The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-11-11
Lasted Three Hours and He Watched
II From Munjoy Hill.
Many People Were Bad
ly Scared.
Strange Meteor Which Seemed
to Hang Over M0rrills.

Bridqtop, November f0.-"Msny and
many a splendid display of fireworks
have seen on Fourth of July and other
notable occasions; bus none Of them could
compare In the wonder and amazon emit
prod need on my mind with the remarka-
BILE, sublime msteorio shower Of the night
of November Is, 1898. which / saw from
the top Of Munjoy Hill "
The speaker was an aged and highly In
teiIieent Portlandsr with whom was
Oh tting the other day In Con grefs
street store.
al WIS . lad Of only t." he continued.
"but so wildly was that magnificent
and startling spectacle impressed upon
my youthful mind, that long ago - 1t
was, see it In fancy today as freshly ~
then.
"And, bless you. how scared some Of
our people were. During In three hours
of duration many folks actually believed
the day Of Judgment was at hand. to be
ushered In with the rising Of the sun
above the waters Of Casoo Bay.
"As I stood there In the open area Of
that ancient hilltop, with scores OF others,
I was spell. bound by the grand display
of celestial pyrotschnios. Over the en-
tire hsayens ns far as i could see, an mp
p,aance constantly printed itself. for
three hours from O'Clock till daylight
-of surprising grandeur and magnih-
csnoe. All over the sky. which was en-
tirely clear, there was q constant play OF
dazzlinaly brilliant luminosities. Some
of these were Of great size and peculiar
- k.r. nf tvxsA
remained almost stationary In the dfIec-
ton of about north. apparently lowering
over Morrllls Corner.
About how fast did this stars shootf
Well. that's a conumdrum. schooiinats
OF mine, Will johnson, and tried to
count em for five minutes. but our ng-
uTes were widely apart.
''The eminent astronomers. Prof. Arago.
afterwards computed that In the time oo-
cupied by the celestial display not less
than two hundred and forty thousand
mttsors was visible above the horizon
OF one Of our larger New England, Sisis .;
'Why, sir, TO give You some Idea OF
that spectacle you must, az some as.
tronomer expressed 1t, 'imsgine "a con-
slant succession OF ire Rails, resem bling
sky rockets, radiating In all directions
from point in the heavens near the
zenith. and following the ss arch OF the
various distances from the rsdiating
point, leaving after them vivid streak
Of light, and usually exploding before
they disappeared. 1hs balls were Of vari-
Gus sizes and degrees OF splsndor; some
were points, but others were larger and
brighter than Jupiter or Vspus and one
In particular. appeared to my eyes 40 be-
ing nearly az pig as q full moon.
"What, es you recollect, was the state
of the tenn perature at that timer asked.
"As near as l oan remsm Der It was quite
warm-that 10, for that time Of the year
in this latitude. But pretty soon after
oold-as radical q change ss one often sx-
psriencss In Portland ON what starts In
as . mild and comfortable day. when
all at once the wind veers around to tbs
east and chills us to the very marrow"
What was seen In Portland on that me-
morable occa sion was witnessed, In some
slightly varying features, all over the
UnItsd States. Everywhsrs tha first
appearance Of the display was that of trs.
works Of imposing grandeur, covering the
entire Ornament with myriads OF nrs
balls resem bling skyrockets.
In this connection. Prof. Oimstsad re-
ported that son more attentive inspec-
tion it was seen that the meteors exhib-
tied three varieties, those consisting Of
phcsphorio lines, apparently described
by u point; those consisting OF large hre
balls, which at intervals darted along the
sky, leaving luminous trains, which re-
ssmblsd falling stars; and those unde-
Fined luminous bodies which remained
nearly stationary In the heavens for q
considerable period Of time. and which
were Of various Size and form.
Ny aged colIoquist, IN this connection,
referred to "a similar stellar exhibition.
though hardly equal to that in grandeur,
to which the people of this hemisphere
we rstrsated third OF century later,
November IA, 1866.
"ThAt next greatest show on earth,
he remarked, "begun an hour later than
the othsr--at about 8 In the morning.
"a notable feature of this display was
tho sudden shooting out from the direc-
ton Of the constellation Leo Of . meteor
OF gresnish blue color and about the size
of q star of tue first magnitude. which
lighted up the sky with long train OF
crimson fire. then went travelling in
norshwesterly course.
at had scarcely faded from the sight,
when another and equally brilliant,
though not quite as large, sped along In
Its track and 1t was followed by four
teen smaller ones in quick succession.
"Before thu morning sun flashed upon
the gildsd vanes Of Portiand's churches
We were given a series OF exhibitions,
OF a most magnificent kind.
well. the astronomers tell us We may
look for another grand mstaorio display
about the 18th or 10th OF November. i
do hope the sky will be clear. II Ii IL
and the great celestial exhibitions comes
on as predicted. l shall be able to boast
of having seen the three greatest displays
of the kind In the Nineteenth Century,"
gaify remarked the genial old gentleman
Charles o. Sticknsy.