The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-22
BIG GUNS HEARD AFAR.
The F,rinG at Sandy Hook Heard and Feis
Mile. Away In Unstable Jersey.

llt A"hJ N
Few persons in this country know how far tho
sound of the firing Of big guns can DO heara' anu
even felt, unless they happen to live In tho
neiphborhood OF one of the Government testing
station,. The residents of Statsn Island get an
idea of the tremendous power Of modern cannon
from the firing at Fort wadsworth occasionally;
but as the island ia small none OF them i'es
enough away from tho fort TO reaiiZe tho oA.eht
to which these conclusions can make themselves
felt. Down in Monmouth county the people
have o better chance TO judge because OF the
testing station al Sandy HOOK.
The testing station 10 near the emo OF inc
Hook. four miles from tho Highlands OF
Navesiuk, and ten miles from Long Branch
or Red Bank; yet when the big cannon arc
fired with service charges or even lighter loads.
their roar and rumble are felt In air and earth
as II the cAunonadlng were but q mile away.
us that thunder p startled strangers often
ask. and look into the sky for clouds.
With big guns. such as have been tried re-
Gently. the same phenomenon Is otteh not'cea
at much greater distances, and IL 10 not uncom-
mon for people OF the country 10 note the hrihR
at distances Of twenty-five miles or more away
from Sandy Hook. The case with which these
sounds travel in that part of tho country may
DO due In part to the Law Of the land. Except for
the Highlands. which do not cover much space,
tho whole country Is practically fiat for many
miles to tho southwark and westward. and the
sound waves meet nothing to break them, up.
This 10 especially noticeable when the Dig fog
horn at Sandy Hook Ia sounding, and particu-
larly at night. Its tones seem 10 grow 10 volume
as one gets further away. and oiten tbe huarse
notes can be heard fifteen miles away with
startling distinctness. Six miles away from the
shore, al Red Bank. the beating OF the surf on
the sands can be heard during easterly storms
with the same phenomenal distihctpess. More
remarkable still, as each great breaker TAILS u
sets the ground In n tremor and the rhythm or
the sea can be felt at Red Bank.
A reason for this may perhaps DO louna IN The
character OF that part OF the country. Tho
mari beds show that at three different times
the sea spread over all that part Of New Jersey
water. Sandy Hook rests. now upon . bed OF
soft mud of unmeasured depth. and this prob.
ably extends under much OF the nearby main
land. II Is o peculiar silt and IL quivers and
auakes like a Jelly when II 10 disturbed and
transmits those motions for lor g distances. The
famous CheeseauAkes meadows, near South
Amhoy. take their name from this quality of
the silt OF which they arc composed,
Many persons believe. that the bed, or silt
which underlies Sandy Hook also extends under
the Highlands. and that this accounts for some
are evidences. II Is a matter OF record that. a
couple OF hundred years ago or 90, q half-Acre
piece OF ground in the hills suddsnly sank. leAv-
lug the sides of the pit about 1t preoipitous,
and 1t went down until the tips OF the
great forest trees upon II were only
just even with the surrounding land.
Any person who makes . summer TIP down
the bay into this Shrewsbury River or to tbs At
lRnuc Highlands can see where the face VI one