National Republican., 1880-07-06
THE MIDNIGHT SKIES.
Facts and FanCies from Our AstrO-
nOmiCal Reporter.
The Fascination of Reporters Iifc-How
He Comes to Contemplate tho Heavens
Lovers Vows Under the stars
Astoroidal Items Taken from
the Open MOTTO Book
of the Sky, sc
Midsummer Nights Studies.

Midsummer Nights Studies.
newspaper reporters life is one Of hard
| ships and cares, of hard work and serious rc
sponsbilities; but, like every other condition
| of existence, it has its Compensations At
| time when all other men are asleep secure,
not happy, beneath the rooftres Of comfortable
/ or luxurious hOmes-all save the unfortunate
who have neither home nor happiness, aud Il
! whom comfort even Is a vague term, n wore
without meaning, q dream Of the unattainable
never more to be known save only IN dreams
at an hour when men Of other pursuits ar,
quietly and peacefully sleeping in the embrac,
OF their families, the reporter is busy amid the
technicalities OF his profession, its onerou.
duties. its heavy responsibilities, and also it'
compensatory pleasures. IL is a life of strange
Vaccinations, the Journalists, and he who
once gets fully into the editorial OF
roportorial harness never willingly uncasc.
himself Your genuine Bohemian whether
moral or dissOute, steady or unreliable a re.
spectacle member of society or nomadic
vagaboud, whether Isaac or lshmao loves the
business which he follows, and offers no half.
hearted sacrifice upon its altars. Whether its
rewards are pate de tOie grdS and champagne or
dry Crusts and water he is faithful TO his
first love- though she frown when he expected
smiles and give him more kicks than kisses.
From the spell which the Gree of journalism
luIbNo hlOunu MIN ne never escapes, ana
the thought Of awakening thotefrom only
dispirits and saddens him. Like tho old Morse
baron, ho hopes TO meet his fate while clad
in full arinOr; like the Colorado rough, his
fondcst wish Is to "die with his boots on" De
it rskiug his life Co get an Item" or rackinr
his brains for a fresh idea, while the "deviln
stands at his elbow shouting copy" whether
star-gazing ON cloudless nights with no com.
rade but his own thoughts, or passing the
uinOptiaI Df Oupnbug ~ with lis i,1l,. nI
companions when the last take" is set" aud
the last galley" locked, the true Bohemian
has no idea Of seeking another occupation or
finding another country. With him LJordre
is indeed ordrC, and doubtless the rewards of
the prayer will be in direct ratio with the
amount and severity of the labor, in which
case every newspaper man. and especially ho
OF the morning press, will indubitably be
doad.headed to paradise. To all manner of
men journalism offers her Vaccinations, to the
dull and the plOdding no less than the active
and tue brilliant, aud she charms the prosaic
bosom of tho matter.Of.iaCt utilitarian with as
fond spell rs she weaves around the dream.
ing heart of the lous-cating poet And to
him of the latter class especially, one of the
chief pleasures which his business affords is
his contemplation of the midnight skies when
the heavenly host is maIshaled and the rest of
the world asleep.
For countless ages back, for myriadic cen.
turtles, whose first inscription on the stony
pages of geology antedates even the thauma.
turgical chronology OF the IIndoo priests
have the eyes OF men night after night wear
after year, UOn after mOn, sought aud scanned
the skies and cndeavored TO read the secrets
of the sientstars Yet, after the lapse ofat least
half million OF years since humanity first be.
gan to ponder the solemn silence of the stellar
myriads, how few men there are who know
OF the stars, even their names! How very few
eyes, save those which nightly dim their
brightness within observatory walls, can fol.
low the track of Aries in the zodiac aud dis.
tlngulsh the stars of the Bull from the lumi.
narios that sparkle in the name of the Lion {?
llo" @ many eyes tonight in Washington will
Enno upward with delight and gather in the
Suicn uGS vet % no Lyra or 70 Of 6otSct "tnT ~, Ct
when told that the first shines in tho
Dipper and the latter gitters on the
breast of Olion2 Many lovers vows will be
whispered these mOOnbeamy nights "bencuth
the pale light Of the silent stars" and fond
eyes upturned to manly brows will whisper.
ingy require tho sweet avowal to be strength.
oned by an adjulaJon to the star then look
ing down sadly and sill verly upon the of. re.
peated scene. But which star is henceforth to
be the star Of love" the touderly throbbing
bosom has no thought of iuquirng. The
memory OF that hour may bloom forever i'm
her heart, vordant and vornal oasis amid
the yellow sands OF life. When the daisies OF
the next summer again whten the meadow
that same astral radiance may shine over the
budding roses just opening out of the green
sod on his grave, or shower its radiance ON
the white blossoms the iaithless one is en-.
twining in tho curls of another head, and vet
the maiden never asks the name of the faith.
lul light which burns on, in sadness or in
silence, over the grave Of love, or flashes and
sparkles and gltters at the poriured tIoth aud
the faithless kiss.
Night after night the same stars rise and shine
and set; night after night men aud matgons
and maidons and youths gaze upward with
delight, and admire aud dream vngue dreams
of beauty born of their beams, aud Of sadness
inspired by their splendOr, yet cannot tell one
from another and mover seek to inquire.
Now reporters Of the press whose business
cOmpols them to know everything, from find.
ing the value of y in the general equation Of
the NJ N degree to stating the exact size OF the
green baizo covering a kemo-table, are, of
course, well acquainted with the names and
localities of the stars. In fact, your true
Bohemian finds 1t necessary to know this much
Of astronomy, for the astral lights are some.
times his only landmarks.
night or two since a Si0r and "A Post re-
porter went on Capitol hill to ascertain all
about the new hickory pole in that cli,sic local.
ity. Not being familiar with cemeteries they
got lost and sat down on the pavement in front
of the Congressional to find out their latitude,
having come to the conclusion they would do
without longitude. Now the solution OF this
problem lies in taking the altitude of the polo
star when Caph, in the chair Of Cassiopcia,
and Mogres, in the bowl of the Dipper, are at
tho same height above the horizon the one
cast and the other west of the pole. They
covered the pavement with u chalk diagram,
ana worked very 2oalously for an hour, but in
of an unfortunate alteration
about the exact locality OF Caph, tho STIR in. I
sisting it was in the tail Of the Scorpion, and /
the Post cOntGndng it was the bright star in |
the bealI of the Eagle, they separated without |
agreeing upon satisfactory conclusion, the |
Sidr going toward q billiard saloon and the Post /
making tracks in the direction of Swan. |
poodle, See the oxtout OF rcportorih .
and tho practical benefits
therelrom derived. Had these reporters
been ignorant orasterodal science they might |
have been still sitting in front Of the Congress.
sional chalking the pavement with great rows .
Of figures, like Paddy OMile,' gridiron at the |
fair Of yrnastolough. Perhaps they might |
have turned out TO be . couple vi flying
Dutchmen scudding over tho pavement ali |
night, using great heaps of phantom chalk in |
drawing spectral diagrams and taking ghoslly |
attitudes. only think how nearly sander. |.
sons hotel has escaped immortality.
RenOrtCls know the names and placcs of tho /