The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1899-06-09
SHOOTING STARSLAND
Many Tons Of Them Reach the
Earth Every Day.
sueh II the Theory Of an Astronom-
zeal Authority-Interes Par
ticulars of q Recent
Lecture.

Sir Robert Ball, president OF the
Royal Astr 1nomical society, delivered
in the BirkEeck institute recently the
first of the lectures arranged for the
present season. His subject was 1.-The
Lances of Heaven telling about the
great showers of shooting stars that
may be expected in November, 1898. or
1899. For period of thousand years
great showers of stars had required
every 33 years with more or less rcgu-
larity. The first that took place in this
country was en- November 10, 1888. An
ordinary shoe ting star, even though 1t
traced out I, brilliant streak across the
star-spangled vaults, was by no means
a large object. A meteor was not SO
big as the moon. The shooting star
was less than mountain or a hill;
it was even smaller than a cottage; not
often were the shooting stars SO heavy
as turnip, or even as potato; and
many a bright shooting star was no
larger than an ordinary bean; they
were frequently not SO large as pea.
Among the innum cradle myriads of
shooting stars many were, in truth.
neither larger nor heavier than the
grains of Sand on the seashore. For
thousands O. years-he believed for
tens or hundreds of thousands Of years
the little meteor had been hurrying
through space with that extraordinary
speed which utterly transcribed any
velocity that could be produced on
earth. The earth was bombarded by
shooting stars, day and night, year in
and year out by hundreds Of thousands
of them. which, though small. possessed
extraordinary power for doing mis-
chief If the meteors were not arrested
in their frenzied light and rendered
perfectly harmless he could not tell
what the result would be. They were
often exactly in the line of fire of the
great November shower, and the very
fury with which these lances of heaven
tried to get a: us was the source of our
salvation. The speed of their flight
was SO preposterous that the shooting
star became transformed into streak
Of harmless end beautiful vapor. On
the most moderate computation, scores
of tons of meteoric matter were added
each day to the previous mass of the
earth. Since the queen came to the
throne the earth had acquired not less
than half a million tons of additional
matter. which had been gathering from
the depths of space. No one could tell
where this matter was not to be found.
On lofty Alpine submits, amid the eter-
nal SHOWS, whose putty had never been
suilied by smoke from furnaces. minute
particles were found, bearing evidence
of having been fused by intense heat.
Such particles were the poor residues
OF glorious shooting stars which had
originated in comets. Amid the ooze
that came up from the bottom of the
Atlantic were many little particles
which had merely exchanged their po-
sition from the depths of space to the
depths of ocean. For they were the
spoils Of the shooting stars which had
dropred into the sen. The notes which
footed so beautiful, ly in the sunbeam
frequently comprised heavenly contri-
buttons. The burrows turned over by
the pillow of the hushandman contained
no insignificant proportion of materials
which in the lapse of illimitable ages
OF geological time had been gathered in
from the tails of mighty comets. Grains
of corn owed something to the gentle
rain of meteoric matter, as we'll as to
the gentle rains of more familiar de-
scription. The loaf as it came to the
table contaiced within it particles
which had voyaged for uncounted thou
sands of centuries Of time through IL
limitable millions OF space. Thus to
provide the actual material of our
bodily frame the remotest realms Of
srace had been laid under contribution
The life Of everyone present was at
that moment in intimate association
with particles that had been brourht
thither by shooting stars These wor..
ders OF the shooting stars did but lead
them to think of those fine words OF
Eus'lin: 1T is bur the outer hem of
Gods great mantle our poor stars dc
gem. London Standard.
Rcpclling an Insinuation.
He was confirmed old bachelor. but
in rash moment he bad consented
to stand up with young friend. The