Removal of Chimneys.
An interesting scene was caused recently by the blowing up of the two immense chimneys on Borsig’s machine works in Berlin. A large number of spectators were present to witness the ceremony, including several officers of the army, the trustees of the Borsig estates, and the employes of the works. Punctually at five minutes past six P. M., the signal to “Look out!” was given; then came the word of command, “Fire!” and at this moment the vast chimney, towering to a height of say 120 feet 9 inches, quietly collapsed. The noise occasioned by the fall was not very great, ditches two meters in breadth having been dug all round the chimney and filled with straw. For blowing up this colossus, which consisted of 98,000 bricks and was topped with a heavy iron cap weighing twenty‐five centners, only 24 kilos of dynamite were employed. Photographs were taken of the chimney before it fell, and also as it was in the act of falling, by an officer of the Commission for Experimenting with Explosives. The second chimney standing about 80 feet high, was blasted with gun cotton, of which 35 kilos were required.