The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1896-07-22
SHOOTING STARS.
How These Odd and Erratic Baby Planes
Blaze and Darken.

How These Odd and Erratic Baby Planets
Blaze and Darken.
The shooting star is an oddly Of the
very oldest kind. 1t ia a world Of itself
"a miniature planet = probably not
larger than the papier mache globe oil
your study table or the rubber ball
with which the schoolboys play three
cornered cat, " but it is a world Just the
same. These baby planets are not al.
way round, as planets are generally
supposed to be, bnt are known to be in
all sorts Of queer shapes. Some are
square, others octagonal; some irregu-
lar and many cornered, while one is &C.
~casionally met with which is smooth
AZ a brick or q cement paving stone.
Probably you have never heard of a
man (or woman either, for that matter)
injecting with" a shooting star in any
Of his vaDderings. Let us see how such
q thing might be possible.
The shooting star is originally n min
iature world, revolving around the sun
with as much regularity as the earth,
Jupiter, Venus or Mars. 1t keeps up
this unerring flight thousands or even
millions Of years. Finally 1t reaches the
limit Of its existence. Suddenly and
perhaps without any visible cause it
shoots off at a tangent. 1t Is now IL
shooting STAR" Formerly 1t was d
world, but even now it is not bright as
other stars are. Let us see what will
cause it to ''fame up like a gigantic
torch in the heavens" This particular
body that we are talking about shot of
from its orbit In the direction of Out
earth. It's speed Is not less than 20
miles a second, probably five times that.
In the great outer sea of space it Ell.
counters no resistance. to Its headlong
flight. But watt. 1t is nearing the en-
velope Of atmosphere which surrounds
our globe. What will be the result when
1T comes in contact with t''the air we
breathe?" Tie first stratum it strikes
Is 40 attenuated that its resistance is
very slight. Yet the friction is great
enough to instantly raise the tempeya
ture Of the fsliinP world. Within the
hundredth r. of u second the dense
stratumof atmosphere has been encoun
tered. The flight Of the little world v
now p%erceptibly checked. tho result DO
ing q sudden firing Of the mineral mat
ters in the stone. There il an i'll stan 4
neous burst Of light, and then we ses:
the doomed representative Of the mInla
ture planets in all its meteoric splepdor
Possibly the streak OF fire il leaves
athwart the heavens will not appear to
be more than a few hundred feet long.
Certainly it will be thin and short if
the little world was not larger than a
football-because it will he almost in.
stantly consumed q 500 as IL strikes
the denser portions of the atmosphere
On the other hand, II this world which
has so suddenly come to an end was 40
larg, Is a good sized barn when 1t start
ed, fragments VI it weighing from 10 To
1000 pounds may reach tns earth. Is
Is from these fragments that we learn
the shape and composition of the aerial
phenomenon referred to as "shootii.
stars. st. Louis RepuSlN.
Chicago Pearls.
Four local newspaper men were COM
p,ring notes recently Gu the restaurants
they have known.
"Saw a novel device in Chicago not
long ago." said one. Friend took me
through u big cheap jewelry factory.
Rubies by the quart, diamonds by the
pint. Gold rings till you couldn't rest.
What's here?' said / as l pointed to a
glass jar filed with creamy pellets. F,
Pearls said the foreman. Ten
cents u gross. We sell EN- to the cheap
restaurant men,
"'Nhat for?' says I.
"'They drop enc in each plato OF
oyster stow says the foreman.
"'What for?' says l again.
"'CGstomcr scrapcs round i'll stew.
Doesn't see any oysters. Grand kick
coming. Find pearl. Grins ecstatically.
Sneaks pearl INTO vest pocket. Eats
slJvy. DUesn't complain Pays cheek
and goes away smiling. EeeT"-Clcve-