The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1899-12-08
EPPI, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8. $780,
THE METEOR DISPLAY.
Scientific American.

OclentlnC huor1can.
The meteor display on November IA,
Is and l6 was disappointing. Unfa-
vorable conditions hampered the as
tronomers at the Naval Observatory
at Washington on the l4th: clouds
prevented observations until 3 O'Clock
\. m. and it was only partially clear
at any time. Paths OF ten LeOnid
meteors were plotted on the star
chart. One OF these was as bright as
second magnitude star, but the 9TH
ers we're fainter. The conditions al
the Harvard Observatory were very
unfav0rahle for observing the meteoric
display. The efforts Of the observers
met with some success, however. On
November 10Th twenty meteors were
seen about s o'clock a. N. at Chicago;
the student watchers had an Opportu-
nifty which was denied to the astronO-
mers OF Yerkcs Observatory. At the
Flower Observatory OF the University
OF Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, the
watchers recorded l02 meteors, SO OF
which were Leonids.
Nearly all the nleteors observed
were faint, only few Of them being
OF the second magnitude. Most Of
the nOn-Le0nids were scarcely dis
ccrnible. In no instance did a me-
te0r leave trail visible for more than
few seconds. The Harvard Obser-
vatory counted 81, but the display
hardly came up to the expectations OF
the astronomers. Professor Howe, OF
the University OF Denver reported
that he counted Is LeOnids besides a
large number of meteors in other por-
tions OF the sky. On November IA
many students OF Princeton stayed
out long after midnight to observe
them, and in order that all might
have an opportunity OF observing
them, the bells in the town rang to
wake up the students at one o'clock.
No photographs were taken Of the
few stray meteors that were seen.
At McGill University photographs OF
1856 metcors were obtained. At Lima
Perm, at half past II o'clock on Nov.
18th, there was strong earthquake
shock, but no celestial phonomena
were observed. BY the falling Of an
aerolite seven miles south OF Crescent
City, Ill. residence was partly
wrecked, tearing away portion OF the
upper story. The aerolite buried it,
self in the ground about three feet
from the foundation OF the house.
In England balloon made an as
cens,on for the purpose of observing
the Le0nid shower. The observers
saw only five meteors, and they we're
obliged to make "a sudden descent. as
the balloon was drifting toward the
sea. As a result two OF the three oc-
cupants OF the balloon were injured.
Generally speaking, the Europe
an, observations proved fail
urc, except in the Austrian Alps,
where on November 18th no less than
800 Leonids were seen and photo.
graphed. One hundred were seen at
Paris, and a fair display at Brussels.
The most interesting reports receiv-
ed from the observations In the
United States on Nov. Is is dispatch
unsubstantiated as yet by astronOmi-
cal authorities, to the effect that a
large metcorite fell in the woods just
east of Webster City, Iowa. The dis
petch said that the falling body came
down with a terrific roar and all seeth-
ing and smoking, plowed out u hole in
the grond fifty feet square. II the re-
port Is verified, the find will be more
than usually interesting because,
while meteorites at times fall to the
earth, II IL not known that any Of the
Leonids have hitherto penetrated
through the earth's dense atmosphere
without being consumed.
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