The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1899-11-09
STARS WILL FALL.
Hosea Barns Contributes An Interesting
Article on the Coming Meteoric Shower

The great star shower due on the 14th
of this month is looked for with inter
est all over the civilized world. Shoot
ing stars may be expected in abund-
ance on the night of the 18th and will
be equally plentiful as late as the night
of the 18th; but the big display is pre-
dicted for the first date mentioned.
OF course the little bits of iron of
which the meteors are principally
formed, will be falling through the
earth's atmosphere during the day
time as well as at night, but unless
some unusually large piece comes to
us, none will be visible except to those
from the sun. Meteors have been seen
in the day time, but instances of that
kind are very rare. To be seen by
daytime the piece of meteoric iron or
stone must be very large, that is to say,
must weigh a pound or more. The
weight of most shooting stars is very
small, varying from a few grains to
a few ounces, the majority not exceed
ing size kernels of wheat or corn. The
immense velocity with which they are
causes them to burn and it is rare that
one reaches the earth before it is en-
tirely consumed.
The meteors expected on or about
November IS are believed, in fact they
are almost known to be the fragments
of comet that went to pieces about
5000 years ago. Astronomers have
theory for the explosion or disruption
of the comet, but we have no space for
it here. The original comet made its
circuit around the sun in about thirty
three yeays and at one point in it's
orbit it crossed the orbit of the earth.
We know what happens when two
street cars moving at full speed reach
a grade crossing at the same instant,
and can imagine what might have
occurred if the comet we are speaking
of and the earth had been scheduled to
reach the grade crossing of their orbits
at the same moment. Fortunately,
during all the ages of the earth's his
tory the time of crossing was either a
little ahead or a little behind that of
the comet, otherwise this article would
never have been written.
But when the Gomez went to pieces,
it's millions of millions of minute
fragments were spread out into a
great cloud, hundreds of thousands of
miles in thickness and hundreds of
millions of miles in length. In fact,
this cloud of meteoric stones, as they
are frequently called, has become so
extended that it goes clear around the
entire orbit or path of the original
comet, SO that on the 18th of November
each year the earth encounters many
"shooters' at the grade crossing to
which we have referred.
The densest part of this great me
teoric cloud which occupies that point
in space where the nucleus or head of
the comet would be had not disaster
overtaken it 5000 years ago, is what we
are about to pass through and it will
take about three days to do it, as the
slow old earth only travels about one
million five hundred and eighty thous-
and miles in day.
The best time to witness the great
star shower, which promises to eclipse
anything of the kind since 1888, is
after midnight, when we will be on
that side of the earth which is facing
the storm Unfortunately, the moon
will be at it's full Nov. II, which will
interfere to some extent with the bril-
1iancy of the display.
HOSEA BARNS.