[meteorite-list] NPA 02-28-1893 Mt. Joy Meteorite Analyzed

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Gettysburg Compiler
City: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Date: Tuesday, February 28, 1893
Page: 4 (of 4)

A METEOR ANALYZED
It Is Found to Be Composed of Six Distinct Minerals

     An analysis has just been made of one of the three largest meteorites 
that have hit the United States.  This analysis will prove of interest in 
the view of the recent comet and meteor scare.  It is fair to assume that 
the majority of the meteors in the so-called November meteoric orbit are 
composed of the same material of which this one consists.  In fact a 
singular sameness in make-up has been found to exist in all the meteors 
which have been analyzed.  The formula is as follows:

Iron......................................................... 93.80
Nickel.....................................................   4.81
Cobalt.....................................................    .51
Copper...................................................     .005
Lead.......................................................    .10
Sulphur...................................................    .01

      Total................................................. 99.325

     Only a portion of the crust was used in the analysis, which accounts 
for the discrepancy in the total.  The meteorite was found in November, 
1887, by one Jacob Snyder, about a foot below the ground, while digging to 
plant an apple tree near his home, five miles to the southeast of 
Gettysburg.  Mr. Snyder and his neighbors jumped to the conclusion that 
there was an iron mine on the farm and his property rose tremendously in 
value.  Had he been any kind of scientist he could easily have determined 
the nature of his find and then have exploited the value of his mine, sold 
his property for a big sum and cleared out pending the mining arrangements.  
As it was, the true character of the meteorite was not discovered until 
1891.
     Its three largest dimensions are 11.24 and 32 ½ inches and it weighs 
847 pounds.  An effort was made to buy it by the National museum, but as Mr. 
Snyder placed the price very high it was eventually bought by Mr. Edwin E. 
Howell, of New York, who has a leaning towards meteorites.

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

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PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my 
website), is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list 
server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is 
more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.