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Last Thursday, in company with John A. Lovely, the senior editor of the Standard boarded the three o'clock train on tbo Southern Minnesota with a tierce determination to see the meteor which fell a tew clays previously near Esthcrvillc, Iowa. At Fairmont we were joined by lion. F. A. Day, editor of tho Sentinel, and at Jackson W. G. Kcllar of this ciiyT enlisted, Friday morning, after looking over the thriving young town of Jacks on, we left for the ruetc-or, reaching the house where it was supposed to be located about three o'clock, having been delayed by a hospitable reception at tlie house of Mr. Day's parents, two miles north of where the meteor fell Mr- ftewey, tho gentleman who had the meteor in charge, declined to permit a view of his strange possession; on the ground that there wus likely to he a legal contest r,b to its ownership, nmi because it was hidden away at some distance, lie gave us all the information in his pow* or as to tbo strange affair, which, however, did not contain anything new, In regard to the ownership of the meteor, it seems the man upon whose land it fell did not take much interest in Ihcuifdler, and permitted other parties to dig it up and lake it away. Afterward a, seeing llie curiosity excited by the article, be concluded it was valuable, and commenced legal proceedings for Us recovery. For Ibis reason the parties holding it had hidden it, and had refused a sight of it to many persons, some of whom had travelled five hundred miles to soejt. Aider considerable parley iv [tli the gentleman* he finally partly promised if we canic buck that way on Sunday to let us yoc it. Wo then resumed our journey towards Spirit Lake, which was the real objective point of our trip, and which we found to be One of' the lowliest places imaginable.On Sunday we came back to Mr, llcw-ey’s, a Lid found that, owing to the rain, be had not expected us, end had not gooe after the meteor. Finally, being advised by Mr. Lovely that his case wus not ben-efitted by ooucealmg the article, he tokl • us to drive to a certain house aiul he would meet us there, which he did, and dug the meteor from the ground where lie had it hid near Uie state line. We found it to be a rough* irregular block, nearly two feet long, about fourteen inches in diameter one way and nine inches the other, almost ilut on one side and round on the olhcr. aucl about the color of iron ore. After we bad examined it ro our salisiacfion, Mr. llewey took it to his house, where, wc suppose, it now ia.The place where it fell 13 about three miles south of the state line, and three miles north of Esterville It struck' in tho edge of a slough* and went into tho ground about fifteen feet, ten of which were in blue clay, It was seen to strike, falling from a clear sky in the daytime* and threw mud and sods far a distance of thirty rods Immediately after it struck a puff of steam arose, indicating that it was in a heated condition. In digging it up numerous smaller pieces were found, including one weighing 32 pounds. The largest one was found to weigh 431 pounds, and the total weight of the pieces was about 500 pounds. Another piece which fell two miles distant weighs 150 pounds. The stream of smoke which followed the descent of the missile was risible at points at least 150 mites apart, and was said to look like a ribbon in the sky. There undoubtedly was an explosion or report caused 'by concussion before it struck, which was heard at least twenty miles away- Tins report was heard by parties in tho vioiuity about two sec-’oncls, as near as they could judge, before they heard tho sound caused by its coming in contact with the earth, and was what attracted their attention. The one weighing 150 pounds fell on dry ground and bored a perpendicular hole four feet into the ground.* The J)olo mado by tho largest one was almost if not quite perpeudlo dar.A great many mclcors have fallen at different times. One iu India is said to weigh twelve tons; Two were found in Norway of immense size, and, no doubt, mauy fall which tire not noticed. A large one fell ’near West Liberty, Iowa, about six years since. Prof. Newton, of Yalo College, in an interesting thesis on tho subject of meteors, informs us that ivhilo meteors are peculiar to themselves in the mattlcr of their component parts, they contain, nevertheless, nothing which is not found in the mineral substances of our earth. All motoora are not of the same composition, as he shows, some being composed almost, wholly of stone, while others are composed principally of metal, iron nearly always being present, and mekle I usually so* Prof. Newton is of tho opirt-■ ion that comfctary substances bear a close I relationship to meteors and meteoric substances, and cites a number of instances in-proof of the fact that daring the existence Of ft comet within the range of earthly vision meteors and meteoric showers are more common than at other times. Prof. Newton also informs us of another fact that can but seem strange, and that is, that wo ‘never 900 a meteor at a greater distance from the earth than one hundred miles These meteors 1loat as invisible particles in space, and only become visible when they oomo iu contact with an atmospheric pressure sufficiout to produce a
Newspaper Details
Standard
Albert Lea, Minnesota, US
Thu, May 29, 1879
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Boyd C.
KY, USA 27 Apr 2022
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