Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-16
HUNTING FOR METEORITEs.

Rochester Herald: Professor Henry A.
Ward, president Of Wards Natural
Science establishment. has just returned
from a long trip abroad, where he has
been engaged in the unique and unusual
pursuit of hunting for meteorites. He rs
spending a few days in Rochester, devot-
ing time to classifying and arranging his
newly acquired specimens.
Il went abroad" said the professor in
response to an inquiry, 'entirely in the
interest of my private collection. of me-
t%eorites, a collection which l am hoping to
build out so that it will at least rank
among the finest ten collections in the
world. The meteorites ! was after We're
in the hands of royal museums, UNIVERSE
ties and schools of mines, all under gov-
eminent supervision. The only way in
which it was possible for me to get the
desired specimens was to exchange from
my own collection gathered in America
Australia and japan. wanted some of
theirs; they wanted some of mine. And
SO l went.
My route lay through England,
France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Be-
hemia, Holland and Switzerland; then on
to Scandinavia, Copenhagen, Christiania,
Norway, across to Stockholm, Sweden,
Finland, then to St. Petersburg ard the
Baltic provinces and down to Moscow.
In all those places l made exchanges, Civ
ing them my specimens and getting
theirs; fighting out all the terms and de-
tails of the bargain, which sometimes was
very tiresome ard monotonous business.
i, Some of the meteorites I obtained are very
valuable, however, worth as high as two,
three and four II even five times their
weight in gold. S.
after I got through with northern Rus
sia l went south into Asia minor.
Il visited the capital of Persia, Teheran,
spent two weeks there, and saw the mis-
sionaries, the palace of the Shah and
other interesting things. I even got in
side the palace"
did you see the Shah himself? ~ inter-
posed the interviewer.
5 Yes. l obtained an audience of him"
@"Did you find him an arproachabla sort
of a fellow?'
"Not very. He seemed to nave a very
! magnlfied sense of his W Importance
and The magnified sense CT his own inn
%portance ard the undesirabiiity Of con
versipg with ordinary mortals, especial
~ Christians. However, I got what l
went for, a piece of his meteor, called the
Veramn, after the place where it was
+ found 1t is one of a class few in number
and is therefore desirable, and. more than
that, it is now owned by but two persons
, in the world. The Shah has the largest
part Of it. / got only a piece off the end
! My specimen weighs nearly two pounds,
however. Come into the next room and
I will show it to YOU"
The scientist led the way and the scribe
followed. From a case which evidently
had just been opened Professor Ward
took out a dull looking chunk of meteor
lite, which he poised in his hand.
There it is" said he, IAN I would not
exchange it for a lump of gold of the Same
size and weight" And the newspaper
mans mental ejaculation was: "And it
? weighs nearly two pounds!"
"If ever a man went on a wild goose
Z chase" said Professor Ward, sit was
when I went into Persia to get a piece
of the Shah's meteorite. But got It,
and the venerable scientists eyes spark
: led as he said it.
> His journey was entirely successful,
probably beyond the fOndest expscta.
tons of the scientist. His collection of
mateorites has been greatly augmented
until it is now one of the finest four col
lections in America, and, as Professor
Ward himself phrased it, "the end is not
yet"
In addition to the portion of the Shah's
meteorite, which is perhaps the most pre-
cious souvenir Of the journey. Professor
Ward has brought back home with him. a
piece of the famous Ensisheim meteorite.