North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1866-11-14

(FrOm Lnc ANC" AOAn W "EH Va 1@@1AH"y
the 10th inst,
A sensation Of no common kind may be
expected to occur neat week. t will pro-
badly be noticeable during the intermediate
hours which end Tuesday and usher in
Wednesday, between IL M. oftfe 18th and
M. Of the l4th instants. Some ar,al,
if not celestial visitors are then due at our
mundane hotel, and he who i. on the watch
will likely "sec stars" falling stars, or the
periodic return of the grand stellar shower,
so called, which aroused science and scared
the ignorant into the mortal fear that the
end pf the world had come, and perdition
was waiting, on the 4th of November 1888,
very early in thr morning. Many now liv-
ing we'll remember the terror with which
the phenomenon was then regarded. Dur
ing the three hours of its pendancy the
day of Judgment was believed to be only
waiting for sunrise, and long after the
shower had ceased the morbid and ignor-
ant were of the sound conviction
that the final arraignment was at least only
a week ahead. To tell how the Mayor Of
Philadelphia lowered himself down we'll
how impromptu meetings for prayer were
held all over tie land; how men sought to
aave old debts settled, in order to carry
clear pecuniary balance into the expected
eternity and how the creditors Insisted 1t
''was no use to talk dollars IN the face of
the general suspension Of the universe,
with many other scenes of humor and ter.
ror, would take more space than the care
ful exhibition of sthe characteristics, the
incidents, the known causes, and the ap-
pearance of the phenomenon will allow.
THE CoMING.MErEoRIc SHOWER.
The reason why the meteoric shower ia
attributed to between the 18th and l4th of
November is this: Between AID. 9O3 and
A. D, 1888, not less than nineteen great star
fallings are accorded A period of 334
years, or an even multiple of that length OF
time, has always elapsed as interval from
one stage of their occurrence to the next
and the next and so on The last one, as
stated, was on the 14th of November, 1888,
the preceding shower came off on the same
day SO years before. and previous to that
date ~ the same ratio OF time. This fur
nishes data and basis for astronomical
calculation, and according to the conclusions
of the Greenwich Observatory professors.
the next passag. of the earth through the
mrteorlc group will take place on the morn
ing of November IA, two h"ur> b, fore sun
rise. A watch on the early morning OF the
18th is recommended, rs the n oment OF
greatest stellar brilliance may very posi- ly
occur one day before the predicted time
The theory that lates the occurrence Of the
grand shower on the morning Of the 14th
receives this further confirmation: There
are two nds of metoric showers. periodic
and sporadic, or occasional. The sporadic
have always oeen most frequently noticea-
bic on the l4ih uf vari"us Nov"mb.rs
yearly, hut they are not sufficiently impos-
ing to take them out of the sphere of o'di-
nary astronomical Phenomena vet their
occurrence on the 18th of November il a
strong, conclusive probability in favor of
fixing their date regularly and annually at
that time. The fact that every 33d spo
radio meteoric shower becomes of the vast
est proportions has led to the calling Of
these large showers periodic; hence the
classification. Mostly, these sporadic dis
plays are now only specially noticed when
an unusual number Of meteors fall; 9th .r-
wise. they are regarded as matter ofcourse
The most remarkable in recent years of
these rseteoric showers, was that which oc-
c1rred on November l3 IA, 1865, when
the maximum display at Greenwich was
257 metears per hour. The display this
year is expected to be mich greater
eral hundred times greater, something like
the 242, 900 per hour that characterized the
last periodic shower, of Boston, in 1888.
THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF PERIODIC
sRowERS.
The term meteor signifies any pbenom-
enOn of short duration occurring in the
atmosphere. They are, of course, thus va.
riors, such as meteors CT rain. snow, fog,
and hail, termed aqueous, while the eff cts
produced by the passage Of these aqueous
particles through the air are called lumi-
nous meteors. The phcr omena of light
ming, erolites. shooting stars, &c, are tech
nically termed igneous mtteors. But in
bst understood language the term meteor
is applIn1 0plv fo fhoa. h,d;oe tbot ne