The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-08-11
Shining Shower Of Falling Stars

q crown OF ola timers the Otner Qay, anu
it was unanimously admitted that
whenever anything unusual occurred
in the heavens it impressed the be-
holder more than any other phenome-
non.
From the subject of eclipse the CON
vcrsation turned to comets and me-
tcors, and the big shower Of falling
stars in November, 1888, was referred
to by one Of the takers.
IT remember It" said Col. George
W. Adair. "At that time I was only
a small boy, but the spectacle was one
not to be forgotten in a hurry, and the
agitation and alarm Of the older
people around me impressed it upon
my mind.
1T was on the night of the 18th Of
November, 1888, when the stars fell.
I was then living out in the country,
in Henry County, and was fast asleep
when the shower came.
"My father had gone that night to
a corr shocking, and knew nothing
about the trouble until he started
home. He was with a friend named
Jones, a man of a religious turn of
mind, and when the stars commenced
cutting up their capers my father was
anxious to reach home as soon as pos
sible. But Jones was frightened out
Of his wits, and got down on his knees
by the side of the road to pray. 1t
was no use reasoning with him. Ev-
cry hundred yards or So he collapsed
and dropped on his knees. He had a
powerful voice, and his lamentation
and shouts made the woods ring and
added to the horrors of the night.
"Finally my father got home, and
he lost no time in waking my mother
and myself. I shall never forget the
scene spread out before me, when I
went out into the yard. 1t was indie
~scribably grand and awful, and the
heavens seemed to be filled with mil
lions of sky rockets. Streams of fire
rolled in every direction, and the
stars or mcteors fell like fakes of
snow.
Nothing like it had ever been seen
by the people then living, and they
were badly scared. The negroes set
up the most unearthly yells and bowls,
and from every cabin might be heard
snatchcs of prayer and religious songs.
Many of the. spectators believed that
the world was coming to an end, and
they were in a frenzy Of terror and
excitement.
"The next day everybody felt re-
lieved, but there was very little work
done. Naturally everybody got into
a religious frame of mind, and for
weeks afterwars the preacher had
large congregations, and a crowd Of
old sinners joined the church.
1T was a wonderful sight, and |
never expect to see anything like it
again.
II heard of an old planter in
southwest Georgia." said n of the
group, "who got into his big well
bucket when the shower came, and
made two stout negroes stand at the
windlass and let him down.
:'He felt pretty chilly down there
in the water, and every ten minutes
he would make the negroes pull him
up. But the moment he saw the stars
he would order them to let him down
again, and once they let 80 the
windlass and he went down like a
rock.
"He left the we'll about about half
dead, and was laid up with rheuma-
tism the remainder of his life"
ga good old woman" said a news
paper man, "told me that she was a
little girl in Ireland when the stars
fell. The ground was covered with
snow, and some of the stars fell on
the surface. She said that they were
about the size of gum drops. She
picked some of them up and ate them,
and they tasted like Jelly"
The listeners looked at one another.
Colonel Adair said something about
catching a car, and a very matter-of-
fact man remarked that an adjournment
was in order.
The newspaper man and a scientific
gentleman remained and continued the
conversation.
The scientist explained the star
shower by claiming that there is a
long, thin stream Of meteoroids, each
of which is travelling about the SUI in
a cross section. These comic sections
are all nearly parallel, and have nearly
the same major axis, extending about
as far as the orbit of Uranus, and
each requiring the common period of
thirty-three and a quarter years.
About three times in a century the
Garth passes through one of these
streams. The meteoroids are very
small, solid bodies which arc consum-
cd before they reach the earth.
Whence they come is a mystery,
and what good purpose they serve is
unknown. 1t is fortunate that they
are so small. If the earth should
pass through a stream of large metcors
the surface of the earth would be as
much disfgured as if it had suffered
from a bombardment.
On the 9th of November, 1872,
there was a brilliant star shower, in
the course Of which an observer
counted about 10000 metcors in two
hours.
This phenomenon did not cause as
much excitement as the M of 1888,
probably because it was better under
stood, and the people were prepared
for it.
All accounts, however, agree in de-
scribing the shower of 1893, as the
grandcst and most awc-inspiring dis
play of the kind ever seen in modern
times.
As Colonel Adair intimatcd, it caus-
ed people to turn their thoughts to
religious matters, because they real
lied in the presence of these tremcn-
dous forces of nature how weak and
dependent all human creatures are,
under even the most favorable condi-
tions. R~eyivals spread all over the
land, and the churches reaped a har-
vest.
An occasional total e~clipse. shower