The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-21
DESTRUCTION OF STAG ROCK,
Large Obstruction in San Francisco
 Bay Blown Up.

Large Obstruction in San Francisco Bay Blown Up.
 | Shag Rock, menace for years to bay navigation, was blown out of harbol
 ana off the chart at 3:03 o'clock yester' day afternoon. Nine tons of o-gela tine loaded into thirty-four holes, eacf
 nine inches in diameter and extending
 straight down into the little islet some thirty three feet below the surface was the tremendous power that rent the
 mass asunder and directed mighty
 column of water a thousand feet in the air.
 The sight was one to impress even the most stolid of witnesses. Warned
 of the hidden force about to be let
 loose all manner of craft kept @ mile
 and a half away. Even tthe barge
 from which the current was to flash the
 spark into the hidden rock drew back
 until she had paid out more than a
 mile of the small electric cable. Then
 the tugs slipped away from her and
 swung round into position with bows
 pointed in the direction whence they
 had been led to expect the onrushing
 wave following gigantic upheaval of
 waters
 Without warning. almost without
 sound, there arose from the unruffied
 surface of the bay towering, feather edged, Whitish mass. Majestically it
 mounted still higher and higher, while two great lateral filaments like droop- ing ostrich plumes broke away and fell gracefully out from the rising column
 that then for an instant resembled a feecy heur de lis. Still the huge jet kept rising. Then there surged up from
 beneath through the whole lower part for several hundreds of feet a yellowish
 cloudy tint that blended into the sil- very Whitness above. For very small part of a second the tower stood as if crystallized, and then it dropped swiftly as it had ascended and as noiselessly. Fifty feet from the sea>it finally spread out umbrelawise in a dirty coffee-color- ed fountain that Splashed up the sur rounding muddiness and created for just a second or so a dusty haze over the spot where Shag Rock had been. The whole spectacle lasted not more than a dozen seconds
 As there had been only a strangle, ominous "Whoof" when the water leap- ed aloft, so there was scarcely a com motion as it returned to the bay almost in time to refill the vortex that it had created. There was no outrushing bil- lowy wave, no threatening concentric series of waves AS soon as the thing was done the boats that watched the explosion from safe distances bore down on the scene-a small fleet of row boats, fishing boats with sails hastily set, four steam tugs, a smart sailing yacht a dlngy schooner, and three gaso- line, launches all converging upon the half acre of wreckage and yellowisl scum where 1t was expected there would be myriads of dead fish upon the sur face. Except for porpoise or two and a few roekcod no dead fish were to be seen, but here and there great boted timbers the size of telegraph poles float ed in pieces, torn and twisted and vio- lently rent asunder as by lightning.
 Contractor Axmann believes that the explosion was a success and congratu- lates himself upon the favorable condi- tions of the weather and tide. At the outset there was some delay at the rock while William Brawley an electrical expert, tested the wires connecting the caps This was hazardous undertak- ing and made cold chills run up and down the backs of the half dozen men the crew of the barge. It was light current, however just suffi- cient to show that all was intact.
 Shag Rock Is estimated to have con- tained about $500 cubic feet of sand ttone. slightly metamorphoric. At high tide only about ten feet of its crest showed. Contractor Axmann was awarded the contract last December for It's destruction. The first two months were spentNin getting drills and machin- sry in place, then the actual work of drilling began. In all thirty-four holes were cut varying in depth from few feet to 50 feet. Into these holes the yelattne was firmly hammed with heavy steel bars. At the mouth of each hole our specially prepared caps were )aced These caps contained about half a pound of illuminate of mercury, n which was imbedded small platin- nm rod connecting the positive and negative wires. The electrical current leated the platinum to red heat, which n turn ignited the illuminate of mer- 'ury As the gelatine used is difficult o ignite, Contractor Axmann took the of surrounding each cap with dynamite, thus nsuring the suc- ess of his venture.
 According to the terms of the con- ract, the rock must be leveled to a iepth of 34 feet al low water. It is tute possible that the depth will be ound greater than necessary. The ef-