A MONSTER BLAST.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3521, 8 April 1880, Page 2

A MONSTER BLAST.

For tome months past Mr Bobb, the contractor for the Victoria Harbor Breakwater, has been making prepara•tions for a monster blast on the eastern end of Granite Island, and the explosion, which took place on Tuesday afternoon, was an immense success. „ Last April a great blast was fired with the object of getting a steep face to that end of the island, and the result exceeded expectations, about 40,000 tons of staff being displaced. The enormous chasm thus made was completely cleared out before Tuesday, leafing a high perpendicular face to operate upon. Behind this a tunnel was driven, running about north and south from side of the point of the island, and from this various • drires were made to the eastward. On the surface the course of the main tunnel was indicated by a line of pitch or black paint, and red spots showed the position of the powder. We were unable to - ascertain how much powder was used, Air Bobb, for business reasons preferring not to communicate this information. The quantity has been variously stated at from nine to fifteen tons, and probably ten tons are not far from the true amount. A little dynamite was used for detonating. Surposes. The shot was not, as in April, red by electricity, but simply in the oldfashioned style, with a* fuse. As the time approached for firing; and minute after minute slipped away, the spectators naturally became somewhat excited, and this feeling reached a crisis when the rash of the crowd back from the end of the fuse showed that the torch had been applied. Very quickly after this there was an awful and somewhat prolonged ■ roar, accompanied by a sharp rattling sound, as if the island was being split to atoms. An enormous shower of earth and stones was shot up to a great height, and fragments of rock fell far omt to sea, some of the missiles coming very near the steamer. A dense cloud of dust and smoke hung over the scene of the explosion and around it, and a considerable time elapsed before this cleared away sufficiently to disclose what had hap- ", pened. Attention was directed, first of all, with most anxiety to a group on the jetty, for stones fell all around them; but, fortunately, no one was struck. The blast was. a magnificent success. The " whole point of the island was knocked into chaos, completely lifted up, and tumbled about in a moat fantastic styl». Besides thousands of tons broken «v up into useful sizes, there were blocM"^ of granite weighing hundreds -of tons each, rolled over, some lying on the ' top of other blocks of equal size. The soene was very grand, and it seemed dif-

ficult to believe that such a wreck of matter could have been effected by artificial agency. Tery little damage was done to the works, though blooki of granite weighing several tons each were; blown over the railway line. One rock fell on a solid heap of timber and soattered it, shattering some considerably. Large fragments dropped very near the monster crane, and a stone smashed the chimney of its engine. There was little earth in , the dislodged stuff, so the contractor has every reason to be satisfied. At least

50,000 tons were moved.—South Aastralian Advertiser Jan. 8.