The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-06
THE STRANGEST
j THING EVER SAW
A Fors,Asts N the Day d jada.
msnt Given 10 4 Ship's CFew
~ . WAmlns Meteor.

4sfss' ~ 30 rssiW -, ~ Cf,ssfs' A.
arlseflan IN thta es~ h tho hsfiea' raN
N nv iass taes serH ~ maNy strange
things In nv ytr@i eafeef sshofv apd
tdua' thtt | hardly N Nv Nhich ~ them
fnHv assign the efeeHihent postioh ~
srshees, snd. N cuufa- " may cell hT
thas wbaf atreafa ~ ma tho afaneest
n nv estuflsners mav tur lark ~ arpfecia.
tIan apfesf sitnus' ~cummonrlace ~ nv
fNaslrfs
sin, after m snsfhoon's ue'ilstlye
rcvies " tho occurrences ~ q ifrtime
haya runs to The conclusion that ~ faf
~ nv ~psrc~ptinna arr concerned tho sfahe.
80 thing I svef cav h%apren~f ons niaht
In the north Atlantic In fhr month NJ Feb.
rtary, is7o, that u, when ! vas " years
nd ~ had experienced more vicissitudea
than fall ~ tho lot ~ m1ai ~ mr. citizens
MI then lives long am supported
In ,hia idea by the vivid recollection ~ the
fcfnaska paasssd Nv every member N tho
| crww Allei, conversation In That ship wa
carried m In n curious medley ~ Spanish
anil French. for va hal shlpred m entire
CROW In Havana, the original ships rom.
pany having al died NJ yellow fever, and aa
many nailonaltiea were represented ~ there
were individuals.
Tho skipper vas Welsh Yankee. Tho mate
Scotch, the second mate Canadian, the
carpenter Russian Finn. tho cook and
steward tone individually Dominican. the
crew swedish, French, Montenegrin, italian.
Greek. Austrian. American, negro, on
man who did not know where he was born,
hut was probably Portuguese, and myself.
n Londoner. The ship hailed from 81.
Andrews. n g..
So much by way 81 introduction. We
left Mobile. Ala with cotton bound fer
Liverpool and after not more tina n tho usual
amount Of knocking about. co considering the
time Of year. found ourselves we'll out In
the Atlantic. cant, Of course, tell where,
except that I know we were we'll clear
of the American land.
We had w~eathered q tremendous gale
and the consequent sea had died down very
quickly, 10 that on the night Of which I
speak we had almost a perfect calm and
smooth water, sa We for the inevita BILE swell.
I belonged to tho port watch. which came
on deck at midnight. and as soon as wheel
and lookout were relieved I cuddled down
on the after hatch by the side OF my chum,
Louis Diedlot Of Bordeaux, and we carried
on our usual unsatisfa Glory conversation In
broken Spa nish, he moving no English ind
/ no French.
The sky was utterly devoid Of cloud
and the moon had set. Lying there, look
ing up into the immensely, the star beams
seemed TO pierce my eyeballs and ] fancied
them quite near. while the awful void be-
hind them filed me with a & fear.
But l could not help staring upward into
infnity and wondering, as primitive folks
have ever wondered, what was beyond.
Then suddenly out q that da rk violet
hea ven there burst a sun globe Of fire
so brillian nj that its light struck the eye
with acute pa in. Nor did it come silently.
A report as OF a great gun fred rever-
berated sullenly along the silence Of the
mid -sea.
The first anna zing splendor OF this celestial
portent only lasted a fra ction OF a second,
then as it rushed it's way round an arc of
the hea vens it left a wide ba nd Of light behind
1t with kissing sound, as II it sped through
wet mist At the same time it threw of a
multitude Of ~varicolored sparks, I suppose
I must call them, but really stars would
convey a better idea Of the appea IA noe
Of these lovely coruscations They were
audible, too, above the kissing already
noticed, the sound they made being like that
Of the firing Of a ca mon hea I'd at n immense
distance.
How long the splendor Of this celestial
visitant endured I cannot tell. I only kno
that | lay in acutest terror with parched
lips and heaving bowels expecting the ap-
pearance in the heavens OF the Great White
Throne and the myrlads Of angels such as
I had so often read Of in the Apocalypse.
Why I did not die Of fright I do not know,
but my little French shipmate was in even
worse case than 1. Though the night
was very warm. where his hand clutched
my arm / was conscious Of an icy chill,
and with the other hand he frantically re-
peated the sign Of the cross as his lips NUT
tered necessarily, unintelligibly.
The vast meteor almost completed the
circuit Of the horizon, perhaps it took fifteen
seconds, perhaps five minutes to do so, !
cannot tell, for those seconds seemed like
hours, and then with one perfectly binding
blaze Of glory, a definite report and a smell
az ofburning sulphur, it burst into thousands
Of dazzling fragments and disappeared,
leaving the mighty oncave for the moment
quite black by comparison with its pre-
viously intense light, and the stars, though
plainly visible, quite dull and lustreless.
What I thought or what l felt cannot
tell; as far as mortal fear permitted me to
think at.all my mind was filed with frag-
ments of the Apocalypse and interjectional
prayers while l shivered as if with severe
ague. Somehow l felt sure that this amaz-
ing appearance was only the prelude, the
introduction to something greater.
In fact l felt certain that the end of all
things was at hand. And as far as the
idea was concerned l was perfectly
right. One by one the stars began to fall,
that is, to all appearance, for what did 1
know Of meteor showers, and, as l have
said, the stars had ceased to shine after
the first phenomenon and only appeared
like tiny white speoks against the sombre
background Of the night
These falling stars then began their
vagaries one by one, timidly. tentatively,
as il just feeling their way, in no case differ
emit from the insignificant meteors which