Berkeley and Jefferson intelligencer. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va.) 1802-1810, 1808-01-22

in the street aiyo.at Twenty-Five rocT I IN
this stone when il, fed: who saw a bAu Of
FIRE emitting sparks, with a tali about four
feet long, shoot along the horizon in a
southerly direction, which ssent cut, he
said nearly at the place where the sun is,
at one of the clock in summer time f.; and
in about a minute or two afterwards, he
heard the explosion, which he described
az the Others had dong, and q minute or
two after that, he heard a loud whistiing
through the air which made q noise like
a hurricane. The same appearances and
explosions were witnessed by judge
Wheeler and Russell I'umlins6n, who
were ten miles distant from each other ;
men Of great candor aud careful observa-
ton ; but being distant from the places
where these stones fell, neither of them
heard the whistlingjust mentioned. The
largest piece of the stone taken out of
Princes yard. which remains entire,
weighs about eleven pounds and is now
! in my possession; the rest Of It has been
broken into small parts, and scattered a.
mongstthe inhabitants.
The third aud last place where these
stones have been discovered to have fall
len, is about Ave miles northeast of Mr..
Prince and seven below Newtown, uear
the turnpike road which leads from
thence to Bridgeport.
The stone which fell here was small,
and falling upon the top of a rock. that
projected two feet above the ground, was
dashed into small fragment one Of
which weighed more than 4or S ounces i;
and it wasjudged that the whole Of these
collected would not more than have filed
aquart measure. This stone fell about
80 yards from the house Of Mr.. Merwin
Burr he and his wife being up both ran
to the door the moment they discovered
the flashes oflisht, and IN minute or two
heard the same explosion As heretofore
described ; andabout a minute aher the
explosion they heard something tall near
BY them which made quite a loud report i;
and in quick succession three " four
other noises at 4 greater distance, which
they thought to be something falling in a
swamp, 20 or 80 rods in front Of the
house. Mr.. B. took a candle and with
his wife went out Immediately, to see if
they could 6nd any thing in the direction
where they heard the loudese report.
but found nothing +; when il grew light
er, and before sun rise, Mr.. Burr went
again, and found the fragments Of the
stone which had been dashed to pieces a.
gainst the rock and which have precisely
the same appearance as those tound at
the two fo,mer places ; the swamp being
full otwater has not been explored. Be-
sides the large pieces, Ihave many small
Ter ones collected at these three different
places By MIR. Holly and myself, exactly
resembling each other and from the
mouths Of all these witnesses I have
named fexcept MIR. Burr who happened
to be from honey We have taken the
facts just as | have here related them.
The ball OF FIRE aud explosion were wit.
nessedby hundreds in this aud the neigh
hering towns ). and l myself, as I was
returning from New.York in the stage,
a little on this side Of Rye, at the same
hour IN the morning, saw vivid flashes
offight, which lastedfour or Eve seconds
OF time q; and though the curtains were
down, the stage was perfectly iIlaminas-
ed but we heard no report.
his stone, l presume possessed con!
siderable iron, as it is strongly ATTRACTED
bv the needle. and kjadge il is onr.fonrth
heavier than the common granite. The
outside u covered with a smooth glazed,
sooty orust, about as thick lseap, look
ing like the back ola chimney ~ the bro
ken surfaces are of a blueish/ lead color,
the whole appearing to have undergone
the action OF intense heat. The besy Of
stone which fell at Sssly's must have
weighed o than one hundred pounds.
You will please to excuse the trouble
Of so long a letter on so novel a sub;.rt