Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 September 1895 — Great Blast. [ARTICLE]

Great Blast.

Seven tons of gunpowder wereemploped in a great blast at Penrhyn Quarries, Betliesda, North Wales. The object in view was the demolition of a'huge pinnacle of rock, which has been a picturesque object for generations, and which must be a familiar memory to the thousands who visit the spot every year. Some idea of the gigantic dimensions of tiie place may be gathered from the fact that the rock face between the different terraces is somewhere about sixty feet in depth. The peak rose in the midst of the amphitheatre formed by the quarries—it is estimated to have contained over 125,000 tons. Quite a crowd gathered to witness the effect of the blast, and certainly those present were not disappointed in the spectacle afforded. On the signal being given, the gunpowder was ignited, and amid the curling smoke the pinnacle was seen to totter, and then to fall in fragments to the bottom.