Middletown transcript., 1872-11-02
The Dark Ssy in Hsu Easla.d.


% the 10th of May. 1880. ths iahsss.
tauts Of New Ruglssd ssd shs sdjeeces
parts were tho trembling Wisnsssss O .
phenomenon never seeu before h6t Gees.
aud which to this day rsmsius une.plais.
ed, The year Wss celebrated Sbs its %.
merous suforal exhibitions In this latitude.
They covered the midnisht heavens vssA
coruscations Of red and silver. and stses@.
ed out like lightning. seeming. esye 90
writer, fairly 10 hsah warmth In the tess.
The winter preceding waa marked by -
tracrdiuary severity. Snow Icy . -
ground from tho middle of NovsHhsf y
tho middle Of April. In Deesmbss -
January . storm continued for sevea -:
cessive days, aud the snow fell 70 depee
Of four feet on level in this single storm.
and with drifts eight and ten feet htga.
Sheep were buried in the drifts Tor maay
days. aud even men and auimsls psrishsd
with the cold. Long Island Sound vss
crossed BY heavy artillery on the ics:--
Nsrrsgsasetr Bay frose over 80 hsEd shse
men tfavcrsed the ice from Pro.isesee =
Newport in skating parties. and sFoo Fam
River to Newport. loads Of wood we're CO...
veyed on the leo through Bristol Very.
Previous to the 10th . tapor 6llsd the
air for severSl days. TheiG SaS I snS0
Of sulphur. The morning Of the 18th vee
overcast with some clouds, and raia Ssll
over the country. With lightning and shas.
der. Scarcely any motion Vas In the air;
what wind there vas came from the soutA
west By nine o'clock in the foreeoes.
without previous warning, the dsrknso
stole gradually on. With luminous ~
pcarance near the horizon. ~ II the obseuf.
ing cloud had dropped down from over.
head. There was ycllowncss Of the ~
mosphcrc that made clear silver assums
n grass. green hue. Then dense. unds-
Unable vapor settled rapidly and without
aerial movement over sll tho land and o.
cean from Pennsylvania to the Gul! OF 81.
Lawrence. the darkness it caused sinking
by degrees until the sunlight Was effect.
ually shut out. Ordinary cloud It vas
not. The rapidity with which 30 largo sn
extent Of country was envelopcd prseludes
the possibility Of supposing this to have
been natural cloud moving iatefsi'y.
Besides this, the day wss TOO calm TO ia-
agine such thing Down csmc the dark.
nes. thicker and thicker. BY ten o'clock
the air was loaded With thick gloo n. The
heavens we're ting-d with yollo~ish %
faint red The lurid l.ok increased. fev.
il any, ordinary clouds were visible. The
sun, in disappearing, toos OH a brassy hue.
The lurid. bras.y color spread every where.
above aud below The erase assumed the
color of the sky, and all outdoors wore
sickly, wcrd aud melancholy sspsct--a
dusky appearance. Us il seen through .
smoked glass. by eleven o'clock il vss
rs night itself. aud from this time until
three in the afternoon the darkness vss
extraordinary and frightful.
TIE eytent OF the darkness wss greater
than is related OF any other similar phsa.
omenon on record, not excepting the eele.
bra,ed dark days over Egypt and Jndes.
II reached south to the northern half oS
Pcnnsy ylyania. and from thence along the
coast northeast 10 the wilds Of Msiue.
eastward to the Gulf Of ST Lawrence. snd
ou, at sea 100 miles southeast Of Boston.
and undoubtedly much farther; west to
the valleys Of Lake Champlain and the
Hudson River, and into undelred region,
in Canada Portland. Boston. Hartford.
New York, Wcs, Point, and Albany we're
affected By it But the degrees of dark
ncs. differed in different pisces. the deep
est nigh, settling over New England. A
tract Of land and sea 500 miles in length
and 400 miles in breadth, embracing -
area Of $40, 900 square miles, was kuo~u
to be covered by tho cloud, and 20 far -
can be ascertainei, population Of TOO.
900 souls "a, for portion Of tho day and
nigh. in gloom more or less prosessd
| and incxplicable.