The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1860-08-23
The Eclipse OF the SUN I'm spain.

A correspondent Of the London Times.
writing from Tudela, Spain, gives the fol,
lowing account of his observations of the
eclipse of the sun, on the 18th ultimo.
y Shortly after three o'clock, it became
evident that the total eclipse was approach
ing from the northwest. At three minutes
past three, the sky and the horizon in that
direction were rapidly becoming dark,
while the bright glow of sunshine was as
yet unchanged towards the southeast. {.
AT four minutes pastthree, an unearthly
fghastly glow, once seen never to be forgot
ten, covered the whole scene, and was most
evident upon the gse Sesk ground at INV
feet. 9he light now f,pidly dccrcascd.
But, with the exception of this glow, which
was very conspicuous upon the clay hills, |
could see no particular change of color in
the trees or landscape
At five minutes past three the western
horizon was lost in darkness, and the conf
Cal hills to the northwest were invisible.
while the clouds towards the east sent forth
bright glow Of light from the sun still
shining on their frcnts. At this moment
bright waving lines of light hickered one
alter another over the ground parallel TO
my line OF light with the sun On looking
up from these | found that the sun had
already disappeared, and that had missed
the formations Of the corona. The black
circle OF the moon was already surrounded
by the crown Of glory; two stars shone
brightly few degrees from the sun, and
so magnificent was the spectacle above, so
glorious the spectacle below, that could
not help looking for few moments from
the one to the other. A bright light, |
think OLA grccnish yellow color, skirted the
horizontal sky, and the banFs of cumuli
shone with brilliant glow The darkness
was not intense; the light from the corona
and the distant rcfractions far surpassed
the brightest moonlight. 1t would have
been easy to read the smallest type.
The edge Of the sun suddenly appeared,
about nine and half minutes past three,
and the first instantaneous burst of light
was very impressive. l now observed in
tently the disappearance fthe corona, and
can say with confidence that it did not dis
appear; but was gradually rendered invisi-
bly, by the increasing intensity of the suns
light. l could perceive it gradually di-
minshing III breadth till | could no longer
observe the sun without protection of the
eyes.
| now looked again to the south. The
northwest horizon was glowing with light,
fFF fFata 'R Was stsFcey tN visible - The total
eclipse was passing in that direction; the
clouds presently became invisible, and
remained 50 during about six minutes, when
they gradually reappcared. The rapid in
crease of darkness TO the southeast, and
that of returning light to thcsnorthwcst,
were very evident, otherwise | perceived
no line of shadow upon the earth's surface
TOAST AND WATER.-Pope, OH one oc
casion, experienced very ludicrous disap-
pointment at Mr.. Shec's table, in Cavcndish
square. The port and claret were making
their accustomed rounds during the dessert
probably at an exemplary pace. Mr.
Shce, although little short of tectotaler
himself, retained something of the Hiber-
man prejudice In favor of brisk circula.
ton ot the bottle after thc departure of the
ladies. So tar all was well; but at each
successive circuit Of the ambulatory 'coast-
ers' Popes obscrvant eye detected the sus-
picious fact his host, though prompt to ex-
pcditc their rotary progress, never had re-
course to their contents but occasionally,
and, rs it seemed, rather surcptitiously,
helped himself from u small unobtrusive
dccantcr that remained stationary ut his
right hand, and through the clear crystal of
which shonc a bright ambcr-colorcd liquid,
suggestive OF the purcst Amontillado vim
tagc. Eager to defeat and expose so in
koSpitallc monopoly, Pope suddenly apos-
trophizcd his host in loud ami jccring
tone, "Comc, come, my good friend, per-
ceivc that you are nursing something good
there for your own private drinking. That
dccanter has never left your side. But it
won't do. I'll trouble you for glass "
"Oh. willingly" answered his Amphitiyon,
in apparent confusion. 81 was Just about
to ask your opinion of it" And, suiting
the action to the word, he poured out u
bumper into the glass which Popc's eager
hand extended for the purpose. The tri-
umphant co,,noisSetu' raised the sparkling
goblet to the light, and then drained the
contents ut a single draught But no soon
cr had he done SD than loud exclamation
of horror and dismay burst from his lips,
while his face wore an expression of the
deepest disgust: "By Jovc," exclaimed he,
sputteriug in his finger-glass, ''its--its--
nothing but" Toast aud water quiet
ly Observed Mr. Shce; "a beverage to which
Baltic restricts me- But I'm afraid its not
much in yOur line" \ general burst OF
laughter from the rest of the company com
plctcd the modification of the discomlittcd
yompet-LJt IF Sir w. 4. .Shcc.
~~s
|. E-TuAr Is.-Thc names of girls
in these lattur days have a decided tcndcn.
ey to terminate in lie Taking upa couple
Of catalogues of ladies' schools the other
day pleasant reading by the way, those
pages full OF the names of school girls are