Year: 1876

We are indebted TO modern chemistry took
place yesterday afternoon, in exact accord
ance with the programme of General New
ton. 1t amounted to little as spectacle adj
dressed to the eyes of the assembled multi
tude of beholders, and was of still less ac-
count as addressed to the listening ears
through the city ani outside of the city
which were bent on catching resem bance
to the reverberating thunder of the heavens
or the subterraneous rumbling OF ON earth
quake. There was no terrific sound, no
violent shock, no toppling of brick walls
nor even breaking of glass in the immediate
vicinity, no tossing Of boats on the river,
no agitation of the water beyond the i'm
mediate scene Of the explosion, except a
wave smaller than is raised by passing
steamboat on its way to the Sound, and
sinking to the undisturbed level Of the
river at the distance Of few hundred
yards. The explosion was minute or so
in advance of the appointed time, but all
eyes had become fixed on the spot in in
tense expectation, and nothing of the emerg-
ing scene was lost. Such as it was 1t lasted
not more than two or three seconds. 1t was
not impressive. much less imposing. a
volume of white spray. cloud-like IN ap-
pearance and an acre or two in extent, sud-
acn.y rose up to height of about fifty feet,
and in less than a second after it was over
topped by smaller column Of dark color
rising nearly twice as high, and consisting
of q confused mass Of debris from the ex-
,>loJ al wilma n u,oa al Ovor with n uuick-
ness approaching that of flash of light
ming, md those who continued to gaze
presently saw nothing different from the or
dinary appearance of the river under rainy
sky. Had it been the purpose of General
Newton to entertain the public with stu
pendous spectacle, convulsing the solid earth
and making the air hideous with deafening
sounds, there could not have been greater
failure. But as his real object was to shiver
the Hallett's Point Reef into fragments with
ont needless expenditure of force, the credit
must be awarded him of having accom-
pished it with admirable foresight and pre-
cisicn.


1t is safe to sny that nothing has ever oc-
Cured which affords more signal proof of
the mastery of man over the forces of nature
or of his ability to predict their effect under
given circumstances. A scientific lecturer
exhibiting experiments to popular
audience could not describe with more
accuracy what is to take place
when he burns piece of watch spring in
oxygen gas, or when he passes an electric
current through glass tube from which the
mir has been exhausted than General Newton
described the effects Of the great explosion
in advance of the experiment. There was
no legerdemain in his ability to predict the
outside effects of the explosion with such
remarkable precision. 1t is science, not
magic, that has won this great title to public
confidence. General Newton has simply
proved by this brilliant success that he has
perfect mastery of such branches Of
science as relate to his profession and that
he has exercised the utmost care in their ap-
plication. But, while ii is not difficult to
account for the wonderful precision with
which the result has met his expectations,
it is nevertheless true that it requires
faculties and attainments of no COM
mon order to bring facts which had
not vet occurred into such exact
correspondence with theory. Thousands
of intelligent men can understand what not
one man in the thousand could have planned
and accomplished. How few of the many
who know the theory of the electric tele-
graph could be trusted to superintend the
laying of m Atlantic cable 1t is quite easy
to understand, after the event, how General
Newton could have been SO perfectly ac-
curate in his estimates. He has been en-
ployed for the long period Of seven years in
blasting portions Of the very same rock
which was rended to pieces in the grand ex-
plosion Of yesterday. He has had thou
sands and thousands of opportunities for
measuring the cohesive strength of the reef
against the explosive force of dynamite. He
knew by hundreds Of thousands of trials
how many cubic yards of that particular
rock would be broken by given number of
pounds of the explosive substance. He
knew by exact soundings and measure
ments how many cubic feet Of the reef
he had to break to pieces. He
knew by daily trials extending through
seven years how much execution
was to be expected from each pound of
dynamite. He proportioned the force, with
great exnctness, to the amount of work to be
done He did not intend that there should
be much surplus to waste itself on the
superincumbent water or the surrounding
air. The disappointing smallness of the
spectacle proves the admirable exactness of
General Newtons calculations. He did not
burn supcrhuous quantity of dynamite.
He did nothing to crafty q taste for scenic
effect. He knew that if the force employed
was adequate for its work. and barely ade-
ouate, there would be no waste for shatter-


ing buildings on the shores or producing
violent conclusions or detonations in the