The register. (Monroe, La.) 185?-1861, 1860-07-19
)RS'DAY MORNING, JULY 10, 1860.
The Great Metcoric Shower In
Ohio.

A srcNE WEIGHING FIFrY-oNE PovNpS FALLING
TO THR EARTH sis&ssf
The Washington latelligacsr publishes the
following letter to Profescr Henry, OF the
Smithsonian Institution, descriptive cfthc re-
cent metcoric phenomena in Ohio: II
HENpRYsBuRa, Ohio, May ., 1860.
You will doubtless see in the papers an &C,
count of shower of meteoric stones which fell
ON the lst instant, near the village Of Concord,
| in Muskingum county, Ohio. Lest you should
think it hoax, or ut least an incorrect state
ment, have taken such pains US circumstNi-
ces would permit, to obtain as near as possible,
all the facts aud circumstances connected with
| it.
The shower took p,ace between twelve and
one O'Clock Il. NJ The day was unusually cold
for the season OF the year, and the sky about
two-thirds overcast with clouds Simultane-
ously with the iall of stones tremendous ex-
ploson occurred in the atmosphere. 10 those
near by it resembled a severe clap OF thunder
in sound, but accompanied by q jarring sensa-
tion, which, together with the noise was felt the
and heard at much greater dtslance tAah
effect Of thunder. 1t was observed and re'nar-
kcd as something peculiar by persons fifty miles
of. | was at TIC time, thirty miles distant,
and SO cxtraol dinary was the detonation and
jarring sensation that thought It (although an
unknown occurrence in this region) an earth.
quake shock; in fact, such was the general
opinion of all who heard it. 10 those near
where the stones fell several distinct reports
were heard--accouuts vary from six to twelve
they were in rapid succession, perehars not
over second Of time hetweenl tAcu' 80
strange was the sensation that cattle III the
! to fall, and havc been recovered, but the prob
abilities are that many othersiell. IWo whlch
fell within about six hundred yards OF each
other, were seen by couple Of men who were
laboring in field. Hearing the reports, ono
Of the men looked up md saw large body fall
into the field close by the other, looking IN an-
other direction, saw another which iell upon n
fence. Within about twenty minutes they ap-
proachcd and dug out the one which had full
en- in the field, where 1t had, buried itself to the
depth Of about twenty inches in stiil limestone
soil 1t was still SO hot that 1t could scarcely
he held in the hands..--From the direction in
which it entered the earth its full appeared to
be vertical. Its weight was ttty-one pounds,
aud its shape irregular. long, and fattened 1t
entered the ground point foremost. The other,
which fell upon the fence, weighed forly-two
pounds. In Its descent It cut through the rails
Of the fence md buried itself in the earth, hay
| ing direction apparently from the northeast.
about one and half miles from where these two
stones fell, a young man plougling in field
heard q strange whizzing sound overhead, and
looking up, saw the clouds in II strang state OF
commotion. (The same with regard to the ag-
itation of the clouds was observed by others.
Thinking that he heard something fall, upon
searching he found stone weighing thrty-six
pounds, wich had fallen upon and embedded
itself in dccaycd log. 1t was supposed that
i. had in Its fall direction from tho southeast
Near Claysyilc about six miles distant, tvs
gentlemen walking out heard the explosion
and very soon atterwardsa stone weighing tou,
pounds, fell near them, striking the ground st
oblioucly as to ricochct. The direction of this
appeared from the north. The four stones
above mentioned were. all TINT were seen to fall
another, however, was found which had fallen
in the woods and lodged in the earth among
the thick cluster Of roots surrounding n beccl
tree. 1t weighed about thirty pounds; and ap
peared to have fallen vertically. All Of thu
stones were irregular in figure aud, had til,
same general appearance, having u blackcncd
lsmooth vtrifcd surface. This exterior coating
was, however. very thin-not over onettlftictl
ofan inch in thickness. Within, the stone hai
an ashy color, and contained fine particles o
some shining substance, probably native nickel
JonN G. TIDpALL,
Lieutenant United States Army.