[meteorite-list] NPA 11-29-1890 Bendego Meteorite Article

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Sep 25 13:05:21 2004
Message-ID: <BAY4-F1FRyDgrLCJkPj00034d1c_at_hotmail.com>

Paper: Fort Wayne Sentinel
City: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: Saturday, November 29, 1890
Page: 3

An Enormous Aerolite.

     In May, 1888, the National museum of Brazil came into final possession
of one of the larges aerolites that has ever been known to fall upon either
of the American continents. The noble specimen weighs 11,800 pounds, and
originally laid embedded in the ground near Bendego creek in one of the most
inaccessible portions of Brazil. The cost of transporting it from the place
where it first struck American soil was defrayed by Baron Greaby. The
survey of the route and preliminary arrangements occupied three months; its
journey to the capital commenced November 23, 1887, and it was nearly five
months later before it was finally landed at the little railroad deport in
the wilderness, from whence it was transported to Rio Janeiro. During the
four months in which it was being pulled, pushed and rolled by man and mule
power through the trackless forests, over steep mountains and sandy wastes,
it crossed over 100 streams of all sizes, was taken over one mountain chain
8,700 feet in height, besides many smaller elevations. All of this in a
region where the best roads are only mule paths. A better idea of the
difficulties these scientists encountered in securing their prize may be had
from a knowledge of the fact that a total of 172 days were consumed in
moving it from Bendego creek to the railway station, a distance of only 71
1/2 mils. the pluck and energy exhibited by these gentlemen in moving this
gigantic airstone to their national museum is a curious commentary on the
scientific ideas of the early part of the century, which denied the
existence of such bodies as aerolites. - (Commercial Advertiser)


(end)

Mark Note: This article is reference to the Bendego meteorite. This Course
Iron Octahedrite Meteorite was found near the rivulet, called the Bendege (
Monte Santo, Bahia, Brazil). A large mass of about 5 tons found. E-mail
for PDF copies.

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
www.meteoritearticles.com
Received on Sat 25 Sep 2004 12:11:34 PM PDT