Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-08-16
THE TASIMETER.
How EdiSon'S Invention Worked in the
EclinSe.

Eclipse.
Rawlins IVY. r. Special, eah, to New York Her.
But new evil soon be-
came manifest. 4 strong wind began
blowing the frall pine structures used
I for obscrvatorics. These commenced
to rock. Edison's observatory, which,
in It's normal condition, is hen-housc,
was particularly susceptible. He hur-
ried toward it only TO find his sensitive
~ adjusted apparatus in an extreme
state Of commotion. Every vibration
threw the tasimcter into new condi-
ton Of adjustment. 70 remedy the
evil was far from easy, is the time was
then 50 short and precious it WAS too
late to remove the apparatus and SEEM
ingly impossible 70 break tie force ST
the wind, which was gradually increas-
ing into tornado lIatlcss and coat
less he ran to 81 neighboring lumber
yard, and in 4 moment Il dozen stawart
men We're carrying boards with which
TO prop up the structure and erect Il
temporary fence at its side. This COM
pleted, the cIronometcr indicated half
past | O'Clock
AT thirteen minutes past . the moon
began to make her first appearance be-
tween sun and earth. Again Edison adj
justed his tasimetcr, but only To find
that the gale continued tosway his pro-
jectlng telescope 50 violently that sat
! lsiactory result was almost impossible.
A rigging Of wires and ropes soon par
| italy ovcrcamc the difficulty, and once
more the instruments were ready for
work. In few moments there came
from DR.. Draper the announcement,
There she goes, and the crowd of
spectators Immediately levcled their
smoked glasses ut the sun. The moon
had Just made her appearance.
At $50 7. NJ. onc-quarter Of the sun $
disc was darkened with slow but steady
pace. The progress of the moon con-
| tinued. In the observatory Of Or.
Draper the fall of "a pin could he heard;
outsidcalmost equal qulctrcigncd. The
only place Of disorder was III the frail
structure Of Edison's. Notwithstanding
his efforts the wind continued to give
him trouble. In vain he adjusted and
readjustcd. At 3o'elock three-quartcrs
of the suns disc was obscured, and
darkness began 70 fall upon tie sur
rounding region. The hills around
were alive with people watching for the
moment Of totality. In DR.. Diapers
observatory everything was proceeding
cxcelertly. The force Of the wind had
been broken. Edison's difficulty SEEM
ed % increase rs the precious moments
81 total eclipse drew near. AT 3:Ul
o'clock tine suns disc was seven cighths
covered, and the country around was
shrouded i'll pale grayish light, re-
sembling early dawn.
Alta quarter past3 darkness was upon
the face Of the earth The few moments
for which the astronomers had Travelled
thousands Of miles had arrived Still
EdisOn's tasimeter was out of adjust
mont. All the other instruments were
in excellent working order. Totally
had brought with il a marked cessation
il the force Of tie wind. Edison work
ed assidnously, but the tasimeter would
not come 70 a proper condition. Al
last Just Is the ehromometer indicated
4 that but one minute remained Of t0tal
4 eclipse, he succeeded in concentrating
tie light from the corona upon the small
opening Of the instrument. Instantly
the fire ray Of light on his graduating
scale swept along to right, clearing il
boundaries. Edison was oyerjoyed
The experiment had shown the exist
ence Of about fifteen times more heat
Y i'll the corona than that obtained from
the star Arcturus the previous night.
Edisons tasimeter showed il power
e. measure the corona heat II how
ever, was adjusted ten times too sensi
lively. Never having used It before fol
i similar purpose, lie had no means o
telling the degree Of sensitiveness neces
sary. The heat from the corona threw
the ray Of light entirely OFF the scale
and before lie could make the seconC
test the eclipse had passed away. Tht
experiment demonstrated that compar
ed To some az the fixed stars, the coro
ma ! heat was much greater
RI Is new asserted that The C4prOf