New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-08
A FLAMING SHAFT IN THE SAY.
1T CAUSED A LOT OF WONDERMENI d.
WAS SIMPLY A PECULIAR REFhE|-
TION OF A FIRE IN JERSEY.

There appeared a phenomenon In the northern
sky last evening-a phenomenon that brousnt uio
whole out of doors city to standstli LOT van"
1t was a long shaft Of golden fire that ha'neo az
against the sky Far below Il, along the ho' Nun
extended a glow OF similar hue. 1t was Just aoou'
q o,clook that the phenomenon first observed
The column hung like a sword midway between lhe
horizon and the zenith. and as soon az II pee"'
TO be generally observed there was great scan"
perlng for vantage points from which to view IT.
Al first many said 1t was comet, but inns we"
soon gave way. because everybody knew tha' nau
:, been a comet some wideawake astronomer wouid
have given warning OF its approach linen many
said IL was the Aurora Boreals. But TINS '"eo''
also soon passed out OF mind for the sueah Va
fame did not flicker ard fade and culver and tran
as do the Northern Lights. 1t held It's pace
steadily neither increasing in dinensSns nor ue
creasing but gradually growire fainter ana rant 70
Joe a,arty overcame the awesomeness OF the beau.
lfu family naming vision he eS,,e ePi ihe ear1h
with his Devastating neat ray Otmers ieueS'
people suspended all their employment over the
greater city 10 look at the merry column which
faGec q adt'ally and vanished in an hour; r,o
There was a big fire at Fort Lee last night The
Oc,agon Hotel went up in flame. One explanation
the reflection from the FIRE shot up behind wall
Of thin clouds, for the air was misty as! evening.
until /; height that overtopped The mist,
when II fared upon the sky as II 1t sprung from
nothing away up thess IL was vas an na impressse
one the0IlSt IN Union square mao an interested
audience while ne explained the cause OF the light
In the heavens.
ITS the sword Of wal" he cried. ut appeared
before the Revolution, and again when was in
w-Orleans In 1851. II hung over the city then
for three days. although it was only visible at
night.
plausible theory advanced by certain Har-
lem citizens who witnessed the seeming phenom-
enon They were almost directly across from the
fire a; Fort Lee, and they say the Eight in the SKY
reflected from the Hudson River They ex-
planned that the light from the fire reached the
ri,- hatu tNyo blltl1 a
lively close together This threw uniform pencil
Of light through this aperture TO the place river
and the river acting as a large mirror threw the
reflection into the clouds.
This theory seemed plausible TO the witnesses
on the New-York side Of the river that they took
II the solution and mu' relieved went 10 their
Professor John Krom Rees. professor Of astron-
home No. West Seventy second-st.. and his
opinion was solicited He at once advanced the
theory Of reflection from the river surface lie
had not at that time heard OF the two buildings,
and asked how he would account for the uni
formity Of the light pencil. He said II made the
problem hard to solve. and asked II II were not
mailing.
Later in the evening IT generally conceded
riddle and that the light was caused by reflection
The flames appear to have started in room IN
the east end OF the hotel which 1 was usea sea r as
anywhere In that part OF the building. rms is
thought to indicate that the building was set on
fire. Two months ago small shanty close to the
hotel. used In the summer as peanut stand; was
fire and the hotel was endangered, but 1t did
There was no water supply and all that used
had TO be carried In buckets from the river. The
hotel was built almost entirely Of yellow pine and
the heat intense Trees nifty feet from the hotel
charred
Michael Lang the Waterman and caretaker. and
fire broke out They escaped with nothing but
what they at the time.