The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-05-15
in the hue of the light, which passed
from brilliant white to a beautiful
blue ere it disappeared.

Perhaps the most remarkable in
stance of the explosion of a meteor is
recorded in the case of the great fire.
ball SO widely observed in America on
the 2lst of December, 1876. The
movements of this superb object have
been carefully studied by Prof H. A.
Newton and Prof. d. Kirkwood. For
prodigious span of a thousand miles
this meteor tore over the American
continent with speed of some ten or
fifteen miles second. 1t originated
in Kansas at a height of seventy-five
miles. Thence it glided over the Mis-
sisssippi, over the Missouri; it passed
to the south of Lake Michigan; it
made a short voyage over Lake Erie,
and it can not have been very far from
the falls of Niagara, when by becom-
ing invisible all further traces
of it's movements were lost.
While passing point midway between
Chicago and St. Louis a frightful ex-
plosion shivered the meteor into
cluster of brilliant balls Of fire, which
seemed to chase each other across the
sky. This cluster must have been
about forty miles long and five miles
wide. The defamation by which the
explosion was accompanied was spe-
cially notable incident of the meteor.
1t was not only heard with terrific IN
tensity in the neighborhood, but the
volume of sound was borne to great
distances. Bloomington. in Indiana,
is one hundred and eighty-tive miles
from the actual point in the sky
where the meteor was rent in pieces,
yet about the neighborhood of Bloom
ington not only was the sound of a
frightful explosion heard, but the
shock of the conclusion was actually
felt to such degree that some of
those who experienced it thought an
earthquake must have happened.
The tremendous volume of sound
that must have been emitted is forcibly
presented to us when we consider the
interval of time that elapsed between
the moment when the inhabitants of
Bloomington saw the gorgeous pro-
cession of fire-balls streaming over the
heavens, and the moment when the
appalling crash burst on their ears.
Every one is familiar with the fact
that the flash Of the gun is seen
ere the report is heard, and the
greater the distance of the gun the
longer is the interval by which the
light and the noise are separated.
Sound takes five seconds to travel
mile; light travels so quickly that the
time necessary to traverse a mile, or
hundred miles, or thousand miles, is
utterly inappreciable by ordinary
measurement
The superb spectacle had been seen
at Bloomington. 1t had excited the
utmost establishment; doubtless it had
been discussed and notes had been
compared by those whose good fortune
had permitted them to see it. But the
immediate excitement was over, friends
had parted for the night; some of them
had entered their houses; others had
renewed their walk homeward, and
had travelled nearly mile on their
journey; vehicles had driven a couple
of miles; trains had run half-a-dozen
miles; columns of newspapers had been
read. Many who had seen the meteor
had already forgotten it, when their
ears were deafened by the arrival of
the awful explosion.
Nor need we feel much astonished
at stupendous phenomena, both Of
light and of sound, which accompany
the advent of splendid and detonat-
ing fire-ball. / must here give few
figures which will show how great is
the store of energy possessed by me-
teor in virtue of the amazing velocity
with which it is animated. / shall sup
pose that the material element of the
meteor consists of mass of stone or
of some more or less metallic material
which weighs one pound. We shall
examine the circumstances under
which we must endeavor by mechanic
al agents to project this small body
with the meteoric speed of, let us say,
twenty-five miles second. Our ut
most attempts with cannon could
hardly produce a speed of one-hun-
dreth part of the required amount, and
even for this a charge of gunpowder,
certainly not less than quarter of a
pound, would be consumed. If can
non of amazing strength and fideal eff.
ficiency could be conceived, in which
all the energy of the exploding powder
should be usefully concentrated upon
communicating velocity to the pro-
jectile, we should find that to double
the speed the charge must be quad
rupled. To treble the speed we should
have to increase the charge ninefold
If the speed were to be increased ten
times, we must put one hundred times
as much powder into the cannon
Finally, if we could procure piece Of
ordnance strong enough and gunpow.
der rapid enough to impart meteorie
velocity to the missile, a charge would
be necessary which is ten Thousand
times as great as the quarter of {
pound that is sufficient under the con
dltions of ordinary artillery. This
argument shows us that the energy Of
an entire ton weight of gunpowder
would be required to impart to a stone
one pound in weight the liveliness O
an ordinary ire-ball.