A BIG "BLAST."

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 54, 5 March 1914, Page 4

A BIG "BLAST."

11,000 TONS SHIFTED. A charge, comprising over seven tons of blasting powder, was suceessi'tiiiy fired at the Public Works Department's quarry at Matawai this morning, says the "Poverty Bay Herald 1 ' of February'27. The operation, which easily constitutes the biggest thing of its kind in the district, was intended to facilitate the quarrying of stone for ballasting operations. Five shots in all were exploded, and these were tired simultaneously by electricity by the District Engineer, Mv C. E. Armstrong. Special precautions were exercised to ensure that no one was injured, and the work-people residing in the locality, which is two miles beyond Matawai, were moved for a quarter of a mile distant. A long warning whistle was sounded by the engine, and after the expiry of a quarter of an hour, as specified, the charge was fired; This was at 9.45 a.m. Instantly the current was switched on there was a deafening explosion, and the face of the hill was perceptibly seen to lift bodily and fall forward. One most satisfying feature was the absence of tlying rocks—in fact, nothing travelled more than about 60 yards. The District Engineer and his staff were about eight chains distant, near a large concrete culvert, which was available as a shelter if necessary, but they had no occasion to shift their ground, and witnessed the whole affair. The result of the charge was most satisfying: in fact, it is declared it could not have been better. About SOCIO to HOOO yards of stone were shifted, or approximately 11.000 tons. The around was felt to distinctly tremble, hut the explosion was not heard so f'.-r away as many anticipated: in fact, at Matawai township iwo miles distant, a dull boom was barely heard.