METEOR GRAZES A SHIP.

Marlborough Express, Volume XL, Issue 4, 5 January 1907, Page 4

METEOR GRAZES A SHIP.

j FLAMING TAIL « A MILE LONG." I. ' Wlisn the Fhronix liner St. Andrew,' | tvora /umverp, tied' up alongside her j tvos"' A" ?? T bokGn (says the New York , .beraid of November 20), the sole topic | cj; conversation that came to the ears loi use stevedores on shore was the narI row escape of the freighter from being ! melted and sunk by a red-hot fragment lor a star that foil alongside, when the | vessel was 60 miles to the eastward of i ijtivje lines. ■•.'■-■ |~ Fipfc-Oificer V. Spencer, who was on : tuo briago at the time, told how th° meteor, with a flaming tail " a mile mug came zig-zagging out of the ! | southern sky a half hour before sun- | sat, and disappeared in the sea with a roar and a sizzle that terrorised the crew, who saw the awesome spectacle That the ship passed through a large shower of meteors there is no doubt, tor just before the big one dropped loss than a mile away there wore three dialler ones ahead that eonM bY mainly seen in the gathering twilight, -'.'i.en, tno, the German steamship Brav.v.\? of the Hamburg-America line, ni trom Hamburg, had on her log an nceoimt of meeting a big one at nearly the sarae time, although 150 miles I'uvi'Ker io the eastward.' I was standing on the bridge at hnl/-past live" sa M First-Officer bp^ncar yesterday, " when I caw thre*

meteors ahead, about three miles away, flash as they fell, although it was before sundown. The sky was clouded, and I had hardly noticed the fall of the meteors when the: chief-en-gineer cried out frpnii bel^i deck, 'Look at that,!J^J-.::- K,;-is;:^v '

"There, off,to;ihe":s:ouf;H.;(>ii'si-ir;nort beam, was a big meteor falling plainly less than a mile away. It appeared to be saucer-shaped, and showed like a white-hot coal,.fully, 15ft in diameter. Behind it streamed a shower 6i reddish fire, fully a mile long. While we were looking the meteor riz-zagged, I suppose on account of its shape, and plunged into the sea. Up rose clouds of steam, and the sea boiled for a space fully 500 ft ..or 600 ft in diameter for several minutes. • '

" While the flight lasted only a few seconds, it seemed an hour, we saw it so plainly, and had it struck our ship it would have melted its way down through the steel hull and sent us without a moment's warning to the bottom. Since I have thought of it, I believe that the phenomenon may explain the loss of ships never accounted for. It is not impossible for a ship to be caught in such a meteoric shower, which would mean instant destruction.

"I have seen many meteoric showers -at-night-in-many seasf blrt:Tl6ver"saw r a meteor so close at hand. I have no doubt that had it been dark at the time we should have seen a grand display, as we probably passed through a big fall -of the stardust, or whatever the flaming particles may be." Captain Russ. of the Brazilia, at half-past seven o'clock the same night, saw a monster meteor, which appeared to drop into the sea.