OCR Text |
Show Finding of the Aerolite. It Fell in Washington County, Pa. Claysville, Pa., October 3. The aerolite, aero-lite, or meteoric stone, which is supposed to have caused the loud detonations heard throughout the greater part of Washington Washing-ton and Allegheny counties, on Saturday, the 26th ult., fell upon the farm of Mr. Buckland, in Jefferson township, near the West Virginia line. Ellis Jones, who carries the mail north of this place, witnessed wit-nessed the fiery creature in its flight through the heavens. He said he never beheld a more awful or impressive scene. His horse suddenly stopped, and he heard a noise as if the winds were rushing rush-ing onward with great violence. Looking up he saw moving high above him with incredible velocity a huge mass, which he describes as resembling a great coal of fire as large as the largest barn he ever saw. There appeared to be attached to it an immense flame of a deeper color than the coal, which tapered off into a dark tail with a sinuous trace. All in a moment, Mr. Jones states, the noise which accompanied it ceased, the fire-like appearance, the flame and the black tail disappeared, and in their stead the stone assumed a whitish hue, which it retained until it passed out of sight. His horse was so frightened that it took several minutes of vigorous application of the whip before the animal could be persuaded per-suaded to move. He afterwards saw the stone when it was still hot. When the stone lit it broke into three pieces, but did not penetrate the eaith to such a great depth as already stated, as two-thirds two-thirds of the body of it is above ground. It is grayish in color, with a tendency to red in streaks, is irregular in form, and at least thirty feet square, although in some places its dimensions are fifty feet square. Consternation seized upon the people wio beheld it in its flight through the air, and those of a superstitious nature thought it ladened with portends dire and awful, and that the spirit which causes war, pestilence and famine pervaded the fiery visitor. A great number of people have gone to see the wonder. Up to this time the relic hunters have done remarkably remark-ably well in carrying away souvenirs. |