New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-01
PRICE FOUR CENTS.
THE ANDRE COLUMN BROKEN.

| shock not unlike heavy thunder suddenly
wakened the few hundred inhabitants of the scat.
tered village Of Tappan about half-past Ii o'clock
OH Thursday night. There bright moonlight
at the time, and apparent cause for the phenome-
nom The people hurried from their beds, and many
Of them dressed, but only few Of them ventured
| from their homes or beyond their dOor-yards.
The direction from which tho sound came, coupled
with the recent partly successful attempt of Hem
dirk to deface the Andre monument not unnaturally
suggested arly everyone that the monument was
In some way connected with the disturbance Thore
being no repetition of the shock. there was an
almost unanimous decision that daylight would be
ample time to investigate the facts in the case.
Even David o. Storms, who lives in the house
nearest to the monument. not more than hundred
yards distant, did not go out Of dOors but eve
men living near the base Of the hill
on which the monument is situated, some of
whom say they fash preceding
the explosion. half an hour later boldly proceeded
to the spot. They found that attempt had been
made to blow up the monument, and that while the
two stones forming the base had been completely
shattered the shaft itself was practically uHin-
jured. One of the party, more venturesone than
the Others sealed the high iron fence surrounding
the monument and continued his investi-
Ca'lons inside tho incOsnre, but aO0sI
nothing TO his stock of information. Early in 'ho
morning there general pilgrimage 10 the srcns
OF the explosion, people coming from Nyack ID
other places several miles distant to crafty tper
curiosity and enjoy view of the partial and alto
gcthcr commonplace ruin
Two or three large pieces of the shattered ,lso,
on exhibition at the hotel IN front Ut
which swings n venerable sga bearing
"a faded head Of George Washington, the rst
tangible evidence of the attempted destruction
H..
yesterday afternoon. L. b. Gngory, the propI etor
of the hotel. said 81 had jnst gone TO bed, when
there was sudden shock like clap of
thunder or more like the bursting CT
largo shell. II was exactly 1885 rheu
the explosion occurred because jumped out oI
bed and looked at my watch Thought at one it
was some one blowing up the monument, and this
morning found that everyone else had the same
idea. There was no guard at the monument aud
there has been none since Hendrix partly defsced
the inscription on one side on the night of Washing
toms Birthday"
HOW THE MONUMENT LOOKS.
Fully half mile in a westerly direction from tho
hotel and on the brow Of a sharp hill, stands the
house of Mr.. Storms. Directly north Of the house
is the monument. The base consisted Of TWO blocks
of granite, the first about five feet square and one
foot high aud the second, which the shaft rested,
trfe four feet square and ten
inches thick, the two together weigh
lng perhaps, two tons. By the force Of the ex-
plosi0n which had been exerted atcrally. both II
these stones had been completely shattered, leaving
only sufficient pieces in position 10 afford preca-
rious support for the shaft. This is still upright,
but looks as thOngh a small force would toppe it
StTcwn about the inside OF TIE iron fence arc
broken pieces of the granite which formed the base
the largest weighing not less than one hundred
pounds, while snsIier fragments were thrown over
the ground for distance OF three rods TO the east
Nrnr ri a
side where the debris shows the force of the explo
sion to have been the greatest. and similar effects
The entire east front of the shaft Is dsfigure6 b7
smoke and flame, although not permanently dam.
aged and very small piece of the shaft is clrppcd
off the northeast corner. The IRON gate on the wcsb
side was NOT unfasened, but the bolts OF the support
were broken by the conclusion. 1t tie southeast
corner OF the largest pieces of granite Is stained
by some liquid which is supposed to be f.oa
Believed bel e'' to nave been employed. Robert NJ.
Watson an engineer the NewYork. West Shore
and Buffalo Railroad, who visited the lnonumchI
yesterday, expressed tho opinion that nitro
glycerinc was used and that an uneXploded cart
ridge Is still in the debris on the south side OF thy
base The cartridge must have been ignited BY
fuse of sufficient length to afford an ~
time for the escape of the perpetratoI =
a safe distance before the explosion took pi
MR. sroRMss EXPERIENCE.
David o. Storms, who lives close by the m
Ilent said that he had been at home all day IN
day and saw no one the monument In
return at 1920.
Did you get good shaking up'7 asked hes re-
porter.
"WeIl, I reckon did~ was the emphatic
response. Il was stunned like Sac
IT;Il II took me sometime to get my head together
| 7 rome right by the monument on my way home IL
was light as day-but did not see Or hear anyols
| ohont That Mr. Cartridge laid right tn re then.f
no;ntinr 10 the east side of the tase, "and II ras
mighty lucky / did not stay an honr Iater as
Sparkll for should have been gong Hy mere IT,
| when the thing went of. a man anywhere wthni
| two rods would have been killed stone dead. pe.
| Ieve the work OF fixing 1t was done early In tAs
eU9nhiH eo minr done for dynamite If tha, had be !
| dynamite il would a. upset the whole thing" r.
| eral panes Of glass in the windows OF MT S'orm's
| house were broken by the conclusion. .
G. T. Clifford lives in little red house Mt tho fc1f
of the hill He was just going in tho door when hs
looked i like little bonfire; it was followed oS
| the explosion. He Was soon joined by eyerai
neigh6ors and At midnight he tGgetSr with nh RYE,
iawrence. climbed the hill and inspected ths
wreck. 1trS iS Ryerson and Maher both claim u
have seen the flash of light which ani pie, PIE,
tSe0u t5e fence. . said Mr.. Clifford, "but / donf
| know what he seen, wo9ldn't have gone
| thing else to 20 Off, Dir. Clifford and his part5
thought they man in be road short distance
| to the north, but they did not go to make sure.
| There were many witnesses TO the severity OF tne
shack and the temporary fright canSedby II through
ont the village in all directions Samuel BeaSey, who
| lives on the Palisades, two miles away, said his
| house was Jared by the explosion.
DISCUSSING THE MATTER AT TAPPAN.
susual after such an extraordinary occurrence
in small country village, there was the usual dis.
cussion yesterday and general comparing of notes
as to all strangers who had been seen in teVicnity
| in the preceding twenty-four hours. Mr.. Gifords
contribution to the general fund Of information
| this topic was concerning man who passed his
| house between 3 and o'clock Thursday after
| noon. The man was about medium Sza