The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-02-11
A HUGE ME1EORIIE.
WAS BROUGHT BY ulEUTEN
1 ANT PEARY FROM MEL.
WILLIE BAY.


r. Largest Known in the World
1ts Eskimos Called it "The Tent
Lay for Unknown Centuries o.
- Coast Of Greenland.
~ long ago curious crowds wer
8mbled in front of the New Yorl
ahum Of National History, scruti
- with fascinated interest an i'm
20 piece of metal that looked lik,
julder, says the New York Times
U-ive horses had dragged i
ugh the streets, and it had beer
fht up to the museum on a greaI
IN to be unloaded on a pedesta
I'D to receive it.
IFS mass is probably the largest
Dorite known in the world. II
(hs forty tons, and was brought
RI the coast Of Greenland by Lieu
mt Peary. 1t is the last Of three
orites known to the Eskimo as
tWoman, the Dog and the Tent.
hferesting as it IS to scientists, its
1nge history and traditions make
kB interesting to ordinary people.
this mass Of me1al, reposing on
18th in the heart of New York, and
eped at with pocket knives by ir-
rent messenger boys, may date
y before the advent of man.
80 unknown centuries it lay in a
almost inaccessible, retreat on
Airozen coast of Greenland, known
IN to the Eskimo. For the best
4 Of a century European explorers
= hunting for a vaguely rumored
Mountain" supplyirg iron to
inland. They never found it, and
~ was the first white man to put
- on It and see in the tabled noun
this ancient visitor from the sky.
3pts monster is the Tent. The
pan and the Dog are already in
Possession Of the museum. Peary
t(sht them here years ago, but it
n two journeys to bulge the Tent
@ Its ancient moorings in the ice
E rocks, and it was with almost
<1dfble difficulty that he got it
~ to the astonishment Of the Eski-
Zen these three great meteorites
I'D on the coast Of Greenland no
II can say. The meteorites may
IA come to Greenland before man
Tor all that is known to the con-
R In support Of this possibility
a pointed out that the Woman and
we're not imbedded in the ground,
fMere the rocks below them crush
G broken by their fall. The me-
lte3 themselves were not scratch
E@ cut by striking the rocks. They
H therefore, have fallen in the gla-
period and have landed upon the
"a sheet of ice that covered the
which long after melted and
Them gradually down.
L it is more probable that man
= already there when the meteor
II came. for the Eskimos have a
l6 about them to the effect that |
came from heaven. It is argued
4ethe Eskimos had simply found |
thefe, they would have supposed |
4 Emeteorites to be ordinary rocks,
at all events would have had no
On to .ascribe a heavenly origin |
lem. Perhaps their fall was brok-
Spy a great snow-drift, through
i@ they forced their way to the
& where they were found.
re Eskimo legend is that origi-
y the three were actually wom-
"a dog, and a tent. The woman
1ee the dog and lived in the tent;
Tonarsuk, the evil spirit, threw
Il from the sky. The woman re-
loles saH:thing feminine very lit
|AoeE but the Eskimos say that
l1G the meteorite had the shape
0farf seated and sewing. They
tGig meteorite for their iron sup
skipping off pieces to point their
poons; and in the constant process
lenturies the upper portion of her
4 disappeared in this way. She is
konly about half her original size.
Yer centuries had gone by the
0f the woman was detached from
rest CT the body. Some Eski-
conceived the idea Of taking the
away to their home, SO as to
ne difficult and perilous journey
ever they needed iron. They
le head loaded on sledge and
across the sea ice. Suddenly
mb.ed under them and broke.
into the water went the head,
with it the sIedge and the
The men just saved themselves
e most violent cxertions, from
dA too. A superstitious awe
on the Eskimos when this story (
4rrated, and nobody ever dared
fp take away any portion OF the
f1tes except just what was need. t
their stock of iron. (
day about nine years ago I
while spending a night in an G
10 settlement in Whale Sound, Z
across small 'soodco,' or wom- S
aife. The edge was composed !
small pieces of iron. He asked t
Il came from and was told 1T {
"a the Great Iron. it is very