Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-08-17

AG ten minutes OF four long blast
was sounded from the navy yard
whistle to warn people that the time
Of the blast was near at hand.
The blast was fired from a stand
erected on Reservoir hill, just back off
and $50 feet from the point of explos-
ion in full view of everything at the
point.
Upon this stand most distinguished
party witnessed the event, including
Rear Admiral w. w. Mead, u. S. N,
and other naval officers stationed at
the yard, with members of the con-
gressionai delegation and many promi-
nent engineers from all sections of the
country.
At the base of this stand stood Miss
Edith M. Foster the beautiful daughter
of Supt o. Fl. Foster, with her right
hand ready to press the button that
caused the explosion.
The dynamite especially constructed
arrived in two cargoes, the first July
and the last cargo on Monday. This
was made up in sticks two feet long
and varing from two to four inches in
thickness The work of charging the
holes began Saturday, July 8, and was
under the personal supervision of Yer
rocakl, an Italian who has been hand
ling dynamite for 20 years. The charg-
ing was done by tube where the holes
were not clear, and otherwise with a
long pole rammer. In each hole about
300 pounds of dynamite was placed and
IN each hole three fuses or matches
were inserted. These matches were
the largest ever imported into this
country, being made in Germany, es
pecially for the job and they contain
40 grains of the highest explosives.
EYES OF THE WORLD UPON US.
The use of such a great quantity of
hlgh explosives under such circum-
stances was never before ATTEMPTED.
and the undertaking is watched by en-.
gineers all over the world The blow
ing up of He'll Gate, at the entrance to
New York Harbor, was of small i'm
portance in comparison. This work,
which attracted wide attention at the
time, was accomplished by tunnelline
under tho rock, the explosives, being
placed in the tunnell. At Hendersonjs
Point the dynamite was distributed in
more than 400 borings, encircling an
erea of over three acres, and ali ex-
pioded at the same moment.
CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION.
What is known as Henderson's Point
juts out from the Kittory side of the
harbor, near the navy yard, and the
formation of this stretch Of land was
such as to cause innumerable currents.
'Fae e1d that projects out into the har-
Dor entrance was about 500 feet wide.
but on each side sweeping curve of
beach the neck ran back, growing
gradually narrower until it reached a
place lnshore where the water swept
over during very high tides and made
the point practically an island. This
resulted in currents which ran with
tremendous force in many directions
and made the channel at times almost
unnavigable,
Large vessels could not get into the
harbor without the help Of tugs. and
even then gteat difficulty was exper-
fenced. The bow would be in one
current and the stern in another. and
captains have declared that their YES
seis were in three different currents.
al forcing the craft in different direc.
tlons. Only the most skilled oarsman
thoroughly acquainted with the harbor
could do anything with a small boat
and even be could not steer straight
course from point to point.
Inc dry dock is one of the finest in
the world, mammoth affair built on
solid rock foundation and capable of
holding the largest war vessel afioat
With this dock inside the harbor it be-
came necessary to make it accessible
for all kinds of warskips and it was
finally decided to remove about $50 feet
from the end of Henderson's Point.
over the dam and almost reaching
it's top is the rushing water of the
channel, and vessels sailing by are al
most on level with the top of the
dam. Surrounded almost by this great
force of water, the men in the hole be.
low worked in apparent safety, and
yet should there have been a log break
1T is daubtful whether all could have
escaped. Their only hope would have
been to climb the long ladders to the
top or hoat on the top of the rising
water until they were rescued. Buf
the possibility of such break was very
remote; they had been working down
there for months apparently as safe as
the men.in the great quarries at Rock
port, with which this great excavation
on Henderson's Point might be COM
pared.
The work of getting ready for the
''blow-upo has been going on for some
weeks and everything within a dis
tance of 200 feet was removed; Then
came the work of boring the holes for
the placing of the dynamite. For this
work the longest drills ever manufact-
ured were used. Each boring was
about go feet long and from
two to three inches in diameter. Those
reaching under the harbor were about
five feet apart. Other holes equally
close were drilled in the solid wall of
rock above and about 400 holes were
thus bored in order to thoroughly
honeycomb the area from which the
stone was to be removed.
When all of the dynamite had been
placed the basin was flooded, the water
being let in gradually so that no dam
age would be done to the wires. With
the point under water there was
stretch of 900 feet from shore to shore
The mines were covered by about 80
feet of water.
(IpOlOUiGtc haUa haou frraotl,, ;ptar