The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

88 THE LOCOMOTIVE. [June,
The Helium Meteorite.
Sf me weeks ago, it will be remembered, a meteorite fell, out West, and struck a
statue of John Brown. According to the St. Louis RepuNic the meteoric mass has been
found and submitted to chemical analysis. It w-eighed fourteen pounds and four ounces.
As a general rule these celestial visitors are composed almost exclusively of iron and
nickel; but it is said that the present one is a cons])icuous exception. A considerable
portion of it is of iron, but the microscope shows small particles probably of a graphitic
nature, and, what is much more interesting, about one-quarter of the mass is said to
consist of a metal quite new to science. According to the RepnMic this metal is four
times as heavy as gold, very strong, and both malleable and ductile. Upon examina-
tion with the spectroscope the new substance is said to have given the characteristic
two lines of heliuM, a metal unknown to our mineralogists, but known to exist in the
sun. We think this identiticatiou of the new metal with the hypothetical "helium" is
very questionable. Helium appears to exist chiefly in the outer layers of the solar at-
mosphere, and from this circumstance it is believed to be very light, instead of very
heavy — lighter, perhaps, than even hydrogen. The Repuhlic says that Prof. Joplin, the
analyst who examined the specimen, considers that "the sun is fed by meteors of this
material, showing that the imiverse has an unlimited amount of lielium, and that prob-
ably the earth has its quota; but on account of its great weight it naturally gravitated
to the center when the earth was iu a melted state." Now, according to the estimate
given above, the specific gravity of the new metal is about 80; and since the average
specific gravity of the earth is only about 5|^, it follows that there cannot be any very
great amount of such heavy metal down in the earth's interior. The enormous pressures
that exist in the depths of our planet iiiust compress ordinary things so strongly as to
give them a density at least as great as 5 or 5^, and any considerable amount of the
metal described by Prof. Joplin could not fail to bring the average density up to an ap-
preciably higher figure. Admitting the accuracy of Prof. Jopliu's measures, therefore,
it seems probable (1) that the substance is not laelium, and (2) that if it exists at fill on
tlie earth it is at least rare. The only thing that indicates that it is helium is the pres-
ence of the helium lines in its spectrum; and when the delicacy of spectroscopic tests is
considered, it seems probable that these lines were due to a trace of that substance, and
that the heavy metal is something quite difl'erent.
Ox June 8 Mr. Joseph Bee was thrown from his carriage, in Chicago, by a runaway
horse. He struck on the back of his head and received a compound fracture of the
?kull, from the effects of which he died iu the evening, at St. Luke's Hospital. Mr.
Bee was the proprietor of the National Boiler Works, on Fulton street, Chicago. He
was 57 years of age, and had been in business in Chicago for many years. He had a
finely equipped shop, and was well known among the steam-using iniblic for his sterling
qualities; and his untimely death is lamented by a large circle.
3Ir. Addison Bee, son of Mr. Joseph Bee, was badly hurt in the same accident, but
it is believed that he will recover. The business will be carried on by Mr. Bee's sons.
The production of pig iron in the United States during the year 1892 was 9,157,000
gross tons. Of this amount Pennsylvania turned out 40 per cent., Ohio 13 per cent.,
and Illinois 10 per cent. During the same period there were produced in this country