New-York tribune., 1911-03-03
MOUNTA|NS|DE TORN
AWAY BY BIG BLAST
10000 Pounds OF Powder and
Dynamite Used on LaCka'
wanna Cut OFF.
TWO MONTHS WORK
Government Experts See Success
of One Of Biggest Blasting
Experiments Ever Tried
in the East.

Stsnhope. Y. J., March > (SpeciaD.-
In the presence Of government experts
on explosives and representatives OF
private concerns, a whole mountainsloe
on the line Of the new Lackawanna cut
off was blown away by blast OF 2o'VVo
pounds of powder and dynamite near
here to-day. II was said to be the
largest blasting experiment ever made
in the Eastern States and was COM
plete success.
The blasted section was composed OF
granite and trap rock formations ana
was directly IN the line Of Section NO.
. Of the Delaware &, Lackawanna Rail
roads new improvement, which will
shorten the distance between New York
and Buffalo over that route by thirteen
miles. About forty thousand cubic YARDS
of trap rock were blasted away.
For several weeks the contractors for
the section, Waltz & Reese. have had a
large force Of rock drillers boring tun-
neis into the side Of the hill at different
angles. The first tunnel was driven
seventy-five feet into the base Of the
rock. Other tunnels varying from ten
to sixty feet were driven into the face
Of the mountain. All Of them were six
feet high and two feet wide.
Quantities of powder and dynamite
we're placed in each tunnel and con-
nected with fuses. which were fired by
electric wires. The powder used con-
tanned a larger percentage OF nitro
glycerine than powders ordinarily used
for such purposes, end the dynamite
used also contained about 80 per cent
OF nitroglycerine. After the wires were
stretched 10 the tunnel openings the
mouths OF the shafts We're sealed with
loose rock and concrete and permitted
to "set" until yesterday.
Within q radius Of nearly mile the
in the danger zone were warned to re-
move pictures and other breakable things
to places Of safety. The danger zone
was cleared of every one except those IN
charge Of the blasting work. who took
UP their post at an electric switch station
half mile away.
At . o'clock George Franz, an exper,
on explosives, threw the switch which
set off the blast Because OF the depth
of the shafts IN which the blasting
not as loud as was expected. Instead
there was a low rumbling sound which
was heard several miles away. Frag-
ments Of granite wero hurled a quarter
Of mile IN every direction.
As the time for the blast drew near q
feeling OF nervousness seemed to seize
many Of those who had gathered at the
ropes. They sought refuge behind bowl
! ders am sandduncs, while others hur-
ried TO points more distant. Some lay
prone TO avoid the force of the concus-
sion and escape the flying missiles and
debris. with which IL was expected that
the adjacent countryside would be bonn
barded. Some Of the prudent house
( wives took their dishes from the pantry
shelves and stored them In easements
( storm cellars and in other places where
il was thought that they would escape
destruction. 4 wedding anniversary
was postponed until the explosion should
! ! we expended it's destructive force.
The old Roseville schoolhouse. LONG
since abandoned. which had been a IA
miliar landmark in this part of Sussex
County since the days Of the Mexican
! War, was the only building damaged by
I the blast 1t is situated about one hun-
dred feet away and the end walls were
all that withstood the crush of the rock
which fell upon IT, Trees two feet in
diameter were broken off like pipe
stems and buried beneath tons Of rcck
The public highway which runs at the
base OF the mountain was filled with
rock for an eighth of mile
The sidehill which was blown away
/ bv to-day's blast is one of the peaks o
| the Rosevillc Mountains in Susse'
I County. and il is estimated that-the sue.
cessful blowing up Of the section vii
save nearly two months work by ordi
nary blasting methods
Clarence Hall, an authority on eX
plosjves from the Bureau OF Mines anc
,tt,.rsI ryecasrrh al Usqhineton reDre.