Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-04-10
A MAGNIFICENT SIGHT.
STARS or HEAVEN FELL AS If
SHAKEN OF A MIGHTY WIND.

Tin. wonderful Meteoric shower OF 1899.
Theories AS to the Cause and Effect-A
ChiId,s Wonderment at the Scene-Super-
stItIous Awe of Coiored People.
One of the earliest and most vivid OF
NV personal recolections is of the grand
meteoric shower of Nov. ID, 1888 A
similar occurrence il recorded as happen
inc in northern Europe near the close OF
the last century. But no meteorological
display has equaled that of 1888 in ex-
tent and duration from the beginning oil
the historic period
vExED QUESTIONS.
With reference TO the origin OF these
meteors there have been divers conJec-
| lures. most of which are al best hap
hazard spcculations A number OF astron-
omers have regarded them as fragments
of an exploded planet small IN size, nut
of a like sort with the hundred and odd
asteroids that have been discovered be-
tween the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
Kepler himself thought that large
planet was needed in this vast interplane-
| tary space to perfect the rhythm of the
skies and the tabled music of the spheres.
The subsequent discoveries OF Piazzi and
| Oilers and their successors have fully
justified this opinion. This old astro-
nomical fancy of lost Pleiad likewise
finds its vindication, it may be in these
asteroids and in the far more numerous
meteoroids which have since been seen in
all parts of the world Whether they be,
as suggested the disjecta membra of
some errant and wrecked orb doomed
and damned for some earlier Adamic
transgression, they certainly occupy
definite place in our system.
Their periodical occurrence with great
er or lesser brilliancy in May and Novem-
Der and likewise in August and Decem-
ber establish the facts that at these dates
our earth in its annual travel comes in
| frequent contact with a meteoric zone.
It may require another century of inves-
tigation with the aid of mightier instru-
ments than that of the Link observatory
| to determine whether, as is probable,
/ these meteoric exhibitions result from a
4 vast volume of nebulous matter revolv-
/ ing around the sun, and itself the nur-
sery of embryonic planets.
/ Whatever our conclusion on these
vexed questions, it was certainly not
only the privilege Of lifetime, but a
millennium, to be an eye witness of such a
stupendous and Respondent spectacle
distinctly remember being aroused about
4 O'Clock in the morning by the weird
outcrie5 of the domestic servants. They
seemed possessed with the idea that the
day of judgment was at hand, and read
lily recall the efforts of my father to quiet
the uproar by assuring them that there
was no cause of alarm.
Of course, knew nothing of scientific
import. Ny impressions were those of
citation rather than fright. To me the
whole scene was about what | have
since conceived Of the pyrotechnic dis
plays of the VauXhall garden or a full
lelged Chinese feast of lanterns A boy
reader will best understand the aspect of
things when add that aside from the
fizz and the pop it was like thousand
Christmases condensed into one.
Scientific observers have since told US
that these meteoroids all seemed to pro-
coed from a point in the constellation
Leo. For this reason they have been
since called Leonids My boyish remem-
brance accords with this statement of
the scientists. Usually they issued singly,
but at times they had the appearance of
a stream of fire. A few that observed
were very large, one or more not unlike
the nucleus of Halley's comet in 1885,
when it was receding from the sun.
READY FOR "A WORD OF PRAYER"
They nearly all seemed falling directly
to the earth, and it was matter of child
ish wondernent to me that they did not
cover the ground as | had seen falling
snow flakes do at other times The SPLEEN
dor of these celestial fireworks gradually
waned as the dawn approached, very
much to my personal regret.
y great many stories are still current
in regard to the general CONSERVATION
produced by this marvellous phenomenon
In some Instances persons were fright
ened into commissions, and several deaths
were reported from different parts of the
country
In my boyhood there was a story cur
rent of a wealthy Shareholder in western
! Georgia, who was besides something of
a philosopher He resided in the center
OF a large negro quarter, and being
awakened by the shrieks and wells of
nearly one hundred slaves he hurriedly
| equipped himself in pants and slippers
and stepped out on his front piazza He
was soon surrounded with a large num-
Der OF slaves who were frantic with ter
ror. For time he surveyed the heavens
with a decree of painful apprehension
Noticing in the crowd an old negro
preacher, in whose piety he had much
confidence, he addressed him in this wise:
Uncle Joe, do you watch the seven
stars and the ell and yard, and when
/ you see them start come into the big
house and we will have a word Of
prayer
OF course the Pleiades were i,amova-
bic, nor did the empyreal suns that blaze
In the belt of Orion "shoot madly from
their spheres. As a consequence the
hypothetical word of prayer" was un.
spoken The return of daylight blotted
out the meteors and Gained the SUPER
stltlous fears of master and slave.
Most astronomers tell us that another
such spectacle will probably never be
witnessed again through all the genera
tons OF men. st John, who was a
prisoner in Patmos, says: II beheld
when he had opened the sixth seal" that
me sun became as blood, and the stars
| of heaven fell INTO RI, ,,,.,I -