Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1828-07-15

NJ. u.s. 10 less tnan three nsetoqic stories tell
"F'cnt parts oil France. IL is possible the pre-
lar may be equally remarkable--ttie ex-.
mary explosion which preceded the TAI
Enes'erheid meteor was heard at least 81
'''s, oif-a'id on Sunday last a most sudden ana;
ls"'"r explosion, perhaps OF the same character,
N,s heard in this city, without being preceded b,
lash OF lightning.
10 the Editors ofMe Enquirer
DfinS III your city the last week, / heard muc,,
!" 'ne meteoric sione which vas said TO have fa.-
IN IN me vicinity day or two beiore--ani hav-
- s1en hrs, small fragment, and finally the
'''aher oil the stone in the possession ola mineral
s'SSt' VINO said II exactly resenbed i'm tex ture and
,ppe"ance, specimens of meteroic stones he had
ofiore seen, 1 determined az passed through the
,,. on Saturday the 9TH inst. with ira
fenihs com panon, 10 visit the spot and examine
sucn testimony we could find i'm relation to the
aiedged fact, that the stone we had seen had fall
len from the Heavens
ny the current report, the stone had fallen with
~ "e precincts OF the farm Of Mr.. Mathew Win-
iree' IN the county of Chesterfield. At the Toll
mouse OF the Manchester and l-pit Turnpike
"here the stone had been originally deposited for
e yNie we got directions TO the farm of Mr..
", whiree-which we found seven miles to the
YES. OF mat place, and about mile and half to
the South of the Turnpike Road.
upon reaching the farmhouse of Mr.. winfree.
we FOUND that MIR. VIM. Martin, the overseer
VINO was said to have been in the field with the
negroes, at the time OF the descent of the stone
was froh home, and we were thus reduced to tn.
testmohy OF the negroes, the next best which
e ENSUING state OF the case afforded, as TO the
aiiedged phenomenon. But as the testimony OF
mir. Martin may be so easily procured I hone Cor
me gra,ihcation Of the curious,you will obtain ant,
publishit $3.50
~ me Rouse where we were informed of the
absence OF Mr.. NJ, two respectable Iooking f.
males, upon making known the object of our visit,
confirmed the report OF stone having fallen at the
tlme slated, viz. on "Wednesday morning the a,h
o,'uhe' answering i'll size and appearance to the
STONE we had seen-preceded by a loud repori and
unusual noise in the air which tbe, b, tbe,ns.,s
ds'inctiy heard-hat the spot at which il fell WAS
wnhn Inc limits OF the hrnl,i meadow TO which
ci'y directed us-and not far from which, they in
formed US, we should find the same negroes at
worK' VINO were nearest the spot at the time of the
falling OF the stone
Upon going to the negroes in the field. we re
ve"eu from man, who we soon discovered 10 be
the most intelligent among them the folIowirp
account substantially-when the words Of tho n,r
razor are given, they are marked as quotation
On wednesday the 4th of June, between the
hours oil . and o'clock in the morning while the
hands OF the Farm were hoeing corn a, a particular
spot iii the field, TO whicl, we were .aft.r,y,r,.
conducted by our informant and which WAS found
ny o"T measurement TO be 2G0 PAGES from the sno
Whefe the stone was found, the overseer Being
at The distance OF 90 SO wards ohe East of the
Point where the hands were then workins--thejr
attention was attracted by loud explosion i'm tn,
C"st-Which being in the direction of Richmond
and clear sky with 10 visible cloud indicatino
'nuhaer' they supposed was the discharge Of can
i,oh. soon alter, " III the time they were weedina
three corn hills, rafting noise was hearlin the
same direction, which at first was taken for the
iu"'hg oil wagon, on stony roatl-which pass
gu Uie iarm IN that direction-b':. they presently
perceiVed, that the noise, instead OF coming from
tue road was over their heals in the air had now
assumed strange whiZzng-seemed rapidly des-
cehding upon them, and soon excited so much a.
iarh' that one OF them exclaimed Z" Lord is the
al ln'f t,,sf,,
NIUE beyond them, 10 the West into piece of mea
dow ground Where the strange whizzng was
terminated, by noise like the stroke Of : hal bo
dy in the Earth.
scar u was Immediately commenced u,Jer
the direction fthe oyerseer, Mr. NJ. who sunpos-
ed from the position in which he stood the fall
mad taken place little to the North OF the spot.
Whe1e the stone was ultimately found--ai,er 10 or
~ minutes oil unsuccessful search, Mr.. Martin re-
tired to the outside of the meadow where il was
bounded by public road, and where Mr. Clarke
OF the neighbourhood had rode up to enquire a.
nout the strange noise. which he, (being in the
immediate vicinity had heard-anl was under the
impression had descended somewhere about thai
place. As no appearance OF any lately fallen BODY
was found in the direction indicated bv the over
seer-the narrator directed his search, along the
meadow farther South and more in the direction
which had seemed 20 him 10 be the point where
the stroke had taken place Here, after some
search, he discovered fresh broken hole i'm the
sod, and upon digging into it, he found the stone
'i"' was fsfcninOnu. The opening made
IN searching for the stone being on one side of the
hole, had lett the peroration on the oppos;, side
ui'oroken Its whole depth, and it appeared TO have
oeen made bya descending body, about the size of
the stone we had seen. The bed i'm which the
stone was found lying, still more entire, and
showed similar correspondence with the general
shape and size of the stone-as there had been no
ram IN The interim, and the soil OF the meadow be-
ing oil a tough pike clay charactcr--it had main
tanned Itself by all Appearances exactly in the state
IN winch 1T had been left when the stone was taken
up These circumstances enabled us by the he'll,
OF pocket rule, 10 ascertain with precision tha,
the Earth had been penetrated to the depth of
Twelve inches, and we Judged the direc,io 1T an
angie oil about i've degrees from a perpendicular.
Abo;,t half an hour was supposed TO lave eiap.
ed from the descent of the stone until II was found
when taken up it retained sensible degree OF
neat before any part OF il was broken of it was
san" TO weigh something upwards of four pounds
IL now weighs three pounds three ounces-Its
iorin In ITS hrst unbroken sf'tc was svheroidal-
hattened here and there, producing Irregularities
oil surface, which, except where il has lecn rtbb-
ed oil, is covered with thin black crust The
fractured surface exhibits granular appearance
showing small cavities, varying in size from small
pm TO mustard secd-its colour gray--;vith me.
taliic PARTICLES showing themselves regularly dis.
persed through the masS--whcn first broken il e.
United a peculiar su!phurious odoar.
no attempt has as yet been made to an,l,ze il or
to ascertain lis specific gravitybut as !, i. to be-
submitted TO the examination OF the Professor OF
Chemistry and mineralogy at the University y,,l
may expect TO hear something more OF the subject
in future.
June -, 1873
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
We understood from gentleman Of Information
and honor, that tlIe Signs in the State of New York
Tn ie II