Show THE SOLAR ECLIPSE A TOTAL eclipse of the sun aun is a rare occurrence and when one takes place it attracts attention from the civi civilized lizel world it is not only because such a phenomenon is a beautiful and awe inspiring spectacle but for the additional reason that valuable scientific data such as aa can be obtained at no other times and from no other source are to be had one of these is the excellent facilities afforded for looking for le terriers verri ers so far theoretical planet vulcan believed by him and many others to have an orbit between mercury and the sun mercury is the sm smallest ablest known planet and so far as known enjoys the distinction of being the nearest one to the sun still the question is ao an open one and whoever discovers the long lost wanderer will achieve distinction greater than that possessed by leverrier himself certain it is that all will try this time as never before because opportunities for observation are to be superior on this occasion owing to its being the first total eclipse of the sun visible on the pacific coast where the air is clear and the altitudes favorable which has ever been scientifically scrutinized it is not however to be inferred from this that only professional astronomers and scientific students can make observations in quest of the intra mercurial planet for anywhere west of the rocky mountains within the belt of totality we are promised so fine a view of the astral surroundings of the sun that the unpracticed eye can detect fixed stars as small as the sixth magnitude nl tude and if vulcan has even su such ch proportions as the larger of the planetoids swinging around the sun at va various ous intervals between the orbits of mars and jupiter and is not on the other side of the sun from atom us he will certainly be detected if an opaque body it will also be a rare opportunity for comet seekers and one or more of these irregular visitors to our system might appear in the depths of space without evoking special wonder astronomy is now recognized as one of the most correct and exact as well as abstruse of the sciences time was and it was not so very long ago when the degree of information possessed by the masses relative to this subject was so limited that an eclipse solar or lunar afforded nothing more than sensuous gratification on thy the part of the populace at the time of the event and little if any speculation or enterprise regarding it before or after the press however has been steadily invading the ranks of this class nobly has it brought mankind well to the front regarding vi a knowledge of celestial economy and it has received excellent assistance from the profession itself which encouraged cou raged by the greater inquiry and growing interest manifested has busied itself in making known the rudiments of the science and imparting advanced information as rapidly as the public mind was prepared to receive it ft thus today when there is to be an eclipse of whatever nature the knowledge of it beforehand is not confined to a circle or a class but is diffused generally and if the event is to be an important one as was that of tuesday last all are agog over it and duly prepared with smoked glass or other contrivance to get full views of the phene phenomenon menon through its varied degrees the amateur astronomer or student who assally casually asu ally contemplates the subject is often of more direct use to a community in this connection than would be the most skilled of practical or theoretical astronomers for he understands more or less in both directions ions rec receives elves the greater knowledge from the greater source understandingly stan and hands it down to those who otherwise could not receive IV ity as even without pedantry the plain terms of an advanced professor and thinker disclosing a feature or development of his hia craft to those who have not studied or become e intrinsically interested would be so much greek to the uninitiated or as a learned exposition of the pandects of justinian to a sunday school class it often happens also that observations taken by the amateurs are of great benefit even to the profession since it is a well understood fat fatt t that the eye behind which is a mind bent beat upon learning will peer more intently and earnestly into the depths of space in quest of developments than will that of the practiced and calculating cu lating master of the science who knows primarily and principally what to is coming and therefore receives all kinds hinds of impressions as a matter of course the distinction is simply this that the amateur or student is one or two steps ahead of the one who gives the science no thought and leagues behind the one who has thoroughly mastered it it is a vast grand and inexhaustible field in which to labor seldom affording any other tangible re quit ement to the one who is learning it than his own gratifications and it is only through the aid of governments and wealthy patrons that the professors most accomplished receive financial encouragement of any magnitude A better illustration of this cannot be had bad than the fact that the great proctor who had become thoroughly familiar with the depths and breadths of the so called upper deep and was on the most intimate terms with all their discernible habitants died within the past year and left nothing to his widow Tru truly lythe the scientist whose labors run in other than practical paths must be an enthus enthusiast last indeed he must be to ever achieve success even as a master of his chosen salling alling pecuniary success being of necessity a secondary matter we venture the assertion that in no BO eclipse or other celestial occurrence of recent times has there been so much interest and for which there has been so much preparation as in the first of January 1889 the reasons for this are am numerous california where presumably the best and most protracted views were to be had is 18 thickly strewn with scientific scientific associations and the means of taking accurate and scientific data add to this very attractive condition of things the fact that civilization and cultivation jn in a high degree prevail at almost every point and the accessibility of any of them by rail and we find a nucleus for the creation of a feeling of interest in nevada and idaho also the best views of one of the grandest eclipses of late years were at points easily reached by means of railroads this is not generally the caw case or has not been and with the original lual incentive coupled to the t excellent facilities we have a result of more observations ions of a scientific VIEW AT P PM M I 1 tine and ordinary character than is recorded of any like event within the experience of the writer the territory within which the eclipse waal a totality commenced well toward the western to us limit of the aleutian islands a archipelago stretching out from the great projected peninsula of southern aou fhern alaska two thirds of the way across the pacific toward hatka proceeding southerly it reached the most southern point in its curvilinear progress north of the sandwich islands a hundred miles or more when its upward course began and it reached the shore of our western coast as a belt miles in width the exact centre of which was point arena thence it proceeded gradually and curvin gly n a northeast direction clipping the corner of northwestern utah at th the them limit thence through southern thern idaho montana and northwestern dakota into manito b where it ended As it progressed the belt became narrower and the period of totality correspondingly shorter at point arena the time was oa fully two minutes while in idaho where the average width was 85 miles it was ten seconds less or thereabout there about it became then merely a 4 question of choice as to aich which place in the long list of available ones would be the best from shieh aich to make observations call california getting nine out of ten of the ung observers and meeting in several instances with less success as we learn leam from the dispatches by reabon ea oln of light clouds haze or other impediments none of which occurred irre d in either nevada or idaho J axi yiew AT p r 4 at this point a partial list hat of those t ched in the profession of as aa waiyin to a science in the colleges or by b y reason of being at bument BB ment en t signal stations station fi and else way tony be interesting hrs ad D JI todd of ambera i observed at norman cat cal akk observatory sent a party to toft eit springs lake county inan ww was under J E keeler tao nomer who devoted the two minutes of totality to a spectroscope study of the corona besides mr keeler the party consisted of E E barnard astronomer in charge of photographic observations C B hill assistant astronomer and A 0 leischner Len student in astronomy A party from harvard college observatory atory took station at willows the party consists of professor W H dickering chief 6 A L rotch botch mr bailey mr king andar black the work of the party was the photography and photometry of the corona professor lewis swift director of the warner observatory of rochester N Y searched for intra mer curial planets professor J P D john director of the depauw observatory of greencastle Green castle ind with his assistant dr W V brown the equipment of this party consisted of two five inch telescopes an almu canter etc professor W W payne director of the observatory or carlton cariton college minnesota professor H S prichett director of the observatory at washington university of st louis mo observed the eclipse by photography all the foregoing were in california mr blinn took some of the instruments st of his private observatory in east oakland to a station at or near winnemucca nev in nevada also united states surveyor general irish who is practiced in astronomy made observations ions 0 P F and T D davidson sons SOBS of professor davidson of the coast survey took a party to winnemucca station nev charles burckhalter of the cha hot bot observatory oakland took the tb 10 1 2 inch reflecting telescope sat his hie private observatory to a station near cloverdale A number of gentlemen belonging to the pacific coast amateur photographers association so blade photographs under mr s gui guidance danoe with the design of providing the waders readers of the with the best attainable data regarding the eclipse without entering into the technical and profounder pro founder ader phases of the subject it was decided to dispatch a messenger to make amateur observations na at a point as near the centre of the belt of totality as possible after considerable figuring and comparison aided by no small amount of guessing on our own part nod and others as awe web as by from abroad it was decided that pocatello idaho would be the most convenient and accessible tessible headquarters and a few miles northwest of there an excellent place to view the coming celestial spectacle this gramme pro was accordingly carried out our emissary leaving salt lake city on the morning of december 31 bound for inter idaho the trip to pocatello is one but slightly relieved with incidents worthy of note it is not quite miles from salt lake and about 20 miles west of north from it being the junction of the utah northern and oregon short line railways it is here that the former ceases to be a narrow gauge road the continuation to montana being standard gauge necessarily there must be a bandling re of all freights and a transfer of all passengers and baggage going further in whatever direction at this point and this alone would wound make it an important one viewed as a railway centre it is said to contain near people when they are all at home but it does not look to have more than half that number on the southwest is a long row of two story frame cottages and on the west still another close by another of one story tenements which by themselves give the place a somewhat aspect these are all owned by the union pacific company as is also the only hotel in the place an excellent establishment in appointment and room being about the size of the white house in salt lake but of wood like all other buildings here Among the other attachments of frontier civilization iza tion it has a scale of prices sufficiently inflated to satisfy the most persistent stickler for far style a 25 cent meal costs 75 cents and a half dollar bed a dollar and a half there are no saloons this being an indian reservation and the we sale of liquor prohibited through at train times a side door in the hotel seems to lead to where those who want to be stung worse than by an adder can be this place has a special permit it is understood it is not to be inferred from this howe however vei hat there is no drinking here or no drunkenness the dreadful shooting affray of a few days ago is easily traced to the ardent and that prohibition does not prohibit any more than protection protects is easily observed without going in quest of it the railway employed emp loyes inhabit the cottages referred to at least those who have families do the others board at the hotel or wherever else they feel disposed if at the hotel this would seem the most liberal railway company in point of wages on earth or else the employed emp loyes get special very special rates some preparations on the part of the citizens for seeing the eclipse at the best possible advantage had been arranged before our representatives ta arrival and at 11 a m an excursion party left for blackfoot 25 miles north and a little east in the centre of the belt of totality As the belt would run southwest to northeast as previously stated it is easy to see that they went many miles further than they needed to as to reach the centre the shortest route would be one at a right angle with the belt and this would make one mile of travel equal to about three in the other direction however they had the railroad for it and the NEWS man had a conveyance that go more than one third as fast as they so it was about an equal thing after all there is one newspaper published here the pocatello reporter issued semiweekly semi weekly by wheeler kautzman the first solicitude of the morning was waa watching for the dawn with the hope of seeing a cloudless sky those ordinarily useful aerial appendages at this time would have been not only unwelcome but a distinct and u unequivocal nuisance at the first glimmer of the gray dawn our representative was at his room window taking a view of the upper deep he was delighted overjoyed not a cloud was to be seen not even the flecking overhead which sometimes acts as the avant courier of clouds the day opened as a typical new year should bright beautiful and promising the incessant clatter of switching cars and the loud and shrill panting of the iron horse beneath the window was such a serenade as kept 1 him ini awake during du ring the greater part of the night but he mind that eliat then when it was plain that his mission mis sion voiad riot not lie he a failure so far as meteorology wh was concerned dressing in an atmosphere ton degrees s below zero he i i forth to look nt at the town with the result stated above it was ia 4 1 p in when the train arrived ani therefore long after dark it did riot not take IK on long to ome around and then it was time rosally to sally forth and get in position Iosi tion pocatello catello io Co is skirted closely on the south and west with mountains and tile the sun up to ten seemed swinging around in hi his lath to impending oba obscuration uncomfortably close to their summits but within an hour more he loomed up grandly in the field of view and seemed disposed to hold himself aloof from all entangling alliances until the ordeal had been passed As the time for the first contact approached this proved to be 13 p m standard time glasses were adjusted and we began looking his solar majesty squarely in the face at the time stated an intense scrutinizing tin izing |