The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-07
INDIAN HEAD TORN 10 BITS.
A Picturesque Land Mark on the
Hudson CrumbIes Under a Blast.
From the Philadelphia Record.

From the Philadelphia Record.
Jersey City. N. J., March 4-The ia
NOUS Indian Head" the giant pinnacle
of rock which stood sentinel-like amid the
beautiful Palisades of the Hudson river,
fell to-day, the victim of commerce. A
huge blast of dynamite brought ii down
amid crumbling mass of quarry stone
Perhaps no point along tfa river was so
familiar. 1t has been pointed out to
thousands of excurslonists from all parts
of the country, and 1t will be missed in
the days to come when these excursionists
again make the trip up the. picturesque
stream.
The wreck came by the touch of a but
ton at 1850 o'clock this morning. The first
attempt to blow up the big rock was made
1897 o'clock. Some time before that
Hugh Reilly, the boss blaster, clad in a
waterproof jacket and cap, was lowered
down by rope from the brink of the
enormous rock, and for some time was
suspended in mid-air while he was pre-
pairing the wires. Two tunnels had been
made in the rock, one at about sixty feet
from the top, eighty feet deep and almost
the hight of a man. From this tunnel two
shafts had been sunk toward the base of
the rock, each twenty-five feet deep. There
was another tunnel at the bottom of the
rock, near the waters edge, sxty-flve feet
deep. Besides these two tunnels sixty
drill holes had been sunk on the very head
of the Indian, each hole being about TWEEN
ty-five feet deep. The entire quantity. of
dynamite put in those holes was 1000
pounds.
AZ little after 10 O'clock Alice Hag-
garty, a little daughter of one of the
worSmen, nervously touched the button
An instant, and then came a low rumble
but the rugged mass of rock forming the
head of the Indian chieftain did not
bulge. The charge had only partly ex-
>ploded. Some thought that the quantity
of dynamite was inadequate and that
II had all burned up in the holes. But
Reilly was sure they were mistaken.
He and Carpenter went down the steep
stairway to the bottom of the rock and
inspected the tunnels. They found that
some of the dynamite was exposed show
ing that most of the charge was intact.
They thought the girl did not press down
hard and long enough on the button
Reilly renewed his preparations. and
at about 1870 o'clock prepared for an
other trial A fanciful view of the
rock made 1t look as II the Indian chief
had his brow contracted, in a grim de-
termination to meet death braveiy
There was a crowd OF laborers, school
boys from Fort Lee and other nearby
villages, and a number of other spectat-
ors from the neighborhood. Everybody
watched with bated breath for the great
moment
This time Reilly would not trust the little
girl. He put finger on the button himself.
and again the crowd held its breath and
watched the Indian in deep silence. Then
came a trembling of the ground, and a
roar that seemed muffied at first, then
loud, so that it was heard by persons three
miles away.
The entire face bent out Ia the middle.
then doubled up like jackknife and the
whole mass slid down, 100000 tons of rock
were dislodged
Reilly expressed himself as pleased with
the result, saying that il exceeded his
highest expectations. The Carpenter broth
ers, the quarrymen, came ashore in the
rowboat and congratulated Reilly Three
cheers arose from the contractors men.
The spectators took last view Of the
wreelsage below where they stood and
within an hour the place where Indian
Head had been was once more deserted.