[meteorite-list] NPA 08-21-1948: Norton Meteorite Land Owner Comments

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Nebraska State Journal
City: Lincoln, Nebraska
Date: Saturday, August 21, 1948
Page: 1

N.U. May Get Part of Record Meteor Found on Kansas Farm
By the Associated Press

     It appeared late Friday night that a portion of an anchondritic 
meteorite which has been discovered near Norton, Kas., will go to the 
University of Nebraska.
     In Palo Alto, Calif., Miss Helen Whitney, a teacher in the public 
schools there, said it does not make much difference to her who gets the 
meteorite fragment.  She owns the farm on which it plummeted to earth.

     MISS WHITNEY said the announcement as to who will receive the fragment 
would be made by her attorney, B. F. Butler of Cambridge, Neb.
     "I was very interested when my tenants phoned me a couple of days ago 
to tell me about the discovery.," she said. "But I didn't think much about 
it until I received later calls indicating that several scientists were 
interested in obtaining the fragment.  I couldn't go back there at this 
time, so I merely turned the matter over to my attorney, who will announce 
the disposition."

     IN CAMBRIDGE, Butler announced Friday night that the fragment would go 
to the University of New Mexico and the University of Nebraska jointly.  He 
declined to say upon what the decision was bases, but said representatives 
of the two universities would issue a statement Saturday.
     Two University of Nebraska geologists who had a hand in locating the 
fragment were reported returning to Lincoln Friday night.
     They are Prof. E.F. Schramm, chairman of the geology department, and C. 
Bertrand Schultz, associate professor of geology and director of the 
university's museum.
     Dr. Lincoln La Paz of the University of New Mexico, one of a group of 
scientists who found the meteorite, announced the discovery.

     THE FRAGMENT is 39 inches long and wide and about 10 inches thick, Dr. 
LaPaz said, and weighs about 1,000 pounds.  It still is at the bottom of the 
eight-foot deep crater it plowed into a field when it fell to earth.  A 
heavy wooden fence has been erected around the crater to discourage the 
curious.
     Dr. LaPaz said he did not when the fragment would be removed nor who 
will gain possession of it.
     An anchondritic meteorite is composed largely of white and fragile 
stonelike particles with a  sprinkling of pea-sized bits of nickel.  Dr. 
LaPaz said it has considerable scientific value.

     SEARCHERS reported finding the meteorite crater near Norton earlier 
this week.  It fell last February on a farm owned by Miss Helen Whitney, a 
teacher in the Palo Alto, Calif., schools.  The meteorite dug a hole five 
feet across and eight feet deep.
     Dr. LaPaz said a legal check is being made to determine whether the 
fragment belongs to Miss Whitney or to tenants on the land, who discovered 
it.