Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1847-09-29


From the last number Of Silmap's Journal
IF Science, we copy the following letter
from Rev. Reuben Gay lord, Of Hartford,
Destnoines CO., Iowa, to Charles U. Shep-
ard. Prof. of Chemistry in the Medical Col
lege Of S. Carolina and in Amherst College,
Mass.
Prof. c. U. SHEpARD:-i prorecd now to
give you the result of my inv estgaton OF
the facts in relation TO the meteor which fell
in our state, IN respect to which You wrote
me some time since Having learned par
ticulars so ia: thai had full reason TO credit
The reports in the case, / repaired 10 the
spot last week, and found the reports to be
as follows. On the 25th day Of February
lS17, at about ten minutes before 3 o'clock
in the afternoon, the attention Of the peo-
pie in shat region was arrested by rumb-
ling noise as Of distant ,hunder; then three
reports were heard one after another in
quick succession, like the blasting Of rock
or the firing of a cannon half mile dis
tan,. These were succeeded by several
fainter reports, like firing Of small arms in
platoon. Then there was whzzing sound
heard in different directions as of bullets
passing through the air. Two men were
standing together where they were at work :.
they followed with their eye the direction Of
one Of these sounds, and they saw about
seventy rods from them the snow tiy. Thev
went to the spot. A stone had fallen upon
the snow had bounded twice, the first time
as supposed about eight feet, and the second
time about two feet. The stone weighed
two pounds and ton ounces. ihe sumo per-
sous heard another stone strike rs 1t fell.
supposed to b. small bat they could not find
It. Some tim" in the spring. another stoGe
was sand about one mile and quarter
west from the place where this stone fell.
1t was in two pieces lying together, welgn-
ing tnrty-six pounds. Another fragment,
portion If the sam. rock, was found about
half 4 mile from the former, which from the
description had of it, judged would
weigh about fifty pounds. THESE were
c"ated with a thin black covering. The
principle ingredient in their composition
seemed TO he sandstone. They are foil of
minute brilliant PARTICLES, and occasionally
Il small lump Of some metal is to be found.
'nc|oSe" in this sheet send you three or
four small ones. Some vera taken cut as
large nearly as grain Of corn. A man
from whom obtained a fragment insisted
that they were silver. lie had oruun! upa
this silver. and he thought he had saved
enough, to maze fifty cents half do!;a7.l
The above stones are al! that have been
found. as far rs could learn. The atnos-
ph"re at the time Of this phenomenon was
mostly clear, som" What hazv, so warm as to
cause the snow on the ground to be some
what soft. The noise was heard distinctly
at distance Of fifteen or twenty miles in
every direction. At distance of ten miles
in each direction the sound was like thu
rolling of a heavy wagon passing swiftly
over frozen ground Smoke was seen in the
direction from which the sound seemed 80
proceed. The smoke appeared in two pla-
ces, apparently ABOUT s. Y or eight feet apart
above the elevation of white clouds, and
having circular motion. The motion off
the rhetoric body was supposed from the re-
ports which were heard, to bc towards the |
southeast. CT rather the south of east,
Hartford, July 70, lS47.