The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-09-05
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Friday Morning, September 8, 1873.
Abort Hc-.s..

eIe not muoh- given 70 Atar-gaXlnR. In
fact, our plodding wayfarers. walk with
their eyes on nIlevel, occasionally detect
a ,"mud-trap" in the payements, and
have beer. known 10 lookinpwards on .
fire alarm, but usually j they are Of the
'''earth earthly" and not. prone to, extra
mundane; cogitatio4a.s NoiHithstand-
ing this lack Of curiosity, there is good
deal of aotiyeis movement overhead.
Astronomy rhas .svery ardent votaries,
who can tell yoh all the seas and oonti.
neuts yin,t Mars; know all about the
mountaina and valleys in the moon. and
esloulass With SH=ee;s:on the orbits Of
the heavenly bcAiss; but now and then
they mias shH Old acquaintance opt Of
the sky, ana forthwith whole body Of
keen dete1sses are In hot pursuit after
the miasing fugitive. Generally some
plausible account can ,be given of the
lost ons,.but sone 2strageler seems to
have ''burat mp" and Sgone ainto bank
ruptcy. with n6;hsc5unt Of assets, and
that is Biela'sebmet. @
About century ago, Montaigne dis
covered new comet, but could fix no
time for its return; and 30 It went on
until 1926, when Biela also found
comet, which computation proved to be
the same as the one of 1772; and al.
though, owing to its faintnees and diff
Guilty OF observation. many Of it's peri
odio returns had not been noticed, it
was proved that its period OF revolution
was six years and eight months. That
asoertained, this comet was watched for,
but not very satisfactorily detected until
about December, 1845, whom, on its ap-
pearauce, nothing very unusual in comet
behavior was noticed; for its head was
all right, the body In good order and its
tail irreproaohable. Bot. behold, in the
next January. an accident happened ut
terly unknown before, md very much to
the surprise OF the astronomers. Biela
spit into two pieces. and for some
months each piece set up for itself
They went out OF sight in thut oondi-
Non. and when they came back in 1862
one was ahead Of the other on the track
only about 2. 600. 600 Of miles, and they
had not then got inside Of the quarter
stretch; 80 that nobody could tell which
one would win the heat. Great disgust
accordingly among the telescope men,
aud no chances fol, selling '.pools'' in
the qbservatories; and from the end of
that September. .when the last Airt of
the rear comets, tail was seen as it
rounded the oval OF the orbit, no human
eye has beheld either of those parts OF
former whole. Did they fly the track.
break mp into smaller pieces. or what
did they do2 There was no chance for
a mand.mus. or an. injunction, and the
''savants" have gone to guessing and
predicting.
Professor. Newton thinks the frag-
ments OF Biela have turned into meteors
or shooting atara-gone gunning-and
that about the end OF last November,
when the earth crossed the orbit of the
last comet, the shower OF meteors then
noticed by astronomers was composed
of the fragments. Arago calculated
that q collision between the earth and
the comet aa one body was we'll nigh i'm
possible. But Professor Kirkvood, in
recent article, suggests that If the earth
did scattssahs pieces Of Biela last year,
they ARB 70 be regarded as .'small pota-
toes, compared to the big Jumps or
fragmants we are likely to hit against
about the last Of November, 1892, when
the original body would. il in existence.
have to GROSS our orbit. Wherefore, il
any of our readers ara so mioded, they
can ''sit up and see," on that last date
aforesaid, and verify the learned pro.
fessor's calculations. :
Hon. Daniel M. Barringer, whose
death at. the Greenbrier Springs, W.
Va, has beep announced by telegraph,
was born. In Cabarrus County, North
Caroline, in 1907. He commenced the
study OF laW.in 1929, and soon became
distinguished in his profession. For