Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1907 — THROWING ROCK! [ARTICLE]

THROWING ROCK!

Big Dredge Is flaking Fine Progress AND WILL SOON BE OOWN TOWN. Walks Through Rock Almost As Easily As Through Olrt.—Visited By Large Crowds Sunday. The big dredge rather divided honors with the soldiers as an attraction Sunday, and during the afternoon hundreds of people watohed its ponderous bucket bring up ton after ton of the blasted rock from the new channel it is outting in straightening the river west of the Padgett bridge. A full bucket was brought up each time and about three bncketsful every two minutes was the average when the dredge was running steadily. It was a great surprise to most people to see the rook bandied so easily, as it had been predicted that it wonld be very slow work. Of course there are some places the rock was not broken up to a sufficient depth and it will have to be blasted again and the dredge will back up and take it out later. The big machine has made excellent headway since passing the Padgett bridge and is now near the Kellner ice bouse, a little east thereof. If they have no bad lack it will be right down town in a few weeks and will prove a big attraction for oar 4th of July celebration if the crew can be induced to work on that day, which an effort should be made by the committee to get them to do. Very few people in thje section of the state ever saw so large a dredge as this one, and fewer still ever saw one at work in excavating rook, throwing oat several wagon loads a minnte.