The Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1869-1872, 1869-08-11
Woflds IN Fire,

u rum the lfltl-h quarterly Review
On the 18th Of May, 1866 n great coraa-
grafton, infinitely larger than that of London
or Moscow, was announced. 70 use the ex-
preston of distinguished astronomer, a
world was found to be ON fire. star which
till then shone me"kly and uuobtrusiyely in
the Corona Borc,,lis suddenly blaZcd into a
luminnry of the second jn1gniudr In the
course of three days from We discovery in this
new character by Nr. Brirringham M Tuam.
it had declined 10 the thiri or even fourth
order of brilliancy. In ~ days, dating from
its first appHritlOn in the Irish heavens il had
sunk To the eighth rank, and II went ON wan
ing until the 2Gth Of June, when il ceased to
he disccrnlblc except through the medium Of
the telescope. This was aremarkablc though
certainly not nm unprecedented proceeding on
the part Of IA star but one singular circum-
stance in its behavior was, that after the lapse
OF nearly two months, II began to blaze up
again, thurgh not with equal ardor, and after
maintaining It's growth for few weeks and
passing through sundy phases Of color, it
gradually palcd its tires and returned 10 its
former mrignliiCance.
How many years Ind elapsed since this aw-
ful confaTatiOn actually took plncc it would
bc prcsumptuuus to guess; hU; ii must BE- Re-
Incmhcrcd that news from the heavens though
carried by th" hcctost of mrssomg,rs. light
reach MS long after the even; has trIuspirrd
Gud that the same celestial courier is still irnp-
lillE Nllf VI fuiU MI u reaches IN
space, until II sinks exhausted hy tho lnugtl
of its flight. Now, when this object wne rX-
Hmincd, ~ II wns promptly and cugcrl' 10y
Professor Miller uuI Mr.. Higgins. thrr i,rrid.
iu their great wonder that II Welded tp0
sportra the one imposed upon the u'nrr.
though obviously independent. There was
ih" priSulntIc Ribbon ur,'--rd ly dark lines.
which belongs tu no" sun sud st,rs generally.
Int th'r wus another IN which flUr Lri.ht
lines figured; and thcsr, u"coIiing tu thr CAM
"us of Interpretation previously mentioned
Indicated that some luminous gas or gnSsrS)
was also pouring ont its light from the surface
Uf the orb
Two Of the lines spelled cut hydrogen in the
spectral language. What the other two Eiyui-
fed did not then appear; bot inasmuch rs
those four strcHks were brighter than the rest
OF the spectrum, the SOuTCc from which they
came muqt obviously have been NOR, intense
ly heated than the underlying u'rt4, or pho
iosphcrc, from which the normal stellar hrht
proceeded. And n3 the star had cuddculy
iinhcd Mp, H's II not II natural suppusitiOn
that It bad become CnwHIpt in turning hv-
drOgcn, which, ~ consequence of sorr grcnt
cOnvulsion, hud been liberated in predictions
quantities, md Then combining with other
clements, had set this haplcss world nu frrY
In such fierce cuuilngrIiion the cOInhugtiblc
gas would soon bc consumed, and the glow
would, therefore, begin tO decline guhirri ms
r'nnCd the renewed outburst or light on the
2Hlh nc August
Iy nuch IA catastrophe il is rot wholly i'm.
possible that our own globe may sometime bc
rnV"Bcd, for II r. word from the Almighty
were tn unlrosc for few mouionts the bonds
oil affinity which unite the elements Of winter
OF the ocean OH the land and tho mrfrstnrs
IN The mir single spark would bring them
together with q fury TINT would kindlr the
funeral pyrc Of the human race, and he fatal
to tho planet and MI tho works that are there.
IN. IL cannot bnI hn n startling fact for MS
That IN yondcr doomed and distant world we
have probably seen in ,rr days a realization
OF the fearful picture sketch ly Peter. "whcu
,ho heaven Cor ntmosphcrC) being OF fire shall
bc dissolved, and the clcmcrts shall melt with
The fcrVcnt heat" And il We regard il ms tho
centre of system, it is impossible To think
without horror of the fate of tho numerous
globes around il when overwhelmed by this
sudden dClugC Of light and raloric.