An Explosion Effect

Abstract

A RECENT explosion has, like all other similar occurrences been productive of many curious results, but one that I have noted seems worth special mention. There is a row of large houses in an exposed situation, directly facing the centre of explosion, but about three miles from it, and in front of one of these houses is a medium-sized pond. In this row most of the houses have escaped, only two or three broken or cracked windows being noticeable among the lot, with one exception. That exception is the house facing the pond, which, so far as glass is concerned, is wrecked. From appearances it might have been played over with a machine-gun. One house near, and also facing the pond, has only one window damaged, but in this case the sashes are destroyed as well as the glass. It appears that nearly every window situated on a line crossing the pond from the explosion centre has suffered extra violence. I believe similar results have been noted before over water, but this seems a very striking instance. I should, perhaps, add that the glass destroyed was of indifferent crown quality, whereas the other houses appear all to have thin plate-glass; but much crown glass has escaped damage in other positions, where heavy plate has gone to pieces, so I think it clear that the pond, and not the quality of the glass, was the contributory cause.