Year: 1876

WATCHES anu 10 warn all DOatS


large and small away from a pres
cribed limit. A murmur rar
through the multitude and atten
tion was redoubled. The ter
minutes following were like ter
days-the next five like as many
months. Then the crowd stop.
ped talking and began to look
serious. The time was really al
hand and they were face to face
with something they didn't fee
quite sure about. If the truth
were known there were probably
a good many who at that moment
would willingly have foregone the
coming display if they could have
suddenly transported themselves
to place of absolute safety.


The last few minutes dragged
endlessly. Everything was quiet
as the grave along the shore, and
every eye was fixed on the black
water that lay placldly in the
pattering rain over the doomed
reef. No one dared so much as
wink for fear of losing the dreaded
sight. Once more the cannon
doomed, announcing all in readi
ness, and a few moments of painful
suspense followed. Then came a
sudden tremor of the ground, very
slight but very distinct, and the
water under our eyes parted and
rose majestically in the air.


The sight was very difficult
one to describe. | have read the
attempts of all our own journals
but fail to find one which sue
ceeded in conveying a good idea
Of It's peculiar effect. 1t was the
throwing up of a myriad of walery
spires, so close together that tn y
seemed to form one solid mass; as
if a thousand leviathans below
the surface had suddenly spouted
together, mingling their separate
columns in one confused, gigIntic
fountain. For a moment after
this first uprising the mass of wa
ter appeared to hang motionless
for an instant, and then fell only
to meet a second upheaval which
rose from the depths as the lower
tiers of cartridges detOnated.
This latter discharge was thick
with stone and earth, and when
all was over the river for acres
around was colored a reddish yell
low, as though dyed with the
blood of the submarine monsters
that had caused the great commO
motion.


The rumbling noise of the ex-
plosior, although penetrating, was
not loud nor violent, and the whole
affair hardly occupied half a dozen
seconds. At the end OF that time
the assembled thousands were still
gazing on the foaming water, won.
dering If that were all of it, aud
rather inclined to feel defrauded of
their rights because they had suf.
fered no bodily damage. This
state of things was but momenta-
ry, however, aud then cheer after
cheer mingled with the whistling
of all the steam craft in the vicin
ity.


A very pretty incident in this
connection, and one that will be
remembered as long as the blast
Itself, was the firing OF the charge
by General Newlon's baby daugh-
ter. The little girl only two years
old was brought in her nurses arms
to the bomb-proof in which were
the electric connections, and at the
proper moment vas made to touch
the handsome gold mounted key,
prepared expressly for the purpose,
and thus set in motion the Titan
in tcrces imprisoned in the earth
six hundred yards away.


The day had no lack of comic
features. Fully lour-ffths of the
population of Astoria. Brooklyn
and upper New York had worked
themselves into a state of nervous
apprehension despite the soothing
procIamations of the chief engi
neer, and put themselves to con-
siderable Inconvenience in conse-
quence. The prevailing idea
seemed to be that the plastering
of all their houses would be sure
to fall and their windows be blown
in. 81 as the time drew near
something ike half million men,
women and children, opened their
wiDdows and went outdoors to a.
wait the catastrophe. Minute af
ter minute passed but nothing
shocking transpired and the poor
victims stayed out wet and shiver-
ing. Some Of them remained out
for hours, and then went cautious
lv indoors under the impression
that the evfnt had been postponed
and was still liable to occur at any
moment.