METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 289 



"The explosions, together with the rushing sound afterwards, were heard over a region about 30 miles northeast 

 and southwest and 50 or 60 miles northwest and southeast. No shock was felt, at least no tremor of the earth. 



"Two men say that they were looking in the exact direction of the explosions at the time they occurred, and saw 

 a quantity of vapor, much like the volume of steam escaping from the pipe of an engine, at each successive stroke; 

 which vapor or mist was violently agitated, and increased in bulk with each successive report, but disappeared soon 

 after the cessation of the reports. This corroborates the testimony of some of my own laborers, who say that immedi- 

 ately after the explosions something like a thin cloud cast its shadow over the field they were in." 



Hon. John T. Clarke, of Cuthbert, Georgia, who has interested himself in collecting the history of the meteorite, 

 and through whose influence it has come into the possession of Mercer University, writes me the following particulars 

 of its fall: 



"It fell about 11.30 a. m. on October 6, 1869, in Stewart County, Georgia, on the premises of Elbridge Barlow, 

 about 12 miles southwest of Lumpkin. Captain Barlow picked it up a few moments after it fell. His account of it is 

 this: While standing in the open yard, the sky being bright and clear, he heard first a succession of about three explo- 

 sions, followed by a deep roaring for several seconds, and then by a rushing or whizzing sound of something rushing 

 with great speed through the air near by. The sound ceased suddenly. The noise continued from first to last about 

 half a minute. Two negroes were washing near the well in the same yard, about 60 yards from where Mr. Barlow stood. 

 They heard the noise and supposed it to be the falling in of the plank well curbing, banging from side to side in its 

 descent, and so spoke of it to one another before the meteorite fell. While they were speaking thus about the noise, 

 the meteorite fell and struck the ground about 20 steps from them, in full sight, knocking up the dirt. They called 

 Captain Barlow and showed him the spot. It was upon very hard trodden ground in the clean open yard. The earth 

 was freshly loosened up very fine in a circle of about 18 inches in diameter, and upon scraping the loose dirt away 

 with the hands the stone was found about 10 inches below the surface. From the direction in which the ground was 

 crushed in it must have come from the northwest, and at an angle of about 30° with the horizon. The stone when 

 picked up was covered all over with the black shell which it has now, except a triangular spot on one corner about 

 1 inch each way. where the corner appeared freshly knocked off; and about four other spots near a quarter of an inch 

 in diameter where the shell was slightly knocked off. The other bruises which are found upon it have been made 

 since its fall by persons who have handled it. The stone still has a strong odor. Captain Barlow says it smelled 

 stronger when he first picked it up. He does not remember that it had any noticeable heat. It was not cold, as a 

 stone found so deep in the ground should be. 



"The stone weighs now 12.25 ounces; about 0.5 ounce has been pecked off from it. Its color within is strikingly 

 like very light granite; and, with the exceptions above noted, it is entirely covered with a smooth almost black shell, 

 a trifle thicker than common letter paper, so that externally it looks very much like a lump of iron ore. It is an 

 irregular seven-sided figure, its longest side being about 2.75 inches long. If put into a spherical form it would make 

 a ball about 1.75 inches in diameter. So far as I have been able to ascertain no other parts have been found. 



"The noise attending this phenomenon is variously described by different persons, and from different places. 

 Two intelligent ladies residing about 4 miles south of Lumpkin, nearly east of where the stone fell and about 10 or 

 12 miles off, describe it thus: While sitting in the house they heard, as it were, the sound of a great fire suddenly 

 bursting forth from some confinement into the open air. They rushed out of doors and heard the roaring sound con- 

 tinuing for several seconds. They located the source of the noise in the direction of Barlow's. 



"In Cuthbert, about 18 miles nearly southeast from Barlow's, a gentleman engaged in a workshop heard a lum- 

 bering noise, which he took to be several heavy pieces of machinery in an adjoining room falling down one after another. 

 On going in he found no one, and thought that he had mistaken the cause of the noise. Many persons here heard 

 sounds like repeated thunder followed by roaring. Some say that they first heard several rapid, crackling explosions, 

 like that of volleys of small arms, followed immediately by the louder burst of artillery. Most persons here thought 

 the noise came from the southeast, passed over the place in a northwesterly direction, and died away in the distant 

 northwest. 



"The foregoing statements have been selected from many in circulation showing how differently the senses were 

 affected at different points. The facts are purposely presented in their nakedness. " 



The above accounts agree as to the main facts. They were furnished by Mr. Latimer and Judge Clarke, without 

 being compared by them. It is possible that a comparison of notes by them might have thrown some light on the 

 point of greatest discrepancy, viz, the direction of flight. It is probable that the meteorite came from some point in 

 the north quarter; the statement of Mr. Latimer, over whom it exploded, and that of Mr. Barlow as to the direction 

 in which the earth was penetrated, concur in this regard. Persons in Cuthbert, who represent it as coming from the 

 south, may have been mislead by an echo, mistaking this for the original sound. 



Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, who is giving special attention to the subject of meteorites, has requested the privilege 

 of analyzing the stone above described. 



Smith's 3 article is as follows; 



In October, 1869, I learned through the piiblic press that certain meteoric phenomena had occurred in Stewart 

 County, Georgia, and that one or more stones had fallen. Inquiries were immediately instituted by me and 

 through Professor Willet I obtained for examination the only stone found, one that was seen to strike the ground, and 

 from him received an account of the phenomena observed at the time by Messrs. Latimer, Clarke, and others. The 

 stone as it reached me was nearly intact and weighed 12.25 ounces; it must originally have weighed 12.5 ounces. It 

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