Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1881-09-02

| certain times, Us about the 10th OF August
and the 18th of November, they come In
| showers and f. ,irly lombard the earth
+! The soft air tina. fans the cheek is to most
| of these projecti les from space as lmpene-
trable as wall of steel. Some of them,
| however, are able to penetrate to the eartn.
but they are cor ngaratively very few ID
number. When nleteoroid strikes the
earth it is Gale an aeroite. No good
museum Of miners llogy is without one or
more specimens Of these black-crnsted
iron-like bodies. ! Hum boldt tells of two
monks who were killed. by them, one at
Crema in 1911, the othe at Milan, 1850.
He also relates that two Swedish sailors
were killed by an aeTolite on board their
ship in 1874. The thatched roofs OF houses
have been set on FIRE bJ aerolites, and
sheep and other anil nails ha We been struck
dead in the fields by them. Some think it
was shower of aero lites tina It overwhelm-
ed the Amorites after they had been whip
ped by Joshua, as des' cribed IN the Bible"
"But those are rat her ancient instan-
ces." eFl@ es
'Well, there are modern instances
enough. We are no So fer than our fore
fathers. Hardly yea passes without one
or more masses of met eoric stone falling
in the neighborhood of human habitations.
In 1875 German farms ,r was shot through
the arm by small aero lit e, which made a
hole like bullet. In Il 37s boy at Hanau
had piece of his thum b cl ipped of by a
burning stone that fell frc IN the sky
About two years ago boy at Patterson
N. j., was said to have been hit in the leg
by an aerolite. His story as doubted
but believe lthas never been disapproved
and certainly it was not impossl BILE. A man
IS IN more danger OF being kille by light
nlng than by an aerolite, but 1t would not
be so If the air did not protect b i'm.
IF you will notice the directu IN of the
meteoroids now falling you will see that
they all seem to come from one point in
the constellation Perseus. That is a
popularity of all regular swarms of me-
teorolds. The radiant ONT shows the d.
rectlon IN which the mr ateoroids are NOV
ing with respect to tb e earth's orbit. If
you watch the HEAVIER is on the nights of
Nov. II and 10, you will see neteoroids all
seeming to come fr ON point in the con-
stellatlon Leo. I his November swarm is
Ihe most famous of all. Some of the me-
teorolds belongi ng to it appear every year,
ouI once In aho ut thirty-three years they
Tall IN perfees showers. They were seen
DV Humoole in South America in 1893; in
1858 they ap peared in the United States,
and IN 1856 5 in Europe. They are due
again IN about eighteen years. The
shower IN 1888 is very famous. 1t caused
more terr or than the most frightful comet
ever md. There is a description by South
Caroiln planter that has been frequently
quoteo in astronomical works, but never
loses its interest: r,4,. -As 44ls.
~ was suddenly awakened by the most
distressing cries that ever fell on my ears.
onrieRs OF horror and cries for mercy I
could hear from most of the negroes of
Ghree plantations, amounting in all to
ABOUT SIX or eight hundred. While earn
eStly listening for the cause heard faint
voice near The door calling my name. I
arose, and taking my sword stood at the
uoor. AZ this moment heard the same
voice sIlll bfaseechlng me to rise, and say
ing ~ my God, the world is on fre! |
then opene d the door, and it is difficult to
say winch excited me the most, the awful
ness OF the scene or the distressed cries of
the negroes. Upward of one hundred lay
prostra.te on the gr ound--some speechless
ana some with the blttereSt cries, but most
with their hands r; Used, imploring God to
save the world and them. The scene was
AWFUL, for never di d rain fall much thick
CT Than the meGeOrS fell to ward the earth;
east, west. north, nd south 1t was the
same.'
There are many other records of great
meteoric showers, Ind in several instances
the earth has been severed with deposit
of black or red dust after them. Most of
these meteoroids al small bodies, some.
perhaps, not larger than peas Others are
very large, being several feet, or even sew
eral yards, in diameter It is believed
that shower of huge aerolites must have
fallen at some time in Northern Mexico,
for the ground has been fo und streWn with
aerolite fell at Egos Pot amos about 1859
years before Christ. 1t ras said to be as
large as two mill-stones. Humboldt, who
says tlat the stone suspended over Mo-
harmed is an aerolite, ne yer gave up the
hope that modern travellers might yet find
the Egos Potamo stone-
Big aerolites make great display of
light as they rush through the air. AS
they strike the d. nser portion of the al
mosphere they often seem to explode,
sometimes rnaking a loud defamation. and
are scattered in showers of many frag-
m6ntS hSsrs1 ,f; Of 10 ind
OF aerolite was seen by m any persons in
and abous New York sonae three weeks
ago. AS it app cared to burst like rock
ct. its substance probably reached the
earth IN very 81 nall fragments, or in the
form of dust. 7e .f5s
"Meteors follow in the track of comets.
with little street CHI of the imagination
we play fancy comet, like a celestial
man-of-war. sailing by and pouring a
broadside int 0 the earth, whose atmos-
phere. like a breastwork of cotton bales,
swallows up the projectiles without dam
age to its def anders. There is something
very suggest we in DR.. Draper's idea that
comets may contain the remains of organ
ic life. If the comets contain such re-
mains, then aerolites do; and when you
pick up one @ these bodies in museum,
you hold i'm your hand what may, ages be-
fore Eve was attempted by the serpent,
have formed the body of a living being in
some other world lighted by some other
sun. IN. Y. 81 NJ s1is'e
HE that cannot, forgive others breaks
tho bri1 q OWN W, hioh no rouct hinsaIf