Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-30
BY A CHILD'S HAND.

SFedt SiCCSSSs
New YORK, Oct. 1.-THE 100000 pounds
of dynamite under Flood Rock, He'll Gate,
exploded at ll:l3 a. IN. Saturday. The
shock was plainly felt at the lower end of
Manhattan Island.
All points Oh the shore from which Flood
X elk could be seen were densely 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 rive. to see that no vessels at
tempted to pass through.
AT precisely 1913 o'clocks the earth
trelnbled, and the bosom Of the river was
pierced with a mighty upheaval of rocks
and timbcrs. Up, up went the giittering
masses of water, until it seemed as if they
would never stop. AT q height of two
hundred feet the uplifted waters paused
and fell back again to the river. AT this
moment, when the air for hundreds Of
feet in each direction was filled with the
White masses of sparkling water, the spec
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 button that set
free 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 a million of
fragments. 1t was little Mary Newton
who, when a mere baby, touched Off the
first He'll Gate explosion a few feet from
the point where she stood yesterday.
The shock OF the collapse was felt
slightly on the Astoria shore, and
the noise resemblcd far distant subterraneah
thunder. Where Flood Rock had lifted its
strong back a 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 the island still stood
in its place tilted over a little, as it had set
tied when let down with the angry waters
from its aerial flight. Immediately after
wreck and burned Justify amid the seething
waters. Four instantaneous photographs
Were taken by officers OF the corps OF eEgi-
neerS from the firing point of Astoria.
The shock was felt to a slight extent in
the city. 1t was distinctly felt in the City
Hall building, the structure trembling for
the space OF i've 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.
In Astoria the glassware fell from the
store shelves and houses We're rocked. No
serious damage was done, though the cell
lngs OF some buildings were cracked. Win
dows III Princeton, N. D., We're ratified, and
successful observations of the vibrations
were made there and at Patclogue, 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 Niggerllead' has disappeared and
a new rock has risen to take its place.
big Niggelhead'' seems to he 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 OIL, by surface blasting of Frying
Pan Reef, Which now has a depth of only
eighteen feet of.water above it at low tide,
aid in working a little off Negro Point at
the southern extremity of Wards Island.
When this is done there will be a straight
channel through.
The work upon Flood Rock, now con-
summated, was begun in 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
was about fifty feet deep. The length of
the galleries and tunnels was nearly four
miles, and the shell 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 3 1856
holes, 3 inches in diameter, were drilled to
an average depth of 9 feet. AS compared
with the work upon Hallet's reef, it
is stated that there the total length
of the galleries was 1896 feet; at
Flood Rock the total length was
21,67O. In the former there were 173
piers. each 10 feet square, in the latter
476, each Is feet square. There 81, 900
here $50, 600 cubic yards were taken away.
In Hallet's Reef 3,673 holes were drilled,
in Flood Rock there were Ii, 206, and while
only 47,7S1 pounds of dynamite were used
in 1876, six times that amount was eX-
ploded under the waters of He'll Gate.
The holes in the pillars were charged
with ''rackarock" and dynamite (No. y
cartridges i'll the proportion Of about eight
volumes of the former to one volume of the
latter. The total weight of these cartridges
was about 2S3, 900 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-five pei
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-tive years. The reef OBJ
structed the navigation OF ships wishing to
enter New York Harbor fromIthe east. The
initial step toward removing the rocks was
begun in 1S4s. In 1850 the steamer Hussar,
bearing British gold, struck Flood Rock and
sunk. BY removal of Flood, Rock and the
reduction of Hallet's Point reef to a depth
| of twenty-siX feet at mean low water, the
channel is now estimated to be from 1900
to $500 feet wide, and is navigable for ships
and ocean vessels of the largest class, man.
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 Hallet's Point, which
throws its powerful rays over the whole Of
He'll Gate channel, the passage through
this once dangerous waterway will be prac
tically safe day and night. The cost Of
the work on Flood Rock closely
approximates 81, 900, 900. From 1856!
to 1879, the amount expended wa:
$3.50, 900 and since the latter date Congress:
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