The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-10-16
BY A CHILD'S HAND.


The Eleven Year-old Daughter of Gen.
eral Newton Touches the Electric But
ton Which Causes the Explosion OF
Nearly 100000 Pounds of Dynamite Inn
bedded III Flood Rock-9h, Affair a
Great Success.
NEW YORK, Oct. 12.-The ESQ, 900 pounds
Of dynamite under Flood Rock, He'll Gate,
exploded at 11:13 a. IN. Saturday. The
shock was plainly felt at the lower end of
Manhattan Island.
All points on the shore from which Flood
Rcck could be seen were denSeIy packed
with people. The police were kept busy
in keeping the crowd outside of the danger
line Ropes had been stretched across the
river above and below the place of eXplo-
sion, and launches from the navy yard
patroled the river to see that no vessels at
tempted to pass through.
AT precisely 1918 o'clock the earth
trembled, and the bosom Of the river was
pierced with a mighty upheaval of rocks
and timbers. Up, up went the glittering
masses of water, until it seemed as if they
would never stop. At height of two
hundred feet the uplifted waters paused
aud fell back again to the river. AT this
Ill
feet in each direction was filled with the
white masses of sparkling water, the spec
tacle was grand beyond expression. Mary
Newton, the eleven-year-old daughter of
General Newton, who, as Chief Engineer
has conducted the operations at He'll Gate
since the start touched the baton that set
Tree the electric current that exploded the
submarine mines and shattered the mount
ain OF rock, lifting it out of the bosom of
the sea and crushing it into million of
fragments. 1t was little Mary Newton
who, when mere baby, touched off the
first He'll Gate explosion few feet from
the point where she stood yesterday.
The ShOck of the collapse was felt
slightly on the Astoria shore, and
the noise resembled far distant subterranean
thunder. Where Flood Rock had lifted its
strong back mass of broken rock was
seen; on top of it all the big derrick that
had been left to its fate turned over on its
side and broke. A huge tank that had been
left at the north end of Hle island still stood
in its place tilted over little, as it had set
tied when let down with the angry waters
from its aerial flight Immediately after
the explosion a fire broke out in the
wreck and burned Justify amid the seething
waters. -Four instantaneous photographs
were taken by officers OF the corps OF engi-
neerS from the firing point of Astoria.
The shock was felt to slight extent in
the city. 1t was distinctly felt in the City
Hall building, the structure trembling for
the space of five seconds. AT the County
Court House the shock was also distinctly
felt. In the upper part of the buildings the
floors shook and the windows trembled
when the explosion occurred.
n Actn hn UIa fol fbo
store shelves and houses were rocked. No
serious damage was done, though the cell
ingS of some buildings were cracked. Win
dows in Princeton, N. j., were ratified, and
successful observations of the vibrations
were made there and at Patchogue, Bay
Shore, Babylon, and Pearsalls with siSOme-
tiers.
Much of the rock still extends above
water, and people clambered over it after
the explosion without wetting their feet.
Little Niggerhead" has disappeared and
a new rock has risen to take its place.
'Big Niggerhead' seems to be unaffected.
The engineers are satisfied with the result
of the explosion, and declare that it has
| accomplished all that was expected of it.
! General Newton'S next work will be the
levelling off, by surface blasting of Frying
Pan Reef, which now has depth of only
eighteen feet of water above it at low tide,
and in working little off Negro Point at
the southern extremity of Wards Island.
When this is done there will be straight
channel through.
The work upon Flood Rock, now con-
sunmated, was begun il 1875. Nine acres
of solid rock were tunneled. The greatest
depth attained was sixty-four feet by the
main shaft, and the average gallery floor
vas about fifty feet deep. The length of
the galleries and tunnels was nearly four
miles, and the she'll of rock separating
them from the body of water overhead
varied from ten to twenty-four feet. -Four
hundred and siXty-seven rock columns,
each about Is feet square, supported this
roof. In these pillars and the roof 1926
holes, 3 inches in diameter, were drilled to
an average depth of feet As compared
with the work upon Hallefs reef, it
is stated that there the total length
of the galleries was 1926 feet; at
Flood Rock the total length was
21,670. In the former there were 173
piers each 10 feet square, in the latter
476, each Is feet square. There $1,000
cubic yards of rock had to be removed;
here $50, 900 cubic yards were taken away.
In Hallet's Reef 3,673 holes were drilled
in Flood Rock there were IS, FOG, and while
only 47,781 pounds of dynamite were used
in 1876, six times that amount was eX-
ploded under the waters of Hell Gate.
The holes in the pillars were charged
with 'rackarock" and dynamite NO y
cartridges in the proportion of about eight
volumes of the former to one volume of the
latter. The total weight of these cartridges
was about $4,000 pounds, or, in round
figures, over one hundred and forty TONS
''Rackarock" is a mixture of chlorate Of
potash with dinito benZole, looks like moist,
light brown sugar, and has ninety-fye per
cent of the strength of No. l dynamite.
The removal of Flood Rock in Hell
Gate Channel is the browning act in the
work of thirty-five years The reef OBJ
structed the navigation of ships wishing to
enter New York Harbbr fromIthe east. The
initial step toward removing the rocks was
begun in 184S. In 1880 the steamer HuSsar,
bearing British gold, struck Flood Rock and
sunk. By removal of Flood Rock and the
reduction of Hallets Point reef to depth
of twenty-six feet at mean low water, the
channel is now estimated to be from 1900
to 1900 feet wide, and is nayigable for ships
and ocean vessels of the largest class, many
of which will avail themselves of the
saving of forty miles which the Sound
route offers over that by New York
bay With the aid of the immense
electric light on Hallers Point, which
throws it's powerful rays over the whole of
He'll Gate channel, the passage through
this once dangerous waterway will be prac-
tcally safe day and night The cost of
the work on Flood Rock closely
approximates $1,000, 600. From 1863
to 1879, the amount expended was
$3.50, 900 and since the latter date Congress
appropriated over $3.50, 000. Over 100000
feet of wire were used in connecting tie
blasts and the batteries