Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-11-21

Ing furn1Sne0 the famous MISSION h6a
Stone for the following cities: ST
Louis. Chicago. New York, Pittsburg
San Francisco. Omaha, Indianapolis
cleveland, Pittsfield. Mass. Louis
Vile. New Orleans. Dallas, Tyler ant
other Texas points. Kansas City, Gin
tcinnati, Baltimore, and in fact scores
of other cities and towns. They ais.
have the distinction of turning Oh
some of the largest single pieces o
any company in the west. il not in thi.
country. Stones weighing from s Il
/ 60 tons each are not an uncommon
thing to be handled here, and abou
the only limit is the transportation ia
cilities.
Mr.. Chas. Shular returned home
last week from Long Cove. Maine, tt
which place he left some time ago te
superintend the loading and firing of g
granite mine for the Booth Bros Gran.
lite Co., d report of which we clip from
the Rockland Courier Gazette for re.
production in the REGISTER. which
best tells of Mr.. Shular's expertness in
the blasting business and which, while
true. reflects great credit ON an Iron
county boy:
"a large number OF people gathered
at Long Cove yesterday and saw the
elimination of the greatest blasting
operation ever known in this section
of the country. The Long Cove gran
lite quarry, owned and onerated by the
Booth Bros. & Hurricane Granite Co..
was the scene of the event. During
the past few years rock in this quarry
available for the cutters became scarce
and in casting about for means to
overcome the difficulty Mr.. Booth, one
OF the New York members of the con-
Germ, hit upon the scheme of excava-
ting into the immense wall which
forms the eastern end of the quarry
and by a single mine explosion to pro-
vide granite sufficient to last many
months. When James Smith, son of
the superintendent, pressed the little
electric button success beyond the
richest hopes of all interested crowned
his plans. By means of steam drill
and judicious use of dynamite power
workmen dug tunnel three feet in
width and four feet in height straight
into the side of the granite mountain.
When this tunnel had reached Sc feet
in length the course was altered, two
arms of similar dimensions were con-
structed at right angles, the one ex-
tending to the right being So feet long
and the one to the left 80 feet long.
At the end of each, small caverns were
constructed as receptacles for the ex-
plosive, the object of this I shape be-
ing to lift the mass back into the quar-
ry.
1.-The work of loading the cells oc-
cupied two days, $50 kegs of powder
and four pounds of the most powerful
dynamite being used. This explosive
was poured bag at time into the COM
partments. Charles Shuler of Gran
iteville. Mo-, an expert in big granite
blasts. came on, purposely to superin-
tend the discharge and the cells under
his watchful direction were cemented
water tight after they had been filled,
as well as the outer tunnel, the object
of these preparations being to concen-
trate the force of the explosion. But
a rainy spell set in and expert Shuler,
who had intended to await the arrival
of prominent granite men from New
York, Philadelphia and other eastern
cities. gave out word that the blast
would be fired at promptly 2 o'clock
yesterday afternoon.
1.-The scene for several hours pre-
vious to the appointed time is one that
bellies description. Nothing Of the
sort had ever been attempted east of
the Mississippi river. At l O'Clock
precisely every road and avenue of APP
proach was closed to the public by
mounted horsemen. Half an hour la
ter the shrill quarry whistle gave ut
terance to three prolonged blasts and
all who had not previously deserted
the little granite hamlet fastened to
the woods on the hillside. Whole
families of the Russian Firms were seen
hastily seeking seclusion from all dan
ger, the mothers carrying their little
babes and followed by their animal
pets.
1.-The first intimation that came to
the people assembled on the hillsides
was the rocking of the ground beneath
their feet. ALI eyes turned upon the
quarry where slight puff of smoke
became suddenly visible. The i'm
mense bluff was seen to lift from its
and 100, 900 tons of the best
Maine granite fell backward into the
quarry. So finely had the thing been
planned that hardly rock was seen to
fly and ice in the ponds near by was
not cracked by the conclusion. But
for an acre In the rear, where the pow
der found an opportunity to vent itself
upon weak seams, there was every ap-
pearanee of full fledged earthquake.
s.Crevices. many of them one and
two feet in width, were opened, some
extending back into the woods fully
900 feet. From these gigantic cracks
which seemed to be utterly bottomless
came the sickening odor OF powder,
and it is through fear of the gases thus
that the workmen dare not
labor among the stone for the next
three days. There was general rush
into the quarry after the explosion.
and it was while this inspection was in
progress that a blast was fired in an
quarry. Small rocks we're
scattered among the sightseers causing
a hurried stampede, as belated dis
charge was feared.
1.-The explosion cost $4,000 and was
q success in every way.
lin this city, Is miles away. hum
dreds of people listened carefully for
the report but in vain. Many people
had telephone connection with Long
Cove however and felt the shock dis