io Field Museum of Natural History — Geology, Vol. V. 



KILBOURN 



This meteorite fell June 16, 191 1, at about 5. 20 p. m., on the farm 

 of William Gaffney, 7>2 miles northeast of Kilbourn, Wisconsin. The 

 latitude and longitude of this locality are 43 40' N., 89 40' W. The only 

 observer of the fall of the meteorite was Mr. Gaffney, and to him through 

 H. Conrad Meyer of the Foote Mineral Company the writer is chiefly 

 indebted for an account of the fall. 



Mr. Gaffney states that at the time of the fall he was in his hay 

 field about 20 rods from his barn. While there he heard a rumbling noise 

 similar to that produced by a heavy wagon passing over a stony road. 

 The noise, he states, was much louder than thunder. The day was close 

 and muggy with no breeze and no sign of a local thunder storm. The 

 noise lasted about three or four minutes. While it was going on Mr. Gaff- 

 ney walked towards the barn and when he entered it the sound ceased. 

 When he had been in the barn about a minute he heard a loud report 

 like that of a cannon and saw a small stone strike the manger about 

 10 feet from where he was standing, rebound, strike the stone founda- 

 tion of the barn, and then bury itself to a depth of 2^ inches in the 

 hard-packed clay soil which formed the floor of the barn. Mr. Gaffney 

 picked up the stone, but found it so warm he could hold it only for a 

 second or so. It remained warm nearly three hours. When first picked 

 up it had a straw color on its surface, but gradually assumed a black 

 color. Neighbors of Mr. Gaffney within a radius of three miles heard 

 both a rumbling noise and a report when the stone struck the barn. 

 Fishermen at Lake Mason, near Briggsville, Marquette County, Wis- 

 consin, about five miles east of Mr. Gaffney's place, also heard a rum- 

 bling noise. On examining the barn after the fall of the stone Mr. Gaffney 

 found that the stone had gone through the roof, penetrated three thick- 

 nesses of shingles and a hemlock board about 1 inch thick; then, about 

 4 feet below this, passed through a Y% inch hemlock board forming the 

 floor of a hay-loft. The portion of the floor of the hay-loft penetrated 

 by the meteorite was submitted to the writer for examination, and a 

 photograph of the same is shown in Plate VI. The hole said to have 

 been made by the meteorite is about 4 inches long by 2 inches wide, and 

 is about the size and shape that such a projectile would have made. The 

 shape of the hole indicates that the meteorite was moving in the direction 

 of its longest axis and not broadside when it penetrated the board. It 

 does not seem to be possible to determine positively from the shape 

 of the opening which end of the meteorite was in front, although the 

 indications are that it was the pointed end. The meteorite fits the open- 

 ing in the board a little better in this position, yet the opposite end of the 



