underground effect will be
sufficient only 10 jar buildings without up
tn ming or cracking the walls. Persons al
least IN the nelghkorhood would do well to
have their windows and doors open, and to
look out for their ceilings. Ihe best thing to
do wouId be to stand outside until the explo-
sion is over.
General Newton has addressed special cir.
cular to the citizens of Astoria, within whose
territory is the shaft of the excavation and
tude, Notwithstanding the attempts TO make
q panic, instituted by poltroo1s OF the male
sex the inhabitants are adv. ed of the time
OF the explosion and to be without the oordon
es ablished, leaving their houses, with doors
and windows open in every case Where the
ceilings are disturbed ths advice is to vacate
the houses at the time of ths explosion. Their
Is no liability of tue walls being overthrOwn
or impaired. The people of Astoria propose
10 mske sunday a general outdoor holiday.
Central Newton and hts aids will fire the
mine from points six hundred yards distant.
a GEAR point would have been chosen, If
there was one fom which q view of the ex-
pIOsIOn could be had.
: The New York Sabbath committee having
addressed a communication to General New
ton urging that some other day than Sunday
be chosen for the explosion, and saying: ''5I
imI ortant an achievement OF engineering,
parts of the world, and the fact that Sunda y
was chosen for the grand occasion will be un-
dsrstOod, as in accordance with foreign usage,
which makes tn ,t n gala day, and SO it will
do not q little to i'm pair the force of our ex-
ampl9 as a sabbath keeping p5ople." The
general eplied orally that while he respected
tue Sabbath a much as the gentlemen whose
sntlments the note represented, the eXplo-
sion on that day was a matter OF necessity.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE UPHEAVAL
half dozen watchmen, lch armed with a
stout ak handle, wi stand guard at the goy-
a4Fr nnsRTy rlrQ lr al loft n
New York Herald OF Tuesday, and woe betide
the obsti epsIous visitor who insists upon ad-
mittance within the grounds. A mine filled
with thirty-1ye thousand pounds of nitro
gly cerine is not to be tampered with, and the
instr uc,iops of the sentr1eS are imperative.
Mayor rebevoise, of Long Island City, with
Chiei-of-Police Woods, OF the same place,
visited General Newton at the works yester-
cay and signided his willingness to de tall all
day of the blast. The su per d tend Mt OF gas
house ou NJ ,nhattau island, opposite the reef
TO be blown up, also called upon the general
yesterday, and, after long talk, went away
satisfied that thete would be occasion to empty
hts tanks on the momentous day. Many
brewers, the huge chlmneys OF whose factor
les tower above the Harlem heights were very
uneasy about their lofty piles OF brick until
reaSSured by the officials IN charge OF the eX-
cavGtions. In order TO produce quake suf-
ficient to do any damage an explosion must
be sufficiently powerful to break
anything of the kind should occur in
and the shock two hundred feet from the ex-
cRvaiion will be only similar TO that pro-
duced by the rum bling OF q heavy tIuck over
the pavement OF street. There is still great
delay on the part OF the contractors
in supplying the explosives, and the
workmen engagei in charging the holes were
Obliged to quIt work at three O'Clock yester-
day afternoon Tor lack of material. These
conIinu ued delays will probably postpone the
General Newton has lost patience with the
delinquent contractors, and yesterday or
deTed from Mr.. Warren several thousand
pounds more dynamite, upon that gentle.
mao's assurance that he could deliver the
stuff tomorrow morning. This compound
Will probably be used instead OF the rendrock
u is evident from this acton that
General Newton thinks thst "if 1t
ware done when tbs done, then
no fears of anything Ike a premature explo.
sion. my mind is perfectly at ease SAID he
yesterday, "when the cartridges are in the
do in tneir cradles. Cool and damp as they
are, you could not explode them IL yOJ, tried ;"
The exp!odent cartridge or primers are
nearly ali prepared. They are filled with
dynamite Ia four sheds erected at a
dis ance of several hundred yards fro N
each other along tue shore, and not more than
tNenty nye pounds OF the explosive is per-
mitted TO be Kept in any one place at one time.
The method OF preparing the primers is very
ing NOUS. Upon the scow anchored beside
the shalt some forty men are buslly engaged,
under tue direction Of Mr.. Julius Striedinger
In completing everything that can possibly
be done before taking the apparatus into The
tunnels. Everything has been calcu ated tn a
nlce,y, and table of figures lying upon Mr.
Striedingers desk gives the precise length OF
every wire, the dimensions of each primer:
aud every other detail necessary for the expe-
Cttious and easy execution OF the worK. A
piece OF wire is cut of for each group of holes,
just long enough TO reach around the groun
and back through the shaft 70 the battery
Along the wire are then attached the different {
cartridges At sucn distances that each Will
the wire Is carried below. Eacn set OF Gait
ridges, with its wire, is then packed into a box
convenient for carrying, and the long leading
ends OF the wire, which reach to the battery,