[meteorite-list] NPA 05-30-1961: 50 Year Old Meteorite in Oshkosh's Man's Backyard
MARK BOSTICK
thebigcollector at msn.com
Sun Dec 19 11:58:21 EST 2004
Paper: Oshkosh Daily Northwestern
City: Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 1961
Page: 19
50-Year Old Meteorite Is In Oshkosh Man's Backyard
The object of a search by a Lawrence College geology professor - a
meteorite which fell on a Chilton farm about 50 years ago - is owned by A.
W. Froehike of 839 Jackson St., it was learned Monday by the Oshkosh Daily
Northwestern.
Froehike, a former chairman of the Oshkosh High School chemistry
department, told the Northwestern that he purchased the meteorite about
1933. It had been on view at the Schweitzer tavern, Chilton, for many years
before that.
The Oshkosh man, who called the newspaper Monday after seeing an
article about it in Saturday's edition, said the meteorite fell about 1910
on the William Kuster farm at Chilton. The farmer found it in a field about
a month later.
The meteorite has been sought for study purposed by Prof. William F.
Read of the Lawrence College faculty.
Just to be on the safe side, Froehike said the object which he keeps in
his back yard, is "allegedly a meteorite." There is no evidence, however,
that it is anything but a genuine meteorite.
Weighs Estimated 600 Pounds
About the size of a sack of potatoes and weighing an estimated 600
pounds, the meteorite is magnetic and is composed of iron magnesium
silicate. Its chemical composition was established through scientific
analysis by the late F. N. Guild, professor of geology at the University of
Arizona.
Froehike said he was told the meteorite lit up the whole city of
Chilton as it streaked through the skies toward its landing place on the
Kuster farm.
One farmer, on his way home in a buggy when the meteorite appeared,
became frightened and drove his horse so hard that the animal dropped dead
upon pulling in at the farmyard.
It is conceivable that the meteorite came from the tail of the famous
Halley's comet Froehike commented.
(end)
If you know what meteorite this is referring to, if it is a meteorite?,
please let me know what find you think it is.
Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
www.meteoritearticles.com
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