Morning journal and courier., 1880-03-03
The Iowa Meteor.
Description of its Appearance and Fall by a Professor of the Minnesota Uni-
 

Description of It's Appearance and FaI by Professor of the Minnesota Uni 1 vcrSilys
 [From the St. Paul (NTinn) Pioneer Pressl At the last meeting of the astronomical de partment of the State Historical Society, helt I in St. Paul few days ago, an exceedingl, | interesting and valuable paper mete ! orites was read by Professor E. J. Thomp l son, of the State University. The follow l ing extract from this paper relating to { | meteorite that fell across the southern lint of Minnesota, near the town of Jackson vii | be found of interest:
 'May 10, 1879, was bright, clear cloudless day. At o'clock in the afternoon, in ful sunshine, this meteorite passed through the | air, exploded, and fell in the town of Erte | vile, Emmet county, Iowa, about ten ol twelve miles below the southern boundary oi Jackson county, Minn., in 94 deg. 30 sec
 north, longitude 94 deg. 50 sec. west from Greenwich. The path it followed marked g l course from northwest to southeast, and was ssen for distance of several hundred miles MT. W. l.. Wilkins of Austin, told me that as he was travelling in the northwest part o1 Mower county, May 10, about 5 p. m, he heard an unusual cracking and hissing noise about him, and upon looking up saw to the west of him the meteor passing. This was more than 100 miles from where it fell, MT. Prichard, who resides in the northwest part of Blue Earth county, saw it pass as 1t seem ed far to the northwest of him, and described it as most startling and wonderful phenom- enon-a huge ball of fire, followed closely by cloud of fire. Reports from other localities still further northwest, some from Dakota, confirm the opinion that its direc- ton was as above stated. Its appear ance in the heavens was that of huge globe of fire attended by fiery cloud. The inhab- itants residing within the area of @ circle t. . -s-- H.
 utes were greatly alarmed, not more at the simple flying ball of fire which seemed so near to them, than at the terrific explosions immediately above them; those who did not see 1t thought an earthquake had occurred, and were in great terror. All agree essen tially in giving the facts connected with its explosion and force. The noise accompany ing it's flight is described as rumbling, crack ing, crashing, similar to that produced by a train of cars crossing a long bridge; then came a very loud report, immediately fol- lowed by two distinct reports in quick sue cession, though not so explosive or loud as the first. It struck the ground in separate masses, together with smaller fragments scat tered over an area of three or four miles. There were two large pieces which fell about two miles apart, in direct northwest line, both at an angle of nearly eighty degrees. The impression of those who saw the meteor in the air just at the time of the explosion was that still another large mass fell not far distant. This has been confirmed by the re- cent finding of piece weighing 150 pounds, by trapper named Robert Pietz.
 "The largest mass, weighing 470 pounds, now at Keokuk, Iowa, penetrated hard blue clay soil, covered with water, to the depth of twelve feet. The mass weighing ITO pounds, now at the State University, fell on dry grassy knoll, and was buried to the depth of five and half feet below the sur fno fox found fragment weighing thirty pounds, and 8 schoolboy picked upa fragment weigh ing three pounds little distance away from the largest. These resembled the great body of the meteorite in all respects.
 "There was no appreciable difference in on the earth. The form of all the pieces is like that of rudely detached masses from 8 quarry, or elected from the mouth of vol cano. The mass in the museum of the uni versity has an irregular rhomboidal outline, about 15 by Is inches, of an average thick ness of inches, and when first obtained was covered, as most meteorites, with black shining coat or crust. The largest mass is not so regular in it's formation. It is more ragged, and bristles with points of nickel ferrous iron. Professor Heinrich, of the Iowa State University, pronounced it the more valuable of the two large masses; but full analyses will probably determine them GO De one Rnu Lu0 bhiu0, "ullo LAc AlChChA- erous iron seemed more abundant in the larg- est, the crystalline formations arc far more numerous in the smaller.
 Several observers saw the large masses when they struck the ground, and state posi- lively that sod and gravel and dirt scattered far and near, and for moment the air was filled with flying stones and small masses of earth. The largest struck near school house, the smaller within twenty or thirty rods of dwelling, much to the terrorof the inmates. The language of the good old lady sitting by the window at the time in a meas ure describes their fright: My soul! l thought the end of the world had come, and I fell on my face and waited The con- cussion produced by it's passage through the air was so great that glass was broken in the windows, and in many instances where men were working in the field their horses were completely stunned with fright. The follow ing is an account given me by one of the near est eye witnesses I was blowing corn, and my team was making to the westward, when suddenly was startled by distant whirring sound, which grew louder and nearer, broken and cracking, and as I looked up toward the northwest saw 8 large ball of fire sweeping, as it were, down upon me. Instantly there came loud report, at once followed by sec- ond and third, not so loud as the first. In a few moments several persons were on the spot where they saw it fall, and began digging, for what they knew not, only, as they expressed it, that ball of fire they saw fall there The earth through which it passed presented a cracked, baked appearance, and the openings in the ground made by the meteorites indicat- ed twisting or revolving motion, as they seemed bored as with 8 large auger. With reference to it's altitude when first seen, and at the moment of the explosion and the imme- diate descent, our knowledge, at best, must be quite imperfect. Calculating as we'll as have been able from data given me by an expert and skillful civil engineer, who was at the time at work on the Southern Minnesota rail- road, and who carefully as possible noted its appearance and altitude, should judge its height to have been, before the reports were heard, from thirty to forty miles. At the time of the explosion it must have been very much less. From partial, and yet unfnish- ed computation, it is thought its velocity was between two and four miles per second" The Story of a Great Paris Mystery.