Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-04-03
q FALL OF FIRE BALLS.
some Facts o. Interest About
combustible Materials.
Missiles That are Forged In the Same
Great Workshops IS the Earthquakes

"a1Aa ~ was recently caused in
the Island Of Guernsey. by 4 terrific
explosion. Some thought it was an
earthquake. others an unusually heavy
thunderclap. The crew Of 4 steamer
landing. however, soon afterwards
announced that when they were near
Ing Guernsey they saw an enormous
ball Of FIRE shoot down from the
heavens. and fall with 3 tremendous
report into the sea to the west of the
island. Meanwhile. the people on the
shore had felt their houses yibrate
with the shock, sand some persons
were 20 frightened as to be deprived
OF their senses The usefulness Of
the sea in thus catching and putting
out these combustible meteorites Il
once more illustrated, and it is d sin
gular fact that the majority Of the
"iire balls" recorded have in the same
way harmlessly extinguished Them
selves in the bosom of the deep The
power for mischief OF these sky
descended explosives is beyond all
doubt very serious, as in the presnt
case was sufficiently testified by the
extreme violence of the report and the
effect upon the houses on the land.
They belong. in fact. to that terrific
class Of phenomena with which Ma
ture periodically reminds us Of the
forces at her command, and the aQen-
cies by which the shape and compost
ton of the world we live in arc
perpetually undergoing change.
These missiles are forged in the
same great workshop as the earthquake
shock and the volcanic eruption. and
assist in the same process of planetary
destruction and reconstruction. AT 4
single blow the whole coast line of
Chill, with the Andes. was hoisted up.
on the night of November 10Th, 1922,
many feet above its former level. So
at one shock fifty miles Of land on the
banks of the Indus were thrust up ten
feet higher than all the surrounding
country; and so. too. the Italian coast
near Naples was in minute upheaved
twenty feet above low water mark.
BY one.singie movement a mountain
Ave times the height Of Etna has been
thrust up; an island as large as the
British Channel Islands together has
disappeared. In the eruption of Tom
boro the trees and houses thousand
miles distant from the centre of the
shock were shaken like sails in storm:
ia that of Jorullo, village hundred
and forty miles off was smothered
with ashes. Thus the aerolite, which
is an analogous phenomenon OF the
great Notwithstanding and world
making process. deserves to be treated
with respect, If only out of regard for
its bigger brothers, the earthquake and
the volcano. Compared with them it
seems Of trifing Importance; but IL
the battery from which these desultory
shots are fired were to open upon as
in full strength, the cannonade would
be appalling.
About a hundred years ago these
falling bodies seriously engaged scien-
the attention in Europe, and the
simultaneous descent Of half i hum
dredweight Of iron ia i field in England.
and number Of stones of different
sizes in ID adjoining county. gave an
opportunity For examination. Soon
after. bah Of FIRE travelled over
Normandy, France, discharging Is It
went hot aerolites, each discharge
being accompanied by loud reports. a
Jump Of iron several tons in weight
fell in Siberia; another. Weighing
over thirteen tons descended with
terrific noise near Bahia. il Brazil.
n Croatia, some lifty years ago. Elre-
ban travelled roaring across the sky
from west to east. and then suddenly
burst, dropping two masses Of iron Of
fantastic half-fused shapes These
are obviously serious objects. and. if
they we're to descend with their yeloci-
t. and Irresistible momentum into the
middle Of = populous city might BE-