National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-01-05
THE TRAMsTT OF VEyUg.

IlOu b8Ao u ScrhQIoQ COAL 81 NEW 1Ork on
Wednesday last only 30 900 tons Of coal were sold
the average price showing q decline Of two cents
per ton on the prices realized at the November
sale"
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.
The Tinss' correspondent gives the following
interesting account Of the perils and difieuItieG
encountered In landing the Kerguslsn Hparty OF
observation" ofthe transit by the SEatara:
While lying At Island Harbor q reconnaissance
was nAdo to see II there was place suitable for
an observing station in that neighborhood, but
none was found. Upon consulting with the
Uhalers, they said that the best locality would be
near the Watering Place, at MoIloy Point, and
the captain Of the Emma Jane agreed to pilot Us
over there. Accordingly, on the morning Of Sep
TENDER 10, steam was gotten up, and ct T:3o 9. m.
we LEFT Island Harbor and crossed the sound to
Molloy Point, seven miles distant, where we
anchored at s:35 q. m. We lay three quarters Of
. mile from the shore, and nearly due west Of uS
stood the Point, bold and rather steep promon,
tory, out Of which the bare rock jutted In many
places. 1t forms the western side Of . shallow
bay, behind which rises chain of hills, perhaps
thousand feet high, and In the rear Of them
again there 10 . mountain range whose LOFTY
peaks are crowned with snow and ice. But
short distance to the east Of Molloy Point the
hills are cleft By shallow stream some ten feet
duce almost the only sounds which break the
replenish their Hster-caskS and from that cir
cumstance the little bay has come to be known as
the Watering Place. The vegetation and charsc-
Dor. OF animals we saw only birds, but they were
numer0us-mostly ducks and penguins or the
latter there is large roOkery on the western side
careful reconnaissance Of the whole neigh
borhOod showed that the surface Of the ground
bly, dry place discovered being On KIND of Ter.
race about half way up the southwestern face Of
Molloy Point and here Lieut.. Com. Ryan, chief
Of the Kerguelen party decided to locate his sta
tion. Accordingly, on the afternoon Of Septen.-
Der 10, the landing Of the outfit Of his party
completed no delays we're made except those
caused by the weather. This, however, gave Us
much trouble. From early morning untn the
between sunshine and fierce SQUALLS OF wind.
rain and snow, the latter being frequently so
thick that It was Impossible to see objects my
feet distant. Toward sunset the wind always
became very fresh, and once-on Friday, Septem-
Der lit became severe gale, which sprang up
iss. tSan 2ftsen minutes from fts ~ comHsne N
ment. All our boats were down, and many
Of our officers and men were ashore at the time,
but fortunately they all got safely on board
again. Some had narrow escape, however
One Of the boats, q little skif which had been
purchased at the Cape Of Good Hope, was beaten
TO pieces by the sea against the side of the ship,
and the last man in her Was left hanging to the
bost-falls. The violence Of the storm was so
great that an attempt TO hoist the steam-launch
failed, and she finally got adriit and was lost.
The other boats were all got safely on board.
The ship herself was 50 severely tried that she
dragged her anchor about half q mile, but by
yeering out one hundred and twenty fsthoms Of
chain, dropping second anchor, and steaming
head to the gale she was brought up again.
The history Of the landing was briefly as fol-
lows On Thursday, September 10, q lot Of lum-
Der was landed, and the building OF hut for the
party to live in was commenced: On Friday work
on the hut was continued, much Of the OUTFIT Of
the party was landed and three tents were put
up to receive the more perishabe articles IS they
came on shore. To the surprise Of every one these
tents stood unframed through the gale which
blew that night. By Saturday evening every
thing belonging to the party was ashore, except
progressed that is sides were up, and il was
rooted in. At O'Clock on the afternoon Of Sun
day, September u, the party finally len the
to take q last look at the station. At D. N. the
good bys were all said, and an hour later our
slowly down the sound. As she got under way,
Q salute Of five guns was fired from her hoHit-
GERS. The weather was nner than at any other
time since our arrival, and the ten miles run to
the entrance Of the sound was soon accomplished.
Just at dark We cleared the headlAndB and got
fairly to see, but for the sake Of good ofang We
were allowed to burn out, and the ship was put
under canvas.
OBSERVATIONS AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
The Honolulu Commercial Advsrtissr, Of De-
full observations at that point, from which the
following are extracts:
"But We must turn to where the real star
prophets were 1t work, close to the beach, in the
grounds known as Honokaupu, which will here
after be designated as our "Point Venus" There,
IN ,,S Astronomical hIts planned and constructed
crested on solid, deep-laid bases Of masonry, We
md the indetetigable chief Capt. TupmAn, gaI-
| his co-obserYers, MI. Nichol and Lieat Noble,
| are watching the disc Of the great luminary
through their telescopes, and Lieut.. Ramsden e
making vigilsnt preparation with the photohslL
| oRraph to picture the path OF the planet across
the burning hsld Of the sun. LteutA: Clapp,
| Oldham and Shakspear, OF Il. B. N. 5. Scout,
assisted the astronomers BY recording the times
/ sc.
have to deal with great crisis in q fraction Of
| second, while the audience Of an enlightened,
expectant world is .sympathetisally present.
foretold BY Kepler, and the Chief observes the
first external contact Of disc and disc at 81. I'm.
local ;. mean solar tine The agreement Is sinsu,
| lar, but must be regarded as purely accidental
But this is not the crisis Of greatest moment; Is
| within the sun, and the edge Of its disc at the
/ moment Of leaving the inner circle Of the lumi-
terssting point TO be observed In all this transit
.sAs the body Of the planet was indentfng the
/ suns rim, and advancing on toward immersion
within its body, the chief, who was now Watching
| through q micrometer, saw the complete disc Of
Venus defined about thirty seconds before the
| while he imagined he had missed the critical
phase Of the phenomenon; but this revelation Of
Internal contact had taken place, was owing to
| the effulgence Of the corona or outer hame waves
| Of the sun, which illuminated the whole surface
| Of Venus some time before complete Immersion
| phase Of the phenomenon never observed be-
FORE and its detection on this occasion Is due to
the optical perfection Of the telescope instru-
| ments employed. Lieutenant Noble could distin-
| guish the complete disc Of Venus fully i've min
utes before internal contact; and Mr.. johnson.
| observing at Waimea, on the island OF Kauai,
| saw this complete disc no less than twelve min
| utes before the complete entrance Of the planet.
"This luminous presentation Of the full round
the suns circle. was calculated to dazzle and de-
ceive our astronomers; but like faithful Watchers
they neglected not one moments observation,
they diseerned approximately the phase OF In
ternal contact, which the chief recorded at 3h.,
s5m., 65.7s., and Lieutenant Noble Of sh., sSm.r
"Hai now we take breath. The critical phase Il
passed and recorded, and new jewels OF TACT are
human knowledge. We have delighted In the
poesy of fancy, but here Is the very poetry Of
nguIes TO encfant and elevate the mind. we put
our fingers on the stars as We do upon our pocket
time-pfeces. Little pigmy nan sits in the centre
Of space and ventures to wind up and tins the
universe to heft its gravity and measure every
movement and limit Of It's momentum.
"But let us furl our opinion Of fancy, and return
to the astronomical huts. We got the time @
the planet and the sun, but We also wanted thetI
pictures. We thought We had capital day fol
solar sitting; but 1t was, in fact, too hne. ToS
| much glare and irradiRtion, and too much atmos
pheric disturbance, especially in the wooden huts
so that the photographs OF the planet, taken VIII
every vigilance and care by Lieut.. Ramsden, rep
resented 1t triangular, square and elllptcal, anc
everything but circular, and the value Of tn
pictures depended upon the accurate form OF tht
orb. The famous Jansen revolving slide unfor
tunately failed on account Of the dineulty Of
| pointing.
aBut, excepting the disturbance Of the photo
| heliograph all the observations Of the astron
omers at the Honolulu station were emtnentlI
satisfactory. The astronomical party at Walmea
| Kauai, had also an excellent Opportunity for OBJ
serving the transit; but We regret 70 say tha
| Prof Forbes and Mr.. Barnacle, at Kailua, Ha
Waai, should have been disappointed by cloud
at the critical phase of the contacts. But ye
they were enabled to make many observations o
value"