Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-02-07
FAILING sTARs-uErEoRTrEs.

Meteoritcs are composed chiefly of iron
and stone, and fall from the skies When
they appear in the daytime, they come
Ike a thick cloud passing swiftly over
head and usually explode with loud re-
port They are seen very frequently at
night all over the country, and shine like
falling-star. One of the largest ever
seen in the United States appeared about
twenty-four years ago in the still summer
evening, coming from the west. 1t was al
most as bright As the moon. Ii passed
swiftly over the heads of thousands of OBJ
servers. People in their country houses in
Westchester county, men, women and chill
dren. ran ont Of doors to see the unusual
visitor in the sky. Many were verv much
frightened But the meteor passed on,
harming no one, and seemed at last to
burst and disappear over Long Island
sound.
Many interesting stories are told Of the
strange appearance and violent explosions
of these meteors in the sky. Yet no one
seems ever to have been harmed by them.
At night, April ., 1900, bright object Of
great size-"as large it was said, "as
house moved over our country. and
seemed to rush forward with terrible swift
ness. 1t gave a light as brilliant as that of
the sun. 1t disappeared in the northwest.
4 violent crash was heard that seemed to
shake the earth, and the meteor buried
itself in the ground. Where it fell, trees
were broken down and burned, the earth
torn up, the vegetation scorchcd - If with
fire
But the most brilliant display of meteors
ever Witnessed was in November 1913,
1888, at night. Suddenly the whole
heavens shone As if in flames, and countless
balls of fire flashed for hours along the
sky. 1t was rain OF fire. In all parts Of
our country, from Maine to Georgia, the
people were awakened, and watched with
wonder the failing-stars. Many fancied
the earth was burning, and that they
themselves would soon perish in the fiery
furnace. The colored people in the
Southern States, who'were very ignorant,
came ont from their cabins and often fell
into wild commissions OF terror They
prayed. they shouted they cried out,
The day Of judgment has come" The
beautiful sight continued until morning.
1t has never appeared again. But meteors
are always seen about the 18th of Noyem-
Der, and every thirty-three years they
come in great numbers. 1t would appear
as if the earth at those periods passed
through cloud of them. None of them
in 1883 fell upon the ground or did any
harm. The meteors that come in Novem-
Der are called Leonids, because they seem
to fall from the constellation Leo.
The stones that fall from the sky when
the meteor explodes are black, brittle and
covered with shining or dark glaze
Some of them are more than a hundred
pounds in weight. They fall in all parts
of the earth. The Chinese have recorded
great numbers Of them in their histories.
Among the Greeks and Romans these black
stones that fell from the skies were wor-
SHIPPED as if they were gods One of
them was called "The Mother of the
Gods" 1t was brought to Rome from the
East, where it was said to have fallen from
the skies in cloud Of fire. The ancient
philosophers thought these black stones
fell from the sun.
1t is remarkable that these falling stones
have never done any harm. They have
usually fallen in the country or in the sea,
or even far away upon some desert island.
One may almost always see one or more
meteors shooting over the sky on clear
nights. and leaving behind trail of light.
Harper's Young People.