Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1889-06-29


ing invisible all further traces
OF It's movements we're lost. .
While passing point midway between
Chicago and 81. Lnuis "a frightinl eX.
plosisn shiyercd the meteor into q
cluster Of brilliant balls Of fire, which
seemed to chase each other across the
sltv. This cluster must have been
about forty Mills long aud live miles
wide. The dctonation By which the
explosion was accompanied was spe-
cially notable incident OF the meteor
II was not only heard with terrific In
tensity in the ncighborhood. but the
volume OF sound was borne to great
distances. Bloomington. IN Indiana,
Il one hundred and eighty-ive miles
from the actual point In the sky
where the meteor Sas rent In pieces,
yet about the neighborhood OF Bioom-
ingtou not only was the sound of a
frightful explosion heard. bat the
shock OF the conclusion was actually
felt To such degree TINT some Of
those who experienced IL 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-
ccssion Of ire-balls streaming over the
heavens. aud the moment when the
appalling crash burst on their ears
Every one In familiar with tho fact
that the flash of the gun il seen
ere the report Is heard, and ihe
greater the distance of the gun the
longer Is the interval by which the
4 light and the noise arc separated,
/ Sound takes live seconds 10 travel "a
mile; light travels so quickly that the
| time necessary to traverse "A mile, or u
hundred miles. or a Thousand miles, Is
utterly inapprceiabls by ordinary
measurement.
The superb spectacle had been seen
at Bloomington. 1t had excited the
utmost astoniShmeni; doubtless il had
been discussed aud notes had been
compared by those whose good fortune
had permitted them to see II. But the
immediate excitement was over. friends
| Ind parted for the night; some OF them
had entered their houses; others had
renewed their walk honicwsrd and
had travelled nearly mile on their
Journey; vehicles bad driven couple
I of miles; trains haa rna half-s-dozcn
miles; columns of se~apapers had been
read MANY who lad seen the meteor
had already forgeltea 1t. when their
ears we're dtafcn.d by the arrival OF
the awful explo-ion.
/ Nor need we f,,el much astoui-hed
/ al siapcndoas phenomena, both OF
| light aud Of sound. which accompany
| the advent OF splendid aud dotonat-
ing fire ball. must here give few
figures which will show how great q
/ the store OF energy possessed by me-
teOr Ia virtue 81 the amazing Velocity
with which II is animated ! shall sup
pose that the material emcnt of the
meteor consists Of "a MASS of stone or
of some more or less metallic ma,eria |
which weighs one pound. We shall
examine the circumstances under
which we must endeayor by mechanic
al agents to project this small body
with the meteorio speed et, let ne say,
twenty-five miles u second Our ut
most attempts with "a cannon could
hardly produce speed of one-Sun-
dreth part OF the required amount. and
| even for this charge of gunpowdor,
certainly not less than quarter OF a
pound, would be consumed II can
non Of amazing strength and OF ideal ef-
! ficiency could be conceived. in which
all the energy OF the exploding powder
should be usefully concentrated upon
communicating velocity 10 the pro-
lectilc. We should find that 10 double
the speed the charge must be quad.
rupled. To treble tho speed We should
have 10 increase the charge ninefold.
| IL the speed were To be increased ten
times, we must put one hundred times
as much powder into the cannon.
Finally. II We could procure piece OF
ordnance strong enough and gunpow-
der rapid enough to impart meteoric
velocity 10 the missile. charge would
be- necessary which is ten thousand
times a. great as the quarter OF a
pound that is sufficient under the con-
dil!ons OF ordinary artillery. This
argument shows Us that the energy OF
an entire ton weight OF gunpowLer
would be required 10 impart to n stone
Que pound in weight the livcliness OF
an ordinary iirc-ball.
Whatever may have been the origi-
nal source whence the meteor acquired
tts energy (and this is a point ON which
do nut III present make any remark).
that energy will be retained so long a
the meteor retains its velocity Even
II the meteor moved through empty
space for a million years, II would still
Go able TO restore. II its motion were
| arrested. the precise quantity Of en-
ergy which IL had originally received.
Hence. when the supreme moment has
arrived. thu meteor expands IN the
throcs OF It's dissolution ali the energy
il contains Every thing that the
energy liberated by the explosion of q
ton OF gnupowder can do. that meteor
weighing only pound j. competent 10
accomplish. II the weight Of the
missile were greater than one pound.
the velocity remaining the same the
uvs,fl ~. aprrw.s sra.tla IA, fn.tt.s s..sl n