Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-10-12
Aztec the EXPLOSION.


VIII Take Three Years and eeee. zee
10 clear Away the Debris.
A New York special 10 the Philadelphia Press
says: "The thousands Of people who went 70
He'll Cato to-day Sunday 10 see the result az
yesterdays upheavei were rather disappainteA
to ind that q considerable part OF the shattered
reef was stili there. They had evidently ex.
pecfed 10 see the water flowing peacefully over
the spot where Flood Rock had stood. Instead
they found that nearly as much Of the rock ~
had been above the river surface was stu In i,s
old place. though somewhat disfeured ana
broken up and hall hidden nom sight by BIG
blackened timbcrs. twisted pieces OF iron and
plesof broken brick aud mortar over this pile a
relic hunters as numerous ~ the island of broken
stone would permit stumbled about all day
long They gathered bits OF fuses, twisted elec.
trio wires, chips OF wood and hundreds Of the
boxes In which the cartridges used Ia the exc
plosion had once been. Even the big derrick
lying over ON iis side in hali-smashed condition,
suffered from the rapacity of the eearcher foe
souvenirs and Was hacked at until after sun-
set. Over q thousand rowboats were moored
TO the crushed rocked during the day, and
every foot Of it above water was crowded vita
men, women and children.
The feeling among the people that the explo-
sion was not success was increased when they
saw that the little dock st which the drsdsss
The old bulk stood as before and not .
brick or plank had been displaced. But the
that the dynamite had not done its work.
was the good condition of the southern end q
the rock. II was apparently unhsrned by the
there Is no doubt that the reef had been com.
pletely shattered, and that the explosion was
not the intention 10 break Il into little pieces.
charge heavy enough To attain such q rssult
would have scattered big pieces OF Il all over
the vicinity and caused considerable damage
to property. That was the danger which Gen,
Newton tried 10 avoid. The OBJECT OF the ex.
be handled 10y dredges and carried away. The
upper portions of the rock were, Therefore
charged very light and the bulk OF the explo.
siyes put ian the lower tunnels. that the rock
above water would not be much disturbed.
The result has justified the engineers calcula.
tions for not boulder IL lea that can not %
lifted by dredging derrick.
4. An interesting calculation OF the force u
aN 1 sna racn as hss s pounds %
cording 10 this, had the power OF the charvs
been concentrated. Il would have Incl
2,304 900 pounds of dead weight foot high.
and had IL been exploded Ia the open sir IL
would have undoubtedly killed every persou
on Manhattan island; as well as FOR miles
around. As IL was, the force was expended In
pulvefiyng the rock, and IL must have crushed
the lower tunnels into pieces as small mar
bles. According TO the same estimate.
I.2s4 900 cubic feet OF gas were liberated by
the explosion. Gen. Newton intends 20 begin
sounding and surveying the crumbled reef to-
morrow That part of IL above water will be N
once cleared OF the debris now scattered over IL
After that the dredgers will take charge oi IL,
WHAT GEN. NEWTON SAYS.
Gen. Newton was asked II the channel couiA
be used at once, and REPLIED "Oh, yes Thers
will be no danger for vessels that keep 20 the
channel. Light draft vessels that have been In
the habit of sailing over the lower portions of
the reef will have To confine themselves to the
channel until we can make out "A new chart. az
the surface OF the reef will be raised and chang
ed by the explosion. II Will take three years
but the result win be the widening OF the twons
ty-siN foot channel from six hundred 10 twelve
hundred feet. The Fragments from Heel Tap
have not been removed YET. Rylanders Reef
will not be touched, "a tt lies within the wharf
line. Great and Little Mil rocks ought to bs
removed, and the undertake ing would be aboue
equal To that OF blowing up Flood Rock"
SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS.
Observations 10 determine the Duration md
extent OF the earth and atmospheric wayes
were taken saturday on two lines running 40
right angles with each other. Gen. Henry 4.
Abbott, OF the United States corps of engineers.
had change Of the obseryataries on an east and
west line on Long island. with headquarters ~
Wtiletts Point, The north and south line Was
In charge OF Prof. -. W. Clarke, OF the United
states geological survey, Washington. He had
his southern station on staten Island In charge
observatory. A. the next station on Wards is-
land Prof. 4. c. Mendenhall. OF the United states
signal seryiee and himself observed; Al Yon.
geological survey, aud student Thomas Ewing.
jr., oi Columbia college. occupied a station The
most northerly observatory Of the chain was M
Naxsar college, I'm charge OF Prof Maria MitchpIL
DIR. Daniel Draper took observations on q nuns.
Der OF Instruments at Central Park.
The astronomers at Princeton and
Rutgers colleges also made oiserya.
tons in. connection with the others.
The results of these observations establish
several interesting facts They show that the
atmospheric wave slight toward tho
west-which was against the wind-as Ca ls
scarcely observable on the barometers. The carta
wave, however, Increased an volume after leayi
Manhattan Island for some distance, and then
subsidized. No practical results can be dedu,ed
from the scientific obseT> aiions until the whole
are taken and compared aud deductions made,
tent, aud velocity of the explosive force IL was
notable fact To even near spectators OF the art.
hicial earthquake that the tremor was felt lie.
fore the water was seen to rise. IL in expected.
also, that the observations will throw some
iighi on the movements of earthquakes or the
new science of seismoogy.