Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-04
METEORS AND METEORITEs.
Mine of the Latter Discovered in Oregon
Facts About Meteors.

Hncts ABOUT MeteOrS.
A HANDFUL OF SMALL METEORITES
- was received the other day at the office of
the geological survey In Washington from
man out in the northeast corner of Oregon.
he said that they were loose specimens from
nickel mine that he had discovered and he wanted
them assayed, because there were vast quanti-
ties more in the place he got them from Mineral
ogist Day is under the impression that. for the
hrst time in scientific history. mine OF me teor-
ties has been struck. Its not surprising that the
Under should suppose he had lighted upon sur
lace indications of nickel. after a rude assay
inasmuch as these projectiles from the heavens
though consisting mostly Of IRON contain
usually large percentage of the substance so
commonly used a metallic veneer The
handful in question are about IS per cent IRON
81 per cent nickel and the rest cobalt which
last Is metal somewhat resembling nickel
The proportion OF nickel is uncommonly large
for meteorites
DIR. Day believes that the Oregon man must
have come upon gully into which unde- very
extraordinary conditions. a great number of
meteorites had been drifted by the action of
water from a vast expanse OF hillside where
they had fallen. Hailstones are often similarly
piled mp There Is no difficulty in determining
the fact that the specimens discussed are
mcteOrites. tnasmuch us such bodies are nearly
Always compos ed OF just about the same m.i-
triais In hennite proportions. though why no
one has ever been able to explain.
METEoRs AKE CURIOUS THISGs
Meteors are very curious things. The ordi-
nary ones, called shooting or failing stars"
mostly are consumed before they reach the
earth. They take fire in passing through the
atmosphere by friction with the air. On any
fine night one may an average of eight or
ten OF them IN an hour. while Il practical OBJ
server will catch sight of twice that number
At intervals the earth passes through great
meteor trains on Its passage through space in
the tremendous journey the soar system is
making toward the con ,teIlition Hercules in
the north. and on such occasions the display of
CELESTIAL fireworks is amazing. A. many AS
lOOOO meteors have been observ within two
hours
But the most interesting meteors are the big
ones. naturally. One such is an event Ii
traverses the SKY in a flame, usually explodes
with defamation. and finally buries itself in
the ground Sometimes it explodes before
reaching the earth. The gigantic meteor
known historically as L Aigle burst over France
in 1908 and scattered its material over seven
miles square. The average distance from the
earth OF the meteors called shooting stars is
abou: sixty miles. and their rapidity of motion
varies from ten to fifty miles second. The
earth's rate Of progress in its orbit is nineteen
miles per second. There is upon the earth a
continuous rain Of meteor;teS always and it
has been estimated that 20. OO0. 900 such, big
enough to be called shooting stars il seen at
night, fall upon this planet every twenty-four
hours.
MEMORABLE OCCASION.
The appearance OF u really big meteorite is
always an event worth recording From time
to time such monsters from outer space alight
upon the earth and occasion a sensation. For
example, on the evening of December 2. 1876,
people in Kansas saw bright ball of fire at
about o'clock rising in the western sky near
where the moon was setting. 1t grew in bril-
liancy as 1t rose. drawing everybody out OF
doors. Seemingly it passed overhead, drop
ping into the southeast and taking about two
minutes for its passage 1t was seen to pass by
the inhabitants of Nebraska, Iowa. Missouri.
Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky,
Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Vir.
ginia. In the meteors path, four or five
minutes after its passage. were heard loud ex-
plosions, like distant cannOnading. thunder or
the rafting of empty wagons over stony roads
30 loud we're these sounds that beasts were
frightened. Over centra! Illinois the fire ball
was seen to break into fragments like q rocket
and over Indiana and Ohio it formed flock or
cluster Of meteors forty miles long and five
miles broad. Ordinarily. such great meteors
~ these drop stones, of which six or eight each
year are big enough to find places in the
museums OF the world. The biggest one ever
picked up is mass Of iron and nickel weighing
1900 pounds.