Evening journal., 1918-06-28
BLOWOUT At DIX
BODIES I'LL FOR HUNS
Demonstration o. Exploding
Mines Shows Scant Chance
for Enemy
RIPS HOLES IN
THE COUNTRY SIDE

CAMP DIX. wrightstown. n. j.. June
Demonstrating the terrific power
Of new explosive for the use Of the
American army. six great mines were
touched of in the fertilization zone at
Camp Dix yesterday, hurting thousands
of tons Of earth into the air as so much
chan and forming a series Of enormous
crsters which later will be occupied
and consolidated by the engineers and
infantry as part of the trench system.
The tests were the first made in this
country with heavy mine charges and
gave army and engineering experts a
splendid opportunity for studying the
operations and effects OF this style OF
warfare.
There was a surprising lack Of noise
90 the explosions. The LIS or the
heavy field artillery, at work on the
range four miles away, made more. But
what It lacked in noise the new eXplo-
sive made up in power and CHASTITY
effects. Trenches within a hundred
yards Of the craters were torn and
nlled with their own debris by the up
heaval, while earth tremors shook
houses ten miles distant.
The advanced party Of engineers
viewed at 200 yards the explosion OF the
heaviest mines. containing two charges
OF a total Of over i've tons OF exp!c-
slves, fired simultaneously. AT a signal
from the officer in command Captain
r. VI. Gallagher, Of the General Engi-
neering Department. pressed the firing
rod attached 10 the electric fuses. II
was fully a second before anything
happened. Then the ground shook as
by an earthquake. Out In mo Mans
Land" the earth suddenly bellied up
like a hemisphere 400 feet across. II
seemed to hang there an instant. then
suddenly break like q giant bubble,
hurting its sand surface in a wide arc.
Then came the most spectacular fea-
ture Of the demonstration and that
which testiiles 10 the deadllness Of these
mines when used under enemy works.
The gases suddenly released and ming
ling with the air were ignited with al
most explosive fury 10 a height OF 200
feet. The flames, settling about the
crater, scared everything within 100
feet Of the great hole. No creature
could have existed for the fraction Of
a second in that fiery circle. Yet scarce
IN had the flames burned out when
SQUAD Of American mining engineers,
with gas masks and oxygenators, dashed
from nearby trench into the pail OF
smoke TO obtain gas samples in special
containers that could be used in de-
termlning in laboratory experiments
certain important effects OF the explo-
sizes.
{The peril Of the task OF these engi-
Reers Is better understood when IL Is
explsined that the explosives create a
gas known as carbon mOnoXide, the
fumes of which are a deadly poison, so
much so that while observers could ap-
tproach within a few hundred feet on
Who side from which a strong wind was
blowing. the area to the lee across
which the gas cloud settled was cleared
of human beings for distance OF
mile.
The mines were charged under direc-
fion Of Captain Harry Davis Irounce'
of the School OF Mines at Camp Hum
phries and veteran Of nearly two
years service on the western front as
member Of the British Royal Engl-
neers. A Californian. he enlisted with
The English army i'm 1915. Among the
exploits OF the regiment TO which ne
was attached was the planting Of the /
giant mines at Messines Ridge. When |
he returned to join the American army |
a few months ago he was one OF four |
officers out Of 40 in his organization |
who had escaped death or critical in
juries.
Assisting Captain Trounce in the ex-
pertinent here were Captain p. G. Weis-
gerber, Lieutenant B. NJ. Gallagher,
Captain L. d. Rowen. OF the General
Eneineering Department; Captain II. NJ
Edmondson, Of the 2Sth Engineers;
George :. Rice. chief mining engineer
Of the Federal Department Of Mines,
and Clarence Hail. a mining expert, Of
Washington The tests were held under
direct auspices Of Colonel John n.
Slaitery, division engineer OF the S7th
division and his regiment. men Of the
latter organization working all yester-
day and last night to complete the
loading and tamplng OF the mines. Two
of the deep shafts were in the wooded
area Of the trench zone and the eX-
plosions tore some trees to splinters
and hurled others, root and branch,
into the tops Of nearby standing tim
ber
The only accident in connection with
the experiments was the amusing eX-
perience that befell an officer in the
firing Of one Of the mines in the woods.
The wires Of the detonating OUTFIT