[meteorite-list] NPA, 10-1937 Stuart Perry, Paragould Donation

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 25 10:40:18 2004
Message-ID: <BAY4-DAV116JDUdq96A000015ca_at_hotmail.com>

Hello list,
I pretty much have avoided posting newspaper articles, while I am doing the Stuart Perry - Harvey Nininger letter serial, however I have not stopped looking for them. Since this one mentions Stuart Perry, and a meteorite related to Nininger's career (Paragould), I am making an exception. I have not decided if I will post a different serial of Nininger letters after the Perry letters, or go back to posting old newspaper meteorite articles. In case you a new list member, I note the "NPA" for Newspaper Article in the subject line of the newspaper postings I make.

Mark Bostick
www.meteoritearticles.com
www.imca.cc




Paper: Reno Evening Gazette
City: Reno, Nevada
Date: Wednesday, October 27, 1937
Page: 4

BIT OF METEORITE IS PLACED IN MUSEUM
One of the two pieces of the largest meteorite ever seen hitting the earth has just been added to the meteorite collection of the Smithsonian.
This "shooting star" exploded in the air near the town of Paragould, Arkansas at 4 a.m. February 17, 1930. It is believed to have broken into three pieces, two of which were recovered. The largest, weighing approximately 200 pounds, is now in the field museum in Chicago. The second, seventy pounds in weight, comes as a gift to the Smithsonian from Stewart Perry, Michigan publisher and meteorite collector. The third, which may been the largest, has never been found.
Not only was this the largest meteorite of any kind even seen to hit the earth, but it is the largest stony meteorite of which there is any record Some of the iron meteorites are very much larger, one in South Africa weighing approximately sixty tons. Many stony meteorites, which probably constitute the bulk of shooting stars are very small when they strike the earth's surface, and the great majority of them are entirely consumed in the upper atmosphere, fortunately for mankind.
This particular fragment is of singular mineralogical interest and will be subjected to intensive analysis. It seems to be a fusion of two distinct bodies, as if they had crashed together and the smaller was driven into the larger by the force of the impact. Such a collision might have taken place in their flight through space or it might have occurred in the original cosmic catastrophe, perhaps the breaking up of a planet in the distant past, which may be responsible for all meteorites.
Nearly all the rocks from outer space in the Smithsonian collection, says Dr. William F. Foshag, the curator, show considerable fragmentation which indicates that they were involved in some tremendous explosion.
There has also been added to this collection an amphoterite meteorite, the seventh ever found on earth. Its structure shows peculiarities which differentiate it strikingly from most bodies of its kind. It was found this year in Colorado.
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Received on Fri 25 Jun 2004 10:40:10 AM PDT