The New York herald., 1866-11-28


Tas SGssssrss shswsr h HursSs-Nswv ord
selssss.
We give elsewhere h extracts ffon Ne Eng-
lIaA pspsr : fun and sasisiActory aecouat Of
The meteorie shower - sssn in Great Britain
On ne moraing ef he l4sA inst English ~
tronomss estimate The total number Of msteors
observed q eight thousand, and give the num-
bsr falling st tho period Of greatest brllliaacy
- ono hundred Per minute. Nearly tho whole
pres Of The British islands dwslls with more or
LEES sxtrsvaganos Of expression upoa 10 sur
passing splshder Of he spectacle
TAs Acu In relation 10 this astroasmioal
wonder may b ofproat 70 tAs public ia way
in which mon would hardly expect b profit BY
astronomy-as pointing Lesson In relation 10
the traasnlssioa Of intslligsnes throughout the
world. Ata period within the memory Of men
still living 70 would have heard Of the starry
showers only afssr me lapse Of weeks; d
moro recent period Il would have reached u
iu ten or twelve days perhaps-and that has
beeu regarded - wonderful result Of human,
progress; but In the ,cass IN point ,we printed
In the Nsw Yosx HxAAIS clear and SUFFICIENT
u ample account or The essnt ia Sorty-eight
hours afterih occurrence Tia readers Of .the
HsRALD were only twenty y-foar hours behind tho
readers of the Londoa papsn; Tor tho aeoount
We printed ON the 18th iast presents the gen-
sral features Of the display substantially ssS
they arc given In the accounts printed IN Lon
don on the 18th. >uas ry c4f
Another lesson lies IN iris event. II d ~ to
newspapsrs For at the Same time that people
reflect on the wonderful progress that has been
made In the transmission Of news, they must
observe that tho HxRALD h the only journal
that Is sufficiently up 70 tho spirit Of tho ago to
use these great results OF modern invention for
the benefit Of Its readers We alone Of the
many newspapers printed In the United States
gave this starry item a. early a. the means In
human hands would permit Other journals,
conducted ON the principle that "sny time will
do," will give an account Of the stars, now that
they can easily and economically clip it out Of
the English papers; that il, they will give to
their readers to-day or tomorrow the news
that the readers Of the HsRALDhAd twelve days
ago; and this event conveniently 6xes tho
exact degree In which tho HERALD d ahead Of
the other papers.
Having the oredibility Of our news thus bril-
lianay confirmed BY the very stars themselves,
We need hardly turn from their splsndor to
bestow thought ON the illustrious dulness Of
the Yale Professor whose profound conceip
is directed to astronomy. It is, however,
interesting a. matter Of record that on the
10th instant Professor Loomis wrote these
words to daily paper 80 The grand display
which 1t was supposed might possibly occur
this year has not been Witnessed In the United
States, and probably not in Europe, or itwould
have been announced to M By telegraph. The
telegram In this merning's HsRALD, purporting
to have come from Greenwioh, Il evidently
spurfous." Nothing could have given any
weight to these words save that their author
had some reputation as q man Of science. It
was the Professors reputation that was staked
A. against our news, and the result Is known.
We would advise the Professor not In future TO
venture to deny on the authority OF his theories
any fact stated ~ news In this Journal We do
not expect al professors to admire the HBRALD.
It ID an evidence Of Its value to the people
that moss-covered gentlemen generally are not
apt to like It but they viii best consider their
regulations by passing on the other side the
way II they choose, and not by committing
themselves too broadly to denial Of its news.
The Post Of this city, which originally pub
lished Professor LOOMS letter, has noticed
properly the confirmation Of our despatch,
showing thereby q better appreciation Of the
spirit Of courtesy that should rule In these
matters than Is generally prevalent In the
press. -