Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-06-29
DID THE COMET STRIKE THE EAR TIL

the 18th inst, we take from the Buffalo Com
mercial Advertiser. We advise all those who
have felt any anxiety about the comet to be-
lieve it. IL is certainly much more comforta-
bic to believe that danger is already past, than
to believe it is yet to come. Then, let the fact
be established that comet has struck the earth,
and produced no more serious effects than those
produced on the 18th inst, and it will strip an
anticipated collision with a comet of all its ter
rOrs 1t is very comforting theory, and we
advise everybody to believe it, if they can.
After all the ridicule which has been heapcd
on the prediction that n comet was to collide
with the earth on the 18th of June, after all
the small witticisms which have been expended
ON the believers in the possibility of such an
occurrence, il is now evident that some remark
able and unusual disturbing cause was in Op-
Grafton, over the whole country, at the very
time predicted for the collision. The question
80 will the comet strike'" is now changed into
another formulas the comet struck? Let us
look at this fairly for little.
During the discussion consequent on the
prediction of DIR. Cummings, the astronomers
favored US with many concurrent opinions, 60
ing to the show two things. First, there would
be no collision; but, second, If there were, il
would do no great harm. We were told that a
comet was a gaseous body, that in event of col
liSiOn no perceptible shock would take place
and only some more or less violent atmospheric
disturbance would result.
In this statement all scientific men agreed,
and we think the events of the 18th Of June.
1851, will 90 far to confirm the accuracy of their
deductions, and to excite still more the wonder
of the uneducated mind mt the prOfundity and
extent of astronomical research. But we must
qualify this remark with another. 1t is, per-
haps, not to be regretted that men of science
were so unanimous against q prediction WHICH
has been pretty certainly fulfilled. Why was
this So There seems to have been knowledge
universally diffuSed that a comet was to ap-
prOach unusually near the earth at this time.
A very few were bold enough to say that an
actual contact would take place, but-mark
this-had the leading astronomers aSSented to
this, and given the prediction the weight of
their names, they would have inflicted an evil
much greater than the collision itself. Imagine
for moment the result.
No matter how strongly they might have as
serted the harmless nature of comets, one brood
ing horror would have dwelt upon the soul of
man from the hour of prediction to that Of full
fllment. As in the perils OF storm al sea, when
the sinking ship is settling to her doom, some
90 wild with hideOuS mirth, some curse their
Maker, and die with blasphemies upon their
lips, while with some reason is dethroned, and
suicide cuts short the agony-sO would n large
part of the community have felt and acted in
expectation of the comet We have reason to
be thankful for that prOyidential ignorance
which saved US such misery. This Is alone a
sufficient reason why philosophers, calm and Sc
cure in their own superior intelligence, should
have denied the prediction. Again, there was
another feeling, a pride of caste. DIR. Cum
Ininss was obscure, and they would not accept
his calculations. At any rate, from whatever
motive, they denied their truth and it is for
tunate for mankind that they did 50.
30 much for precedent circumstances demand
ing a consideration Now, assuming that DIR.
rfo,hf hat 70 have hoaF
anticipated on the afternoon of 18th of June at
the hour appointed, bearing in mind that the
opinions entertained by astronomers, to the
comparatively harmless nature Of comets, were
undoubtedly correct.
Simply, certain atmOspherical disturbances.
sufficiently wide spread, and so disconnected
from common causes. as TO be evidently due To
some general and unusual agency. The tornado
IN this State was. iH itself, no evidence: for
tOrnadOes have frequently occurred before. But
the occurrence Of a series of tOrnadOes. at the
same hour, in regions separated by thousands of
miles, accompanied by unusual electrical phen-
Omena, and preceded By other extraordinary
circumstances, was all that We had any reason
10 expect from the comet
Now what are the evidences of such distur-
bance, and what are their attending circum-
stances
The season had been unusual. From the lst
90 April To the 10Th OfJune, nearly twelve sur
face inches Of rain had fallen, more than double
the usual quantity. As the day OfcOllisiOn ap-
preached, the character Of rain-stOrms became
unusual In Philadelphia, ON Thursday pre-
ceding, small black clouds passed over, which
discharged hOgsheads OF water IN solid bulk at
intervals. In Willings Alley about two hogs
heads fell in all, and covered a space Of only
spme thirty feet, while all elsewhere was dry
About the came time, remarkable rains Oc
Cured in Chautaudue and Steuben counties,
cIusing heavy foods. During all this time the
,ather was cool, the great heats out Of which
tOrnadOeS are always generated had not existed.
The air Of Saturday morning was still and cOOi;
until, AL at once, at about p. IN, the very
hour designated for the contact of the comet.
there occurred, in far separated regions, a Sc
rie5 Of fearful storms each independent Of the
other, with a total discOnnectiOn, far as any
ordinary eau usatiOn Il concerned. but with such
remarkable coincidence as to time and char
acter that some single and unusual source can
only account for them.
The storm in Oswego, Oneida and Sche nee 'ady
counties Is evidently one; but so different WAS it
from the ordinary tornado, that many who have
studied it refuse 10 class it with any known
phenomenon.
That in Massachusetts, was less remarkable
but IL seems 10 have been isolated from the New
York storm.
In Connecticut, another eddy of the great
whirl produced by the contact of the atmos-
phere Of the earth with that OF the comet mani
very thick, and of peculiar shape, being more
like ice broken up in pieces OF from half an
inch 10 an inch square. Among the haistOnes
were noticed alsO icicles that fell from the
clouds, ranging from two and half to three
inches long. and about half an inch thick
In Kentucky, the city Of Louisville was
' visited by storm that in terrible intensity
and violence exceeded all the rest. The sky
was OvercaOt abOut dusk with pOrtentous black
clouds. followed by a wind storm that, for few
moments seemed irresistible. Suddenly the
wind ceased, and the rain poured down in tor
rents accompanied by the most vivid lightning
and terrific thunder
In illinois, at Aurora the storm was also ter
Tlbly severe. At Pana, on the Illinois Central
Railroad, il was far worse than even in Oneida
county. Of this State. correspondent of the
chicago Tribune says, = it has Ieyeled twenty
nVe houses IN our village, and done serious
damage to fifty others. Many of the houses left
standing rendered worthless being riyen
and shattered. Some Of the houses have been