The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-10-25
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
Arp on the Meteors--As to Their Origin he
Says he Knows n othing.
Atlanta Constitution.

A friend living in Arkansas writes
me about the recent fall Of a meteor
near his home, and he compliments me
by asking some questions that | can
not answer. The origin of meteors
and their flight and fall is yet the un-
solved problem Of the ages.
He says that on the 26th Of last
month, at s o'clock in the morning,
when there was clear sky and not a
cloud to be seen, there was rumbling
sound Of thunder so weird and unnat-
ural that it was alarming. 1t was like
the rolling Of heavy trucks over an
uneven platform, only Immensely
louder. 1t was heard in all the neigh
boring towns, and they all telegraphed
each other to know if mill had not
blown up OF a magazine exploded.
Suddenly there was an explosion. in
the air and a dark cloud formed and
meteoric fragments fell at different
places in this vicinity. A small piece
that weighed one and a half pounds
fell in field near by and wasShrough ht
to town while it was yet hot. 1t was
powder-blackened GU the outside, but
inside was grayish color, and its
particles shone like gold dust. Under
the microscope they resembled quick
silver.
It was full minute from the begin
ming Of the rumbling thunder till the
explosion came, and the course Of the
sound was from east to west. The
event was SO unexpected, and so like
the mythology Of Jupiter tonans
throwing ,bumb from Mt. Olympus
that the white people were spellbound,
and the negroes declared it warning
and went to prayer.
Philosophers and astronomers have
been studying these phenomena for
$500 years, and have not yet agreed
upon a solution. The archives of the
Chinese empire record the fall Of six
teen great aerolites from 300 to 900
years before Christ. The Greeks and
Romans record number, and Aristotle
and Diogenes commented upon them.
So did Livy, Plutarch and Pliny.
They have beer seen SO large that the
estimated weight Of the fragments
after the explosion was 10000 pounds,
and the light was so brilliant as to
pole the sun by day and obscure the
moon by night. There is now in Che
Yale college cabinet fragment that
weighs 1 ,635 pounds. This came from
near the Red river in Arkansas. Many
Of the western States have furnished
specimens for the museums Of colleges.
and all Of them are composed OF the
same mineralingredients principally
iron-and include copper, tin, sulphur,
carbon and other metals known 20 our
own earth. Not a single new SUBJ
stance has ever been discovered, and,
for this reason the theory obtained
that they were thrown up from our
own volcanoes with such force as to
wander for a time in the outer atmos-
phere of the earth, and to revolve
with the earth. But this theory has
long since been abandoned, for they
seem to have an orbit Of their own
from west to east. Them came, a
theory that they came from the moon,
and were of volcanic origin, and were
thrown ous with such terrific force as
TO get beyond the moons iudnence
and within that oe the earth. But
this was discredited because these
fragments have been falling, no doubt,
for thousands of years on the land and
on the sea, and on all countries, and
would have by this time materially
diminished the size and weight Of the
moon. La Place and Humbolt favor
ed this moon theory for time. But
our modern astronomers, such as Pro-
fessors Arago and Almst.d and Bow
ditch declare that. meteors are simply
clouds or nebulea of meteoric planets
that have motion and orbit of their
own. and that orbit sometimes comes
within range Of the earth's and pro-
duces commotion-a disturbance
that causes the fall Of some OF their
own nebulea. Some of the children
got TOO far away from their mother, |
reckon.
Sometimes meteors are simply lumi-
nous and nave no body to explode or
strike the earth. These have periodic
vibrations Of thirtyfour years. They
come in showers as thick as snow
fakes, and fall as gently to within a