Farmed Named Smith Almost Overcome by the Gas.
Was so Thick That No One
Could See Their Hands Before Their Faces for Some Hours—A Strange Phenomenon
Nearly suffocated by the fumes of gas, with his wife and three children hysterical with fear, Mr. Smith, a farmer near the blind institute, awakened the residents of J. O. Selleck's household on Center avenue last evening and told them a story of having encountered a wave of gaseous matter a few rods away that had almost overcome him and his family. The children were crying and fearful and Mrs. Smith was equally fearful, so that the party was taken into the Selleck home while Mr. Selleck, George Clark, his son-in-law, Mr. Miltimore and son, and Mr. Smith drove back to the scene to discover the cause of the trouble.
The story
The story Mr. Smith tells is of a wonderful sight and a still more wonderful phenomenon of nature. As he and his wife were driving home from the city at about half-past nine they noticed a huge star-like light appear suddenly in the sky. It became brighter and brighter and suddenly seemed to swoop down and be swallowed up in the snowbanks that lined the road near the Blind Institute. As they turned onto the road after leaving the bridge the smell of a strange gas became so strong that Mr. Smith was nearly overcome and with difficulty was able to turn about and drive back to Mr. Selleck's.
Awful Smell
When the party composed of Mr. Selleck, Mr. Clark, Mr. Miltimore and his son and Mr. Smith returned to the road where the smell had been the strongest they were greeted by a dense fog-like substance which was so thick they could not see their hands in front of their faces, let alone the horde they were driving, which was but a few feet away. This extended for several rods along the road and in places was even more dense than others. The smell was at times almost suffocating. It is described as resembling that of a gas retort or of the gas which escapes from the door of an open engine.
Vain Search
Although the gentlemen remained in the vicinity of the supposed meteor for some hours they were unable to discover the meteor itself. This morning a party covered all the fields in the vicinity in a vain search and again this afternoon a large party is out trying to locate the meteor. According to Mr. Smith just before the meteor struck the earth he heard a rushing sound like some huge body falling through the air and then came the blinding fog of noisome smell.
Prof. Comstock
Professor Comstock at the Washington observatory at Madison was called up by the Gazette office over the telephone at noon today, and asked regarding such a phenomenon. He said: "It is undoubtedly a meteor. What caused the smell I can not say. That is some special condition of the soil in which it struck. Were it in an oil or coal country it could easily be explained, but as I do not know the land about Janesville I can not state what it was. Under ordinary conditions the smell would have been only that of a steam arising from a hot substance, like metal falling into a tub of water."
Is Authority
Prof. Comstock is authority for all phenomena of the heavens and while he says that there is nothing strange in the falling of a meteor he is surprised at the accompanying smell. Possibly this may develop and unknown coal field right in Janesville and possibly the meteor will be found to have contained a strange gaseous substance that was released when it struck the earth.