[meteorite-list] Weston Fall Newspaper
From: Sterling K. Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:31 2004 Message-ID: <3C997968.C5E86768_at_bhil.com> <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Hi, <p> The "f" for "s" comes from the fact that at the beginnings of printing in English (Caxton in 1458), the subsidiary or inferior "s" was written as a tall stretched vertical form like a thin integral sign (with no crossbar at all) and our present-day full circumflex "S" was used only for the capitol or "superior" "s".. The printed form of this letter became less cursive and by the Eighteenth Century has turned into a shape like an "f" whose crossbar was truncated on one side. Reforms in orthography ended the use of this "f"-like form of the "s" starting during the 1820's and it disappeared from the font repertoire thereafter. So now all we can do to replicate it is to use a conventional "f" which does look strange to those who have never seen the 350 years of old-style esses. Occasionally an obsessive typesetter will re-create the old style by using "f" and then going in and hand-cutting one side of the crossbar off every "f" with an xacto knife... <p>Sterling K. Webb <br>--------------------------------------------------------- <br>Mark Bostick wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style> <font size=-1>Here is a transcript a newspaper I recently aquired, note many of the s's are typed as f's. I have not altered or changed the spelling. Newspaper has two names as I noted (I'm not confused...:-).</font> <p><font size=-1>Maffachufetts Spy, or Worcefter Gazette, Wednesday, January 6, 1808, page 2</font> <p><font size=-1>Bridgeport, Dec. 24.</font> <p><font size=-1>Terresrial comet.</font> <p><font size=-1>On the mourning of the 14th ??? at about 6 o'clock, a terrestrial comet exploded over the town of Weston, about 9 miles from this place. The atmofphere was foggy. From a great number of fpectators in different positions, different accounts of its size, the length of its train of fire its courl and altitude have been reported.</font> <p><font size=-1>Its courfe was probley about one point well of forth - or forth by well-preceeding from the north. its altitude from one to five miles-the length of the train three feet. The fize of its folid body about three feet in diameter. The caufe of its explosion was probley the dampnefs and denifty of our atmofphere. The ftones fell in all directions, and have been found as much as five miles apart,and of the astonithing fize of thirty-five pounds, and fome pieces which fell on rocks, are fuppofed to have weighed 150 pounds.</font> <p><font size=-1>At New Milford, more then twenty miles from the point of explosion, the fhaking of the boufes was more fevere then nearer the place of its discharge. The ftone appears to have diffolved and concreted again, and is fuppofed to be flrongly impregnated with iron. We underftand the attention of the learned faculty of Yale College is excited to this remarkable phenomenon, and it will, and it will afford fomsthing new and interefting if purfued extenfively, which we purfume it will be. Mr. Edward King of London, has publifhed remarks on the fall ftones from our atmofphere, both in ancient and modern times. Kr. King's enquiry was excited by the remarkable difplofions which took place in Tulcany,on the 16th of June, 1794, which comet appeared with an atmofphere of its own and continued its dislagesof ftones for some time.</font> <br> <br> <p><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Mark Bostick "The Big Collector"</font></font></blockquote> </body> </html> Received on Thu 21 Mar 2002 01:10:48 AM PST |
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