The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-23

build out so that il will at least rank
among the finest ten collections in the
world. The meteOrites ] was after were
ia the hands of royal museums UNIVERSE
ties and schools of mines. all under gov
ernment supervision. The only way in
which il was possible for me 20 get the
desired specimens was to exchange from
my own collection gathered IN America,
Australia and Japan. 1 wanted some of
theirs; they wanted some Of mine. And
SO / went
My route lay through England, France,
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia,
Holland and Switzerland; then on 10
Scandinavia, Copenhagen, Christiania,
Norway, across 20 Stockholm. Sweden,
Finland. then 10 St. Petersburg and the
Baltic provinces and down 10 MOSCOW. In
all those places I made exchanges, Civ
ing them my specimens and getting theirs;
lighting out all the terms and details Of
the bargain which sometimes was very
tiresOme and mOnotonous business. Some
of the nleteorites / obtained are very val
liable, however, worth as high as two
three and four and even five times their
weight in gold.
After | got through with Northern
Russia I went south into Asia Minor
Il visited the capital of Persia, Te-
heran, spent two weeks there, and saw
the missionaries. the palace of the Shah
and other interesting things. even got
inside the palace"
Did you see the Shah himself2" inter
posed the interviewer.
Yes, / obtained an audience with
him"
Did you find him an approachable sort
of fellow?"
Not very. He seemed to have very
magnifed sense of his own importance
and the undesirabIity or conversing with
oil.
However, I got what j went for piece
Of his meteor, called the Veramin, after
the place where it was found 1t is one
of a class few in number, and is there
fore desirable, and, more than that 1t is
now owned by bus two persons in the
world The Shah has the largest part
of it. l got only piece of the end. My
specimen weighs nearly two pounds, how
ever. Come into the next room and I
win show it to you"
The scientist led the way and the scribe
followed. From a case which evidently
had just been opened Prof. Ward took
out a dull-looking chunk of meteorite,
which he poised on his hand.
There it Is" said he, land I would
not exchange it for lump Of gold OF the
same size and weight" And the news
paper mans mental ejaculation was:
And it weighs nearly two poundsW
IF ever a man went on a wild goose
chase" said Prof Ward, ut was when
I went into Persia to get piece of the
Shah's meteorite. But l got it," and the
venerable scientists eyes spanked as he
said it.
His journey was entirely successful.
probably beyond the fondest expectations
OF the scientist. His collection of meteor
lies has been greatly augmented until il
is now one of the finest four collections In
America, and. as Prof. Ward himself
phrased it, the end is not yet"
In addition TO the portion of the Shah's
meteorte, which is perhaps the most pre-
cious souvenir of the journey, Prof. Ward
has brought back home with him a piece
of the famous Enslsheim meteorite. which
fell in the Upper Rhine valley about the
time Columbus sighted land in the new
world, the exact date being Nov 26, 1892
This meteorite is one of the Oldest au-
thenticated and one of the most valuable
in the world.
Prof. Ward carried no camera. but he
brings with him several photographs of his
visit 20 the Shah's palace in Teheran, one
showing the scientist with his saw actual
ly at work upon the precious stone, assist
ed by turbaned attendant of the palace.
a peculiar group in the center of the mag
niflcent salon. and another showing the
meteorite upon its accustomed place. be-
fore the saw took off the end of it,