The record-union., 1899-11-17
The MEIE0RIc SHOWERS.
HAVE NOT BEEN WITNESSED IN
LARGE NUMBERS.
Falling Aero1ite Partially Wrecks
a Residence Near Crescent
City, Illinois.

miles south of Crescent City the resi-
dence of John Meyers was partially
wrecked, and the neighbOrhOOd was
panic-stricken. The meteor came from
a point in the sky little east of south
and struck the north end of the house,
tearing away part of the upper
story. The aerolite buried itself in the
ground about three feet from the foun-
dation of the house.
NEW YORK, Nov 16.-Professor
Rees of Columbia and Mr.. Moore of
Harvard are at Charles A. Posts OBJ
servatory at Bayport, L. l., watching
for the showers of meteors. They had
little luck up to 2 o'clock this morning,
when the sky which had been overcast
for about forty Eight hours, cleared.
During the following two hours sew
eral photographs were obtained. Fifty
nine meteors in all were counted dur
ing the morning. Only one of those was
classed as of the first magnitude. None
of the meteors sighted exploded and
few left trails. Professor ReeS said he
feared the observations in this part of
the country had all been failures. He
said there was possibility that the
showers had not yet passed by.
WASHINGTON, Nov 16.-The Rev.
Professor Hogan of Georgetown Uni
versity Observatory, who watched for
the leonid meteors, saw only one me-
teor during last nights observations.
This was between l and l 80 Thursday
morning. The meteor, the Professor
says, flashed up from the radiant point
five minutes past one like a star Of the
second magnitude, and moved rapidly
in "a direction southwest, leaving a
short trail, and exploding with a bril-
liancy like the planet Venus in it's
greatest splendor. 1t was a genuine
leonid, but a solitary wanderer
DENVER, Nov 16-A shower of
meteors was observed this morning at
University Park by Dean Howe and a
corps of assistants, but there was
nothing like the number that had been
expected. Photographs were taken.
About l O'Clock the leonids commenced
to shoot, but rapid work did not COM
mence until nearly 4 o'clock One
company of watchers counted sixty
three leonids in fifteen minutes. AL
though DR.. Howe is hoping that the
climax of the shower is not vet reached
he is not certain that it has not already
passed. in which case it has been missed
by the astronomers all over the world.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 16.-At the
Flower Observatory of the University
of Pennsylvania the watchers record
lO2 meteors, sixty-nine of which were
leonids, from midnight until $50
O'Clock this morning. The astronomers
at this observatory believe the earth
has passed the swarm of leonids
PRINCETON On. j., Nov. 16.-At-
tempts of Professor Young and Pro-
lessor Libby to photograph the me-
teors last night resulted in but little
success
CHICAGO, Nov. 16.-Thirty meteors
were reported in sight in the eastern
sky just before dawn this morning. and
several photographs were secured by
Professor Bough at Northwestern Uni
verSity. Owing to the brilliancy of
the moon at the time of the observa-
tons, no leonides fainter than a star
of the second magnitude could be SEEN
Three particularly bright ones were
observed.
MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 16.-ProfesSor
W. w. Paine wires from the North
lows:
THE twenty five observers watching
for leonid meteors saw not more than
twenty leonides during the whole
night. The display was very weak
The maximum of this return was Ger
tainly not visible. -
+ LONDON, Nov. 16.-A balloon. with
Percy Spencer. the aeronaut, the R=v.
j. M. Bacon and Miss Bacon, assembled
at A O'Clock yesterday morning from
Newbury, Berkshire, for the purpose
scending near Meath, South Wales,
this afternoon. The observers saw
only five meteors, but were near
enough to catch some of the fiery vapor
by a special apparatus. They were
obliged to make a sudden descent, as
the balloon was drifting toward the sea.
AS a result Mr.. Bacon was badly
shaken, and his daughters arm was
fractured
A few leonids were seen from the
Greenwich Observatory, although no
were secured, and a few
also were observed at Romsey, Hamp-
shire, and from the Treplow Observa-
tory. None, however, seem to have
been seen elsewhere, and generally
speaking the European observations
proved failure.
In Russia the leonid displays caused
a panic in many places It was be-
lieved that the end of the world had
come. Churches were opened all night
long, and hundreds of thousands spent
three nights in the open air. fearing
earthquakes and a general cataclysm.
There are even rumors that in some
villages Russian parents murdered thsir
children to save them from an expected
worse fate.
There was rather brilliant display
between 2 and o'clock Tuesday morn
ing at Berlin.
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 16.-Pro-
fessor James E. Keller, Director of
the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton,
telegraphs the Associated Press as fol-
lows:
1.-THE sky was visible at intervals last
night. Some leonids were seen, but
the number was not unusual The main
swarm may be a day or two late, 9TH
erwise possibly a whole year. or It
may fail altogether, as in 1776.''
A Pear Tree $50 Years Old.
About twenty members of the Water