Washington sentinel., 1899-11-25
'.> ,,,l SENTINEL
The wonders Of Star showers.
Gfntleman's MagaEfne.

years lnGTS nave DSen TSLIlaIkaO D e
star showers IN the years 1899,
1888 and 1866. The shower of
1899 was we'll seen by Humboldt
and Bonpland at Cumana in South
America. Bonpland stated that
all through the display there was
not a space in the sky equal TO
three diameters OF the moon that
was not necessarily filled with
shooting stars and freb allsl One
observer, who observed it at sea
of the coast OF Florida, describes
the phenomenon as "grand and
awful; the whole heavens appeared
is if illuminated by sky rockets
which disappeared only by the
light Of the sun after daybreak.
The meteors, which at one instant
Of time appeared as numerous as
tn , stars, flew in all possible di-
rections, except from the earth,
towards whi IN they inclined more
or less. s.and some OF them descended
perpendicularly over the vessel l
was in, so that | ielt in constant
dread OF their falling on US"
During the shower Of IS33.which
was probably the finest on record,
Olmsted and another observer es-
timated the number OF meteors
that appeared as 24o, 900 in nine
hours. Major Strickland, in his
work Twenty. seven Years in
Canada West" thus describes this
wonderful star shower: think it
was on November IA, 1883. that /
witnessed one Of the most splendid
spectacles in the world. My wife
awoke me between two and three
o'clock in the morning to tell me
that it lightened necessarily. l
Immediately arose and looked out
OF the window, when l was per-
iectly dazzled by a brilliant display
Of falling stars. AS this extraordi-
nary phenomenon did not disap-
pear, we dressed ourselves and
went to the door, where we con-
tinued to watch the beautiful
shower OF FIRE till after daylight.
These bodies became visible in
the zenith, taking the northeast in
their descent. Few of them ap-
peared to be OF lesser size than
star Of the first magnitude; very
many among them seemed larger
than Venus. Two Of them in par
ticular appeared halt as large as
the Moon. | should think, with
out exaggeration, that several
hundred oi these beautiful stars
were Wis sble at the same time, all
falling in the same direction, and
leaving in their wake a long stream
ot FIRE. his appearance continued
without intermIssion from the
time ! got up until af er sunrise.
No description Of mine can give
an adequate idea of the magnifi-
cence of this scene, which l would
not willingly have missed. This
remarkable phenomenon occurred
on clear and frosty night, when
the ground was covered with about
an inch OF snow" Another OBJ
server says; within the scope
that the eve could contain more
thaul twenty could be seen az a
time, shooting in every direction.
NOT c-iiO::G obscured the broad
eXpanse, and millions OF meteors
sped their way across it on every
point of the compass. Their cor
uscations were bright, cleaning,
and incessant, and they fell thick
as the fakes in the early SHOWS of
December. One was witnessed
which left a steady path OF light
that was clearly discernible for
more than ten minutes after the
ball had exploded. Compared with
the splendor OF this celestial ex-
hihition the most brilliant IOels..ts
and fireworks oi art bore less rela-
ton than the twinkling OF the most
tiny star to the broad glare of the
sun" This great shower created
CONSERVATION among the negroes
OF South Carolina. and a planter
describes the scene as follows: 81
was suddenly awakened BY the
most distressing cries that ever fell |
on my ears. Shrieks OF horror and
cries for mercy / could hear from |
most OF the negroes of the three
plantations, amounting in all to
a Dout GOO or 300. While earnestly
listening for the cause, heard a
iaint noise near the door calling
my name. l arose, and taking nv |
sword, stood at the door. At this |
moment l head the same voice still !
beseeching me to rise, and saying, |
oh, my God, the world is ahreli |
then opened the door, and It is
to say which excited me
most--the awiulness OF the situa-
ton or the distressed cries of the
negroes. Upwards OF a hundred
ay PROSTATE on the ground, some
'peechless and some with the Bit
crest cries, but with their hands
lpraised, imploring God to save
he whole world and them. The
scene was truly awful, for never
lid rain tall much thicker than the
neteors fell towards the earth;
east, west, north, and south it was
he same"
The star shower OF November.
1866, was also fine one, although
t did not equal that OF 1888. 1t
commenced a few minutes alter
Midnight on the morning Of Nov.
4. The observations made at
greenwich Observatory show that
bout 10 meteors per minute were
Ilsible at f2:45. There was then
drop to 50 per minute, and a sud-
len rise at A. n. to Izo a minute
The number then fell to about 50.