Litchfield enquirer., 1879-01-23
Goshen No. 372.

MERcURY.-I told you last Oct, that 1 had
 been looking for this planet 40 years. and that
 if lived another year, hoped to find it. I
 learned from the common almanacs that there 1 was to be great chance to find it last Thurs day morning. I was too busy to make any pre-
 liminary arrangements until Wednesday morn | ing, when the clouds troubled me some. found the planet Mars in the South. above the tail of the Scorpion, and knowing that Mercury l would rise only one degree farther South than the Sun would, 1 watched the horizon in the southeast very closely, and was surprised to see bright red star rise a little before six Thinking there was no bright fixed star in this place. 1 marked the place of rising, over post ill my garden fence, and awaited the rising of tine Sun, and sure enough, it rose almost eA- actly over tile post. 1 spent the day making calculations from Edward Norton's Nautical Almanac, for 1879. It is 6 large book, and cost $1 9 It was printed in 1876, three years beforehand so that mariners going on long voy- | ages, could obtain the books before they star ted found that Mars ought to be where I had found it, and that Mercury ought to be a little more than an hour farther East, close by the Winter Sostice, just North of the handle of the milk dipper. in the bow of the Archer Sagittarius, who ishalf man and half horse, and that the Sun ought to be just above the tail or the Archer, and Venus little farther East in the neck of Capricorn, the goat, and Jupiter in the tail of Capricorn. We had great snow cforr1 Thurcday u,urpino but Er;6ov ,,orn;pr was bright and cold. I was up long before day, making myself familiar with all the constella- tions in sight. While waiting for them to come up, l remembed that he thought I might find the planet Herschell, (Uranus,) with the naked eye, and as 1 knew exactly where to look for It,in the Lion in an open space near the Sickle. found it in an instant; a bluish, white spot It moves so slowly through the heavens, that it will be long time before 1 can verify the ob- servation, perhaps not until the Sun has passed through the Lion. I knew that mercury had gone to the East but little during the storm, and l again watched tine southeast part of the horizon, when suddenly, Lheard a fox bark on the hills, and the town clock strike six, and the same bright red star rise over the post in the garden fence. It moved on to the Vest full as bright as Mars; daylight began to come, and 1 saw it distinctly until o'clock Ed ward Norton has seen it pass over the Sun, a black spot at the transit of Mercury last Spring but no body in Goshen had ever seen the planet to know it, until I saw it. We shall have another chance to see it again in seventy days, on the evening of March 29th, but it will not be as far from the Sun as it was this time. 1 saw the planet again yesterday morning, little nearer the Sun making three three mornings.
 RETURNED,-Mrs. Dea. Smith, who has been in New York four weeks, has returned.
 BROOKS. MT. Wm F. Brooks who lately married Miss Carrie Futile, has gone into the drug business in Selma, Ala
 TANNING THE MURDERER Beach was mur dered Wednesday evening. Tanning was taken to Litchfeld the next day, and died the next Wednesday morning. He was brought up to the house of his mother, and buried Friday. Every day we had reports from your place. of what he said but 1 hardly know what the truth is, the reports were so contradictory. am Inclined ts believe that at first he said he was glad he killed Myron, and wished to live to Kill three more in Goshen: but that within few hours of his death, he said he was sorry he killed him. and forgave all, and did no: blame Allyn, who shot him, and aid Crossett was not to blame, as he only gave him one glass of cider, for carrying in some wood, but that two men who were fishing on Tyler Pond. gave him as much whiskey as he wanted. for helping tend their hooks. Twenty-four hours before the murder there were two men up from below q think Danbury) waiting to go on to the pond the next morning fishing: and one witness before the Jury of Inquest said that two fisherman, strangers, went up from the grist-rnil to the store with him. It was very unfortunate that John was not kept in Meri- den, but, if he must be sent back, it was most unfortunate that he did not sign the pledge and keep it. HIN