Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 33, 25 October 1893 — YESTERDAY’S BLASTING. [ARTICLE]

YESTERDAY’S BLASTING.

A Grand Success. B«t BU«t *hr Damarr. The Superinteudeut of Public Works, was tbe canse yesterday aftemoon of a aoene. somewbflt simtlar to that seen after an earthquake. As the , ‘taxpayers" are aware of. work has been going on for the past few weeks on the coral bed cear to Brewer’s wharf preparing for a blast to demolish it. The «lri)liug was completed yesterday, aml eight holes were ready to receive the charges of }H»wder whieh were to do the dem«dishing SbortIy after four o’eloek, all was ready for the ch»rge of electricity. The snper intendent placed the blasting b«ttery in position, connected the wires running from the ebarges of pow«lor in tbe holes, to the battery, then all was ready. What suspense’ What is going to happen! The saperinteudent then “turaed tho handle”—and ran away — the “maehine did the rest,” »nd “did it” thoroughlv, too. Some of the bvst«uders assert that the sn|H*rintendent ha«l the apj>earance of a very scared man at about that time. Well, yes, the coral be«l is supposed to have beeu blown to I picces. probably it has, but the wharf was considerably damaged. Several of the wbarf piles and outsideplanking are knocked out «>f plaee, tbe earth has caved iu and sunk abont two and a half feet in soroe places, while the groond is cracke«l in places at fifty feet distant. It raay be said that ut least half of the wbarf is iujured. That is tbe result of tbe explosion of six of tbe charges. wbat wouKl have happencd if the whole eight had expl«xle<l is jm>b«bly only knowu to the “great’’ aod “only”—“Incomj)etent’ r —we nearlv said “Omnipotent” —but we presume that he also kuows sometbing of wbat it might have been. Tbe Advertiser says, “Rowell ran otf as socn as be h«d tarned the hamlle, for be anticipatcd wbat was coming.” If Rowell exj)ected a heavy explosiou. why did be not wam tbe sj>ectf»tors. As it was. a native sitting en some bajjs of grain uuder the she«l on this wbarf was thrown to the groun«l a distance of about five feet. but fortanately esc«j>ed witboot injnry: be migbt have boen killoii, and sO might have soveral others. «11 tbroogb tbe careiessnes« of an iucomj)etent ortici«l. Tbe non-explosion of two of tbe cbarges is no donbt tho only thing tba: saved a ternble catastropbe. Now the ‘ taxpayers' will b«ve the ple*»ure ot seeing some cf their mouey jvaid oot for the el|H*nses of repairing a wbarf. «hieh need not have been dam*ged.