Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-07-14

II i known in an indefinite way that
General Newton j. preparing near Hell
Gate IN explosion compared to which
,hatoi the summer Of $50 viii seem insg-
niiirtnt. Then the area of rock blown
up WIS about three acres; 1T the next
affair of the kind about eleven acres of +
rock will be treated to dynamite at
once.
~ soon rs the work OF blowing up
tablets Point Reef was ended, General
Newton turned his attention 10 Flood
Rock, u still more important obstacle 1"
safe navigation than was lia!let'S Reef.
The position of the rock will be seen nv |
reference to any map OF the city. 1t |
lies off IIallet's Point, to the northwest |
of the reef blown up i'll 1876, and Is |
rirht in the center of what would be tine |
natural Hell Gate channel. 1t marks |
Il reef If rocks covering about eleven |
acres of the river bed. IT was resolved
To treat this reef i'll precisely the same
manner wie"h proved So successful in |
the ease of Iialct's Reef. Work cputln- |
ued upon small and uncertain appro-
priitipns until lS1S, when it was suspend |
ci for want of money. In 1919 the oiu !
plant of drilling machines, boilers, etc, |
brought t" Flood Rock after work III
IIallrt'S Reel was done, began to give
way, aud il was not until lN';n i,it new
and better machinery WAS At work. The
system followed i exactly similar to
that pursued III llallet's Reef. Galleries
about seven feet wide and six feet high
are cut eight feet apart, running II
right angles to each other, the result
3 / -lnt of ft.., 70
with the streets running very closely to-
gether, the blocks between galleries re-
presenting solid columns of rock, eight
feet square, which hold up the roof of
the mine. The reef is irregular III
shape, with IN extreme length of about
Loo feet, and width varying from
600 to 2Oo feet. AtpreSent abont seven
acres of the reef have been hOncycombrd,
the work proceeding at about the rate of
800 feet of gallery in month, the roc.s
| having to be drilled and then blasted.
| Then drilling and blasting goes on con
Stantly at depth OF - u 90 fp2t under
the water. During 1880, the number of
| linear feet cut was 1916, to effect which
| it was necessary to sharpen the drills
! 81, 0l6 times, to make 1901 blasts, and
| to remove l2,9il cubic yards of loose
rock The wages paid the drillcrs
an helpers for this work amounted to
SSH, and the explosives cost
SlI,Gio.
The depth below low water of the
floor of the lowest gallery is sixtyfour
feet, the depth of the galleries varying
with the depth of the rock below the
surface. After the blast is over, and
the loose rock has been cleared away,
there will be depth of twenty-SiN feet
1T low water The thickness of rock
between the roof of the tunnels and the
bad of the river is about thirteen feet.
When the time comes for raising the
whole roof at once charges of dynamite
will be placed through the mine and
exploded by electricity.
The explosion ut lIallet's Reef was
followed by five years of dredging to
remove the loose rock. This was done
by the Atlantic Dredging Company,
who have taken out about eighty
thousand tons of broken rock. The
entire reef has now disappeared, and
there is uniform depth of twenty-SiX
feet ut low tide, where six years ago was
one of the terrors of navigation through
the Gate.
Besides the large reefs that have made
Hell Gate So dangerous, there are scr-
eral rocks which can hc treated with
doses of dynamite without resorting to
tunneling Several have already been
DESTROYED, among them Ways Reef,
Shell Drake Rock, Cocn,ies Reef, Heel
taps Rocks, Diamond Reef, in the East
River. and some smaller obstacles to
vessels. Drilling was begun long ago
upon Pot Rock and the Frying Pan
Rocks, both of which reefs can be re-
moved at any time. On the north side
of the channel are two small rocks,
known rs Great Mill Rock and Little
Mill Rock they are not in the way Of
vessels, and will be made the support
for dixie between the two rocks, made
of the material from Flood Rock.
The work of improving the East Riv-
err and He'll Gate was decided upon in
1867. and General Newton began work
, in 1869. His original estimate Of the
b, cost was Sj,oo0,o0o. Up to the 5oth of
= June, 1881 the appropriations have been
$2,9uo,0Oo, and the expenses 3 ,6i6 900.
General Newton is confident that the
entire work can be finished without
exceeding the original estimate, unless
. constant Interruptions, due To lack of
=, money, interfere with the work and
!, scatter the men. About four years more
!, will be necessary to complete the whole
u whole work if the tunnelling ut Flood
Z Rock goes on sufficiently fast to allow
the final explosion to occur about two
years hence. The present appropria-
= ton for the work will be exhausted in
:. less than two months, and unless Con.
y gress makes another appropriation Al
: once the men who have learned to du
IT the work will be dispersed, the machin
) cry will deteriorate, and when wori. be
gins again much time nnd money vii
- be wasted in teaching new men.-N. Y
. EreHiHg Post.