[meteorite-list] NP Article, 1859 NY meteorite fall, nice read

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:04 2004
Message-ID: <BAY4-DAV1024j3xTxIP00005856_at_hotmail.com>

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Paper: Boston Evening Transcript
City: Boston, Mass.
Date: Monday Evening, August 15, 1859
Page: 1
TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION - A METEOR OR AN EARTHQUAKE.
The Troy (N.Y.) Times of Thursdat last has the following account of a mos=
t remarkable explosion, which was heard for many miles.
At about 7 o'clockm while the sky was pertectly cloudless, while hardly a=
 breath of air was stirring, while not a single indication prevailed of a=
 natural commotion of any sort whatever, there was a terrific, shocking, =
deafening report, accompanied apparently by two sharp echoes. It was if t=
he sound had come from the sky; but there were no clouds, not a single in=
dication of the prevalence of electricity, and they explanation could not=
 be entertained.
The force of the concussion was so great that houses were shaken; that pe=
rsons walking in the street felt the ground vibrate underneath them: that=
 men who had just commenced work upon buildings, instinctively dropped th=
eir tools, and looked about to see what was the matter; that little child=
ren were frightened, and asked many questions of their parents.
John P. Hall, County Clerk, assures us that the noise heard was the resul=
t of an explosion of a meteor in the sky. Mr. Ball resides in Pittstown, =
in this county, and is a perfectly honorable and reliable gentleman. He i=
nforms us that he had just finished breakfast, and was standing in his do=
or-yard when he observed a bright light the southernly direction from his=
 house over the town of Grafton, and descending very rapidly to the groun=
d in a northwesterly course. This was about 7:20 A.M. Mr. Hall last saw i=
t when about a mile above the earth, when it disappeared, and in a moment=
 or more he heard the explosion. It was very loud and resembled thunder. =
He had previously called his family to view the meteor, and they all obse=
rved the light and heard the explosion.
Mrs. Hall insists that there were three seperate explosions - one much lo=
uder than the others - and in support of her statement, Mr. Hall says he =
saw three distinct clouds of smoke in the track of the meteor, which appe=
ared to a mile or more apart. The smoke was visible for some time, but wa=
s finally lost to sight. The meteor appeared to be at a distance of about=
 twenty miles from Mr. Hall's residence, and looked like a large size sky=
 rocket.
It has never been settled that a meteor does explode, we believe. If it d=
oes, we fail to see by what possibility it could produce three reports; s=
uch bodies are not generally charged on the revolver principle. But if a =
meteor could explode, and cause three reports, our readers can judge as w=
ell as we can what must have been the immensity of the volume and the for=
ces of the explosion, to make those reports distinctly audible for a dist=
ance of fourty or fifty miles in any direction.
We have a lively recollectionof the Oswego meteor hoax. It would have req=
uired a larger stone than that was represented to have been because this =
phenomenon. We confess we are puzzled. We incline to the opinion that thi=
s section of country has experienced a slight shock of earthquake. A gent=
leman from Venezuela, where such occurances are common says that this was=
 his immediate conclusion. In every way, according to his opinion, the sh=
ock resembled that produced by an earthquake. =20
The Albany Argus of August 13 says:
We are inclined to think that is was a gentle earthquake. Although we can=
not learn that is was in this city, w ehave been assured by two or three =
subscribers from the towns of Guilderland and New Scotland, who were in o=
ur counting-roon yesterday, that the same phenomenon was experienced in t=
hose vicinities soon after 7 o'clock Thursday mourning. The heavy rumblin=
g sound and vibration of the earth continued, they say, for two or three =
minutes, proceeding from the southwest and dying away in the northeast. W=
hen they gave us this information they were ignorant that any such thing =
had been experienced anywhere else.
The Pittsburgg (Mass.) Eagle says:
A vilolent shock of some great explosion of gunpowder was heard in this t=
own, Great Barrington, and Albany, at about 7 1/2 o'clock this morning. =20
We have a report from a couple of Shakers - generally good authority - th=
at at the time of this sound, a meteor, seeming to them a ball of fire, a=
bout the size of a lour barrel, passed across the country and exploded in=
 the northwest, which was the quarter from which the sound seemed to come=
.

Mark Note: This is a newspaper account of the Bethlehem meteorite. Noted =
as having fallen 730am, in Albany County, NY. Only one stone was recovere=
d at the weight of only around 13 grams. Classified as an H chondrite. It=
 appears that the stone was recovered shortly after it fell as the Troy n=
ewspaper account above notes "It would have required a larger stone than =
that was represented to have been because this phenomenon." Also after re=
ading this paper I am more inclined to believe, Hall's account of the fal=
l at around 7:20am, rather then the usual published account of 7:30am.

ARN's History of Meteorites notes: a small stone about the size of a pige=
on's egg was seen to fall. =20


Please visit, www.MeteoriteArticles.com, a free on-line archive of meteor=
 and meteorite articles.

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<HTML><BODY STYLE=3D"font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV><FONT size=3D2=
> <P>Paper: Boston Evening Transcript</P> <P>City: Boston, Mass.</P> <P>D=
ate: Monday Evening, August 15, 1859</P> <P>Page: 1</P> <P>TREMENDOUS EXP=
LOSION - A METEOR OR AN EARTHQUAKE.</P> <P>The Troy (N.Y.) Times of Thurs=
dat last has the following account of a most remarkable explosion, which =
was heard for many miles.</P> <P>At about 7 o'clockm while the sky was pe=
rtectly cloudless, while hardly a breath of air was stirring, while not a=
 single indication prevailed of a natural commotion of any sort whatever,=
 there was a terrific, shocking, deafening report, accompanied apparently=
 by two sharp echoes. It was if the sound had come from the sky; but ther=
e were no clouds, not a single indication of the prevalence of electricit=
y, and they explanation could not be entertained.</P> <P>The force of the=
 concussion was so great that houses were shaken; that persons walking in=
 the street felt the ground vibrate underneath them: that men who had jus=
t commenced work upon buildings, instinctively dropped their tools, and l=
ooked about to see what was the matter; that little children were frighte=
ned, and asked many questions of their parents.</P> <P>John P. Hall, Coun=
ty Clerk, assures us that the noise heard was the result of an explosion =
of a meteor in the sky. Mr. Ball resides in Pittstown, in this county, an=
d is a perfectly honorable and reliable gentleman. He informs us that he =
had just finished breakfast, and was standing in his door-yard when he ob=
served a bright light the southernly direction from his house over the to=
wn of Grafton, and descending very rapidly to the ground in a northwester=
ly course. This was about 7:20 A.M. Mr. Hall last saw it when about a mil=
e above the earth, when it disappeared, and in a moment or more he heard =
the explosion. It was very loud and resembled thunder. He had previously =
called his family to view the meteor, and they all observed the light and=
 heard the explosion.</P> <P>Mrs. Hall insists that there were three sepe=
rate explosions - one much louder than the others - and in support of her=
 statement, Mr. Hall says he saw three distinct clouds of smoke in the tr=
ack of the meteor, which appeared to a mile or more apart. The smoke was =
visible for some time, but was finally lost to sight. The meteor appeared=
 to be at a distance of about twenty miles from Mr. Hall's residence, and=
 looked like a large size sky rocket.</P> <P>It has never been settled th=
at a meteor does explode, we believe. If it does, we fail to see by what =
possibility it could produce three reports; such bodies are not generally=
 charged on the revolver principle. But if a meteor could explode, and ca=
use three reports, our readers can judge as well as we can what must have=
 been the immensity of the volume and the forces of the explosion, to mak=
e those reports distinctly audible for a distance of fourty or fifty mile=
s in any direction.</P> <P>We have a lively recollectionof the Oswego met=
eor hoax. It would have required a larger stone than that was represented=
 to have been because this phenomenon. We confess we are puzzled. We incl=
ine to the opinion that this section of country has experienced a slight =
shock of earthquake. A gentleman from Venezuela, where such occurances ar=
e common says that this was his immediate conclusion. In every way, accor=
ding to his opinion, the shock resembled that produced by an earthquake. =
</P> <P>The Albany Argus of August 13 says:</P> <P>We are inclined to thi=
nk that is was a gentle earthquake. Although we cannot learn that is was =
in this city, w ehave been assured by two or three subscribers from the t=
owns of Guilderland and New Scotland, who were in our counting-roon yeste=
rday, that the same phenomenon was experienced in those vicinities soon a=
fter 7 o'clock Thursday mourning. The heavy rumbling sound and vibration =
of the earth continued, they say, for two or three minutes, proceeding fr=
om the southwest and dying away in the northeast. When they gave us this =
information they were ignorant that any such thing had been experienced a=
nywhere else.</P> <P>The Pittsburgg (Mass.) Eagle says:</P> <P>A vilolent=
 shock of some great explosion of gunpowder was heard in this town, Great=
 Barrington, and Albany, at about 7 1/2 o'clock this morning. </P> <P>We =
have a report from a couple of Shakers - generally good authority - that =
at the time of this sound, a meteor, seeming to them a ball of fire, abou=
t the size of a lour barrel, passed across the country and exploded in th=
e northwest, which was the quarter from which the sound seemed to come.</=
P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Mark Note: This is a newspaper account of the Bethleh=
em meteorite. Noted as having fallen 730am, in Albany County, NY. Only on=
e stone was recovered at the weight of only around 13 grams. Classified a=
s an H chondrite. It appears that the stone was recovered shortly after i=
t fell as the Troy newspaper account above notes "It would have required =
a larger stone than that was represented to have been because this phenom=
enon." Also after reading this paper I am more inclined to believe, Hall'=
s account of the fall at around 7:20am, rather then the usual published a=
ccount of 7:30am.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>ARN's History of Meteorites notes:=
 </FONT><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman"><FONT size=3D3>a small stone about=
 the size of a pigeon's egg was seen to fall. </FONT></P></FONT><BR><BR>P=
lease visit, www.MeteoriteArticles.com, a free on-line archive of meteor =
and meteorite articles.</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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Received on Tue 15 Jul 2003 05:32:23 AM PDT