Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-11-24
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT METEORS.

]. The luminous meteor tracks are in
the upper part of the earth's atmosphere.
Few, if any, appear at height greater
than 100 miles, and few are seen below a
height of 80 niles from the earths surface,
except in rare cases, where stones and iron
fall to the ground. All these meteor tracks
are caused by bodies which come into the
air from without.
9. The velocities of the meteors in the air
are comparable with that of the earth about
the sun. 1t is not easy to determine the
exact values of those velOcities, yet they
may be roughly stated as from 80 to 25O
times the velocity of sound in the air, or Of
cannon ball.
| 3. It is necessary consequence OF these
velocities that the meteors move about the
sun and not about the earth as the controll-
ing body.
4. That our four comets, related to four
periodic star-showers, that come on the
dates April Goth, August 10th, November
18th and November 9th. The meteoroids
which have given us any one of these star.
showers constitute group, each individual
of which moves in path which is like
les are, however, now too far from one an
other to influence appreciably each others
motions.
5. The ordinary shooting stars in their
appearance and phenomena do not differ
essentially from the individuals in star
showers.
6. The meteorites of different falls differ
from one another in their chemical COM
position, in their mineral forms and in
their tenacity. Yet through all these diff
erences they have peculiar common prop
critics which distinguish them entirely from
all terrestrial rocks.
bn
failed to detect any trace of organic life in
meteorites.
These propositions have practically uni
versal acceptance among scientific men.
"NINETY AND N1NE."- "-Sankey, the re.
vival singer, tells of his favorte song and
the way it originated:
"The Ninety and Nine" I place at the
head of the list. l we'll remember how [
came to compose the music to the words
1t was done on the spur ola great and eX-
allied feeling. When | was going from
Edinburgh to Glasgow picked up paper
on the train and came across the words.
They at once struck me as being full of feel
ing, so hid the paper away in my pocket.
The words rang in my ears. At Glasgow
we had a glorious meeting. Mr.. Moody
preaced from the tWenty-third psalm of
David. He touched the hearts Of the peo-
ple. When he was about to close his SER
mon did not know what to sing. want
ed to select something appropriate to the
sermon, but I found nothing suitable.
Those grand words, full of poetry, simple,
yet beautiful "He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the
still waters he restoreth my soul; he lead
names sake" as Mr.. Moody closed with
them, acted as an inspiration. l hastily
pulled the crumpled newspaper from my
pocket and sang the words of 'The Ninety
and Nine" to music that came to me then
and there did not know how the accom-
paniment would go. The feeling of the
moment carried me through, and I after
wards wrote the music.
THE TEMPLE OF SERpENTs.-A small
town of Werda, in the kingdom of Da-
honey, is celebrated for its temple of SER
pents, a long building in which the priests
keep upward of thousand serpents which
they feed with the birds and frogs brought
to them by the natives. These serpents,
many of them of enormous size, may be
seen hanging from the beams across the
ceiling, with their heads hanging down.
wards in all sorts of strange contortions.
The priests make the small serpents 60
through various evolutions by lightly touch
ing tnem WIN TOu, DuG tIley w boI fcl
ture to touch the largest ones, some OF which
are big enough to enfold bullock in their
coils. 1t often happens that some of these
serpents make their way out OF the temple
into the town, and the priests have the
greatest difficulty in coaXing them back.
To kill serpent Intentionally is crime
punished with death, and if European
were to kill one, the authority of the king
himself would scarcely suffice to save his
life. Any one killing a serpent unlnten-
tionally must inform the priest of what has
occurred, and 60 through the course of purl-
ficaaction which takes place once year.
A TURpENTINE FARM.-A turpentine
farm must be seen to be appreciated. When
the farm is pitched the boxes are cut one
to three in pine, according to size. The
trees are counted into crops of so many
thousand, and this is called a virgin crop.
The queer little gauge called "buck,' is
then brought to bear and a streak is cut
above the box, which is simply deep oval
notch pointing downward SO as to lead the
gum which exudes into the box below.
These boxes are made to hold about a quart.
This first run is as clearas oil, and the finest
of ALL After being dipped out with pad
die it is distilled and the hard rosin left is
sometimes as white and as clear as glass.