Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1886-05-05
LIGHT IN THE AIR.
A Brilliant Exhibition Caused by Burning
Gas i'm Cold Atmosphere.

Gas in Cold Atmosphere.
At the Hartman stecl-works in this
place, is large tube extending perpen-
dicularly above the surface of the ground
to the height of thirty feet, from which
the natural gas is allowed to escape at
night, when the works are not in opera
ton. The gas is burned as it issues
from the tube and forms blaze which
Eliminates all of this place, and on
cloudy nights, New brighton. Since
cold weather began the present winter
it has been noticed that in certain con-
ditions of the atmosphere, i'll addition to
the general illumination of the valley for
some two or three miles, vertical,
feathery, and very brilliant arrow of
fire extends almost to the zenith, and at
its highest point is at times the most
brilliant and quite as bright as rod of
iron at white heat.
One night recently the conditions of
the atmosphere seemed to be particular
ly well adapted to the display of this
truly wonderful phenomenon, and as
the brilliant shaft of light shot like a
rocket from the haze that dimmed it
within ten or fifteen degrees of the
mouth of the tube, from which the gas
issued and grew more brilliant and
feathery as it heightened out until it
seemed to reached above the regions of
Orion and pale his beauty, it was GER
tainly wonder such as mortals have
never before witnessed,
1t appeared about S p. m. and, with
the exception Of a few times, when some
increasing or temporary haziness dim
med the lower half of it, the size and
brilfiancy of the shaft remained up I'M
til the writer last looked at it, which was
little after II o'clock.
The same phenomenon appeared at
the escape-pipe at the Phillipsburg glass
works and also at the Braden gas well,
a distance of eight miles from where the
writer viewed it, and it was no doubt
quite as brilliant on q nearer view as
the fiery arrow that reached from the
steel-works tube to a point far above the
pole star.
The splendor of this phenomena is alb
solutely beyond the power of verbal de-
scription. No language can paint its
beauty-no words can possibly convey
any adequate conception of the picture
it produced. Standing mile south of
and looking due north at the tube from
which the burning gas was issuing, we
saw the sky lighted to a distance of 20
degrees, or more, above the horizon.
This light, owing to the peculiar natural
pulsations of the gas as it rushed from
the tube, was in continually leaping
and flashing motion. Nearly to the
same height the atmosphere seemed
slightly hazy; and above that distance
the sky was clear and the stars in the
northern consultations quite bright;
then from the mouth of the burning,
flaming tube, straight as an arrow, and
reaching vertically to distance of
rs or 80 degrees above the horizon, was
this feathery, quivering, brilliant shaft
of fire. Somewhat similar threads of
fire are sometimes seen in brilliant dis
plays of the aurora borealis, but none
can, in beauty and variety and intensity,
rival this wonderful pyrotechnic display
of natural gas on which our wondering
eyes gazed on the night of Jan. 80, A.
d. 1886.
Can any of our savants explain the
cause of itP To u philosopher or any
lover of the beautiful and the wonder
full it is worth trip of thousand miles
to see it as we saw it on that night.
. We will add that this phenomenon, as
well as several others we have witnessed
within the past three months, appeared
either in or Immediately preceding a
light, fleecy fall of snow and the temper
ature ranging from 20 to 80 degrees
above zero and when the atmosphere
near the surface was hazy or only very
light and nearly white, tleecy clouds, if
any, were visible. -Beaver Falls (Pa.)
Tribune.