Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-06-25

'ho Y can not have been very far from L
he filtls OF Niagara. when by becom. !,
ing invisible all further traces o
Of It's movements were lost. /.
While passing point midway between :
Chicago and st. Louis q frightlul ex. i
plosion shivered the meteor into a a
cluster of brilliant balls of fire, which q
seemed to chase each other across the /
sky. This cluster must have been /
about forty miies long and five miles
wide. The defamation by which the /
explosion was accompanied was spe- I
cially notable Incident Of the meteor
IL was not only heard with terrific in
tensity in the neigbborhood, but the
volume Of sound was borne to great
distances. Bloomington. in Indiana,
is one hundred and eighty-fve miles
from the actual point in the sky
where the meteor Nas 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 q degree that some OF I
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-balis 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. aud the
greater the distance of the gun the
longer il the interval by which the
light and the noise are separated
Sound takes five seconds to travel a
mile; light travels 30 quickly that the
time necessary to travers9 d mile, or a
hundred miles, or thousand miles, is
utterly inappreciable by ordinary
measurement.
The superb spectacle had been seen
at Bloomington. 1t had excited tue
utmost establishment; doubtless it had
been discussed and notes had been
compared by those whose good fortune
had permitted them TO see it. Bat the
immediate excitement was over, friends
had parted for the night; some OF them
had entered their houses; others had
nd and
had Travelled nearly mile on theil
Journey; vehicles had driven a couple
of miles; trains had run half-a-dozer
miles: columns of newspapers had beer
read. Many who had seen the meteo
had already forgotten it, when thei
ears were deafened by the arrival o
the awful explosion.
= Nor need we feel much astonishc'
at stupendous phenomena, both o
= light aud of sound, which accompan
:, the advent of splendid and detona'
:, inc fire-ball | must here give lie
= figures which will show how great
-, the store Of energy possessed by "a me
. teor in virtue of the amazing veloclt
=, with which ii is animated. | shall SUI
nose that the material e cement OF tn
> meteor consists of Il mass OF stone 0
of some more or less metallic materli
- which weighs one pound we sha
examine the circumstances und'
y which we must endeavor by mechani
- al agents to project this small DOC
- with the meteoric speed OF, let US sa
twenty-five miles a second. Our u
= most attempts with a cannon coaI
hardly produce speed OF one-hu
y. ~ dreth part of the required amount, al
- even for this charge OF gunPowde
~ certainly not less than quarter OF
~ pound, would be consumed. II ca
~ non of amazing strength and OF ideal
y Gciencv could be conceived, in viii
Az all the energy OF the exploding powd
''' should be usefully concentrated up
communicating velocity TO the pi
90 iectile, we should find that TO dou'
'e' The speed the charge must be qo'
Al r,nled. To treble the speed we sho'
le haya ia increase the charge nineto
III. If the speed we're TO be increased
.oI times. we must put one hundred III
l'N ne much powder into the cam
'u Finally. if we could procure piece
I9h ordnance strong enough and gunp
INC ,I der rapid enough to impart me'e'
''y velocity to the missile, a charge we
arr trV he necessary which is ten thous
'no times as great as the quarter G
Oh no,,nd that is sufficient under the
Ken ditjons of ordinary artillery
heir n,,,-,,,,,ant shows us that the energ
d an entire ton weight OF gunpoN
ike would be required 20 impart to 5
over one pound in weight the llVe'l"e
W III an ordinary fre-bail.
Nos' Whatever may have been the 0
iteu, ,al source whence the meteor acq'
i pu' IFS energy (and this is point on "
'aer I do not at present make any rem'
luxe ,b,t energy will be retained so lo'
lre- ,he meteor retains its velocity,
@ az # the meteor moved through e
vow srocc for Il million years, 1t woo''
haoh,a to restore, ii its motion
the arrested, the precise quantity
same d i0'' I'll, :, b,d originally rect
5 way er59 ,,.,,,n the supreme momel
rag iA0. ., ,bo meteor expands
neous ~ dissolution all the e
place. VA w. Dantains Every thing tina
g and " oo' ,,os;o,
man energy liberated 'S 'l-e nj ,
miner ton Of gunpowder can do 'ha' /
q see weighing only pound Is comPe