[meteorite-list] NPA 11-29-1890 Bendego Meteorite Article

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Fort Wayne Sentinel
City: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: Saturday, November 29, 1890
Page: 3

An Enormous Aerolite.

     In May, 1888, the National museum of Brazil came into final possession 
of one of the larges aerolites that has ever been known to fall upon either 
of the American continents.  The noble specimen weighs 11,800 pounds, and 
originally laid embedded in the ground near Bendego creek in one of the most 
inaccessible portions of Brazil.  The cost of transporting it from the place 
where it first struck American soil was defrayed by Baron Greaby.  The 
survey of the route and preliminary arrangements occupied three months; its 
journey to the capital commenced November 23, 1887, and it was nearly five 
months later before it was finally landed at the little railroad deport in 
the wilderness, from whence it was transported to Rio Janeiro.  During the 
four months in which it was being pulled, pushed and rolled by man and mule 
power through the trackless forests, over steep mountains and sandy wastes, 
it crossed over 100 streams of all sizes, was taken over one mountain chain 
8,700 feet in height, besides many smaller elevations.  All of this in a 
region where the best roads are only mule paths.  A better idea of the 
difficulties these scientists encountered in securing their prize may be had 
from a knowledge of the fact that a total of 172 days were consumed in 
moving it from Bendego creek to the railway station, a distance of only 71 
1/2 mils.  the pluck and energy exhibited by these gentlemen in moving this 
gigantic airstone to their national museum is a curious commentary on the 
scientific ideas of the early part of the century, which denied the 
existence of such bodies as aerolites. - (Commercial Advertiser)


(end)

Mark Note:  This article is reference to the Bendego meteorite. This Course 
Iron Octahedrite Meteorite was found near the rivulet, called the Bendege ( 
Monte Santo, Bahia, Brazil).   A large mass of about 5 tons found.  E-mail 
for PDF copies.

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
www.meteoritearticles.com