The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-11-22
An Unexplained Phenomenon.

An Unexplained Phenomenon.
Scores OF infldels, who mock at
"faithn as considered in its religious
sense, show themselves to be living
contradictions Of their own protested
belief. For instance, what faith men
possess in the security Of the world.
Notwithstanding all hints Of the ele-
ments to the contrary! If an earth
quake shakes buildings from their
foundations, man rebuilds them; If q
village be destroyed by flood, man re-
pairs the mischief done; if volcano
vomits forth death and destruction to
the dwellers within its shadow, man,
hardy man, returns to the haunts
which has proved fatal, and, in the
very Jaws of peril, eats, drinks, and
sleeps soundly. Humanity lives in
the present, quite forgetting past dam
gers. That it Is best so need not be
demonstrated here. Apropos of this
subject comes "reminiscences of the
clark day" in New England-the
18th of May, 1870-when, for five NOR
tai hours, the sun hid his face, and
night fell on the land. Previous to
that time of terror, q vapOr had filled
the air for several days. There was q
smell of sulphur. The morning of the
18th was overcast with some clouds,
and rain fell over the country, with
Lightning and thunder. Scarcely any
motion was in the air, what wind
there was came from the southwest.
By nine o'clock in the forenoon, with
out previous warning, the darkness
stole gradually ON, with a luminous
appearance near the horizon, as if the
obscuring cloud had dropped down
from overhead. There was yellow
ness of the atmosphere that made clear
silver assume grass green hue. Then
dense, undefinable vapor settled
rapidly and without aerial movement
over all the land and ocean from Penn
sylvania to the Gulf of st. Lawrence,
the darkness it caused sinking by de-
grees until the sunlight was efectually
shut out. Ordinary cloud it was not.
The rapidity with which so large an
extent of country was envelOped pre-
cludes the possibility of supposing this
to have been a natural cloud moving
laterally. Besides this, the day was
too calm to imagine such thing.
Down came the darkness thicker and
thicker. By ten O'Clock the air was
loaded with thick gloom. The
heavens were tinged with a yellowish
or faint red; the lurid look increased
few, if any, ordinary clouds were visi-
ble The sun, in disappearing, took
on a brassy hue. The lurid, grassy
color spread everywhere, above and
below. The grass assumed the color
of the sky, and all out doors wore a
sickly, weird and melancholy aspect
q lrrSlyx rar if fhr0n~h
q smoked glass. By eleven o'clock it
until three in the afternoon the dark
In doors, candles became all absolute
necessity. Without, stages put up at
the nearest inns, or else carried candles
and lanterns to guide the perplexed
drivers on their way. The brute and
feathered creation seemed puzzled and
agitated. The herds of cattle on New
England's thousand hills, sought the
shelter of the shed or barnyard, lowing
as they came to the gate. and sheep
huddled around the circle with their
heads inward-the invariable token of
apprehended danger. Dogs whined,
and ran away as on the approach of an
earthquake. Frogs peeped their even
ing concert. The birds ceased to fly,
and hid themselves in the branches of
the trees. AS the darkness increased
they sang their evening songs as they
do at twilight, and then became silent.
Pigeons on the wing took to the shell
ter of the forest as they do at night.
The whip-poor-will, as if it were truly
night, cheerfully sang his song through
the glocm my hours. Woodcocks, which
are night-birds, whistled as they only
do in the night time. Bats came out
of their hiding-places and flew about.
The fowls marched sOlemnly to their
roosts as they do only at nightfall,
and, after cackling for a while over
the mystery of so short a day, became
still. Cocks crOwed as is their custom
at nightly intervals and the early
breaking of day. The human family
was equally terrified. Men left their
occupations and sought their houses,
where they were met on the threshold
by trembling women. Schools were
dismissed. Travellers sought shelter,
seeming to crave companionship. A
deep gloom settled on every face, and
terror filled every heart. Toward
evening, the darkness was succeeded
for an hour or two by a partially clear
sky; but this interval was followed by
return of the observation with great
er density, that rendered the first half
of the night hideously dark beyond all
former experience of probably a mil
lion of people who saw it. The pheno-
menon has never been explained. The
theory of some, that it was smoke and
ashes from forest fires, extensively rag
ing was diSanprOyed No fires i'm the
forests could have been sufficient to
spread a dense cloud over the whole of
New England and even some parts of
the Middle States. Notwithstanding
the researches of learned men, a salts
factory explanation cannot be given of
the mystery, consequently the clark
day" remains an unexplained pheno-
menon = Wdrerky Magazine.
The Glory of the Farmer.
The benefits conferred upon mankind
by the farmer and the pleasure which
to his vocation are charminply