The Portland daily press., 1899-08-31
A METEORITE THAT BURST.
Observers Out Denver Way Thinks
They Saw and Heard the Explosion.

The astronomers of America are all on
the alert for news of large meteorite of
undetermined lineage. which blew up In
the close proximity of Denver soon after
midnight, Aug, s. Bursting meteorites
are rare, according to Porf. Herbert K.
Howe who noted this one while observ-
ing stardrst through his big telescope
at University park. All the professor saw
was greenish white streak scudding
across the sky, but he heard plainly the
rum bling report which followed the sup
posed explosion of the meteorite. He Is
satisfied, however, that what crossed his
vision was only part of the ethereal wan
derer'a tail.
Desiring fuller information concerning
the disputed section Of planet, Prof.
Howe requested that others who may
have seen 1t should communicates with
him. He was especially interested be-
cause of the fact that he had never before
seen a meteorite in the act of bursting.
In response to Prof. Howe's CALL his
brother astronomers, who were up late on
the eventful night and may have seen
what he did, will publish their observa-
| tions. Meantime, two descriptions of
| the meteor have come to the Denver Uni
versity astronomers from local witnesses
| of Its advent -.
John Nichols, Jr., of Golden, writes:
"About 1.20 O'Clock in the morning of
Aug. 8, Mr.. j. ID. Williams of this place
| and myself were chatting ON the street,
whom suddenly the whole place became
| as bright as day and we heard a loud
| rushing noise. Looking up, we beheld
4 lxIyhu fa.d Nr hn NxaIt
sweep through the heavens from east to
west, and burst away in the west. In
| its onward rush through the sky 1t
seemed to separate and leave behind it a
kind of tail of fire, of faint greenish
tinge. 1t was certainly one of the grand
est sights have ever SEEM"
This account Of the coloss II skyTooket's
flight WAS given Prof. Howe by X. p.
| reynolds, 1882 Lincoln avenue 81 was
| on Thirteenth avenue, near Pearl street,
| on the morning in question, at, I think.
about l.l5, and was suddenly startled by
bright flash of light l looked up and
saw large streak Of fire shooting across
the sky. 1t resembled huge skyrock-
ct and travelled from east to west. slight
ly inclined to the southwest. 1t was not
directly over me, but nearly so. and a lit
tie to the south. thought l heard 1t
hiss as 1t went by, but this may have
been my Imagination. The trail left by
1t lasted for several minutes after the
| flash.
| Prof. Howe announces the meteorite
described above by the stranger, and
not at all to be oonfounded with the little
ones which filter through the sky dur
Ing the month of August. He says 10 is
an utter tramp and believes that 1t may
have brok en- away from the sun. Under
the telescope large masses of flaming gas
are frequently seen to shoot out into
space from the suns surface. In some of
| these the force of propulsion Is so low-
erful that fragments from the general
mass pursue their untraced way through
the heavens until they come within the
range of attraction of the earth or some
other large body. when they find "a rest
ing place.
All the meteorites or portions of them
which have been found on earth were al
most entirely composed of iron. Never
theless, in their original volatile state,
they were mostly plain hydrogen gas.
In illustration OF this Prof. Howe relates
story which he credits to the reports of
an eminent British astronomical institu-
ton. He says that once the society came
into possession Of solar meteorite. 1t
was placed In large darkened room and
under the application OF a powerful pump
the massive lump Of cold iron gave forth
sufficient hydrogen gas to light the room
brilliantly, when a match mad been set
to the spout of the pump. Which goes
to show that there is more in meteorites
than unscientific man In his utmost
stretch Of credibility ever dreamt of.