Of the earth which had been dispossessed from the crevasse, amounting to a great many wagonloads, no sign remained.

It was not heaped up about the lips of the funnel; it was not visibly scattered over the nearermost furrows of that truck field.

So far as we might tell it was utterly gone; and from that we deduced that the force of the explosion had been sufficient to pulverize the clay so finely and cast it so far and so wide that it fell upon the surface in a fine shower, leaving no traces unless one made a minute search for it.

Noting the wonder upon our faces, the officer was moved to speak further in a tone of sincere admiration, touching on the capabilities of the crowning achievement of the Krupp works: "Pretty strong medicine, eh?
Well, wait until I have shown you American gentlemen what remains of the fort; then you will better understand.
Even here, out in the open, for a radius of a hundred and fifty meters, any man, conceding he wasn't killed outright, would be knocked senseless and after that for hours, even for days, perhaps, he would be entirely unnerved.

The force of the concussion appears to have that effect upon persons who are at a considerable distance--it rips their nerves to tatters.