Kunz and Weinschenk — Kansas Aerolite. 65 



Art. X. — Farmington, Washington Co., Kansas Aerolite; 

 by George Frederick Kunz and Ernest Weinschenk, 

 Ph.D. 



On Wednesday, June 25, 1890, at 12.55 central time, a 

 roaring, rumbling sound was heard within a radius of one 

 hundred miles around Washington, Washington County, 

 Kansas, and many observers noted a meteorite traveling from 

 south to north, which in its course left a double trail of smoke. 

 The sun at the time was shining brightly, and hence no light 

 was seen. The explosion was likened by various observers to 

 a bolt of lightning, the bursting of the boiler of an engine, or 

 the report of a distant cannon. The largest portion of the 

 meteorite, weighing 180 pounds, fell on the farm of Mr. W. 

 H. January, who was greatly alarmed, as it struck very near 

 him while he was under his wagon repairing it. This piece 

 penetrated the hard shaly earth to a depth of four feet. Forty 

 pounds of it were broken off and distributed before it was 

 placed on exhibition after which it was sold and resold several 

 times, and now belongs to Prof. Henry A. Ward of Rochester. 

 Its dimensions now are 16 J X 16^X 8 inches ; weight 136 pounds. 

 A distinct mass weighing nine pounds, now in the possession 

 of George F. Kunz, was found on the farm of John Windhurst ; 

 and it is evidently this piece which made the second trail of 

 smoke. 



The sound was noticed throughout a number of counties, 

 both in Kansas and Nebraska, as a thunderous roar, which at 

 Clifton, twenty-five miles from the point of fall, was heard 

 above the noise of a passing railroad train. The meteorite 

 was seen over a much wider area even than its sound covered. 

 Reports of observers are given from many places, ranging 

 from Beatrice, Nebraska, 40 miles northeast of the point of 

 fall, to Cedar Junction, Kansas, 130 miles southeast, and Hal- 

 stead, Kansas, an equal distance south by west. To those 

 north of the point of fall, it appeared as a brilliant object 

 moving southward, while to observers south of that point, its 

 motion seemed northward. As Prof. F. H. Snow, who gives a 

 full account of the circumstances attending the fall, remarks,* 

 these facts indicate that its descent must have been not far 

 from vertical, as is also shown by the nearly perpendicular hole, 

 about four feet deep, which it made in the earth. 



The actual fall was witnessed by Mr. January, as he came 

 out from under his wagon alarmed by the extraordinary noise, 



* Science, July 18, 1890. 

 Am. Jour. Sci.— Third Series, Voh. XLIII, N.o. 253.— January, 1892. 

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