National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-06-24
THE NEW COMET.
ITS APPEARANCE IN THIS CITY.
1t Is Discovered by Two Editors Of g The Republic
can'-They Try to Notify the Government
Astronomers, but Find the OBJ
serTatory Closed Up.

The comet which it has been asserted
would make its appearance some time about the
LIST of August next suddenly sprang into view
yesterday morning, and THE REPUBLICAN claims
its discovery in this way: Just as the managing
and city editors were leaving the Office for their
spective homes at 325 a. m. after having
struggled in the one instance over the
Albany dispatches and in the other over
the numerous school exhibitions that had taken
place during the previous day, their attention was
attracted to a singularly brilliant spot in the
heavens. The managing editor had just taken
off his hat to mop his fevered brow, and the city
editor was at first uncertain if the effect
was not produced by a sort of reflection
of the moons rays upon his bald
head, and then countering, as it were,
upon the red hair of the midnight Mercury who
works the Associated Press dispatches for this Valu
able journal. A closer, rather more prolonged
| inspection, convinced both editors that it was
comet Yes, there was the bright star with dis
| tinctly luminous tail that appeared to be about
| sixty feet in length.
LETS go back and make an item of it." said the
| red headed famingo Just as the suggestion was
about to be acted upon the rumble of the bullock
press was heard, which showed that Dick Jones
had got to work and there could be no addition to
that issue of the paper. The innocent
youth with the auburn hair was, however, i'm
mediately dispatched to the observatory to see if
| the fellows whose business it is to whirl big
telescope and look out for comets and such things
| could tell whether it was one that had been eX-
pected, or whether it was waif which had strayed
| away from home and got out of its proper orbit
While the Mercury gone the two editors sat on
the steps oft Census building and watched the
strange phenomenon. When the boy returned he
said that the observatory was all locked up and
he could not see anything of either a tele-
scope or even an opera glass. Wonder
ing what was the matter with the
Government astronomers, and thinking it very
strange that, with the generous appropriations
that are made for the observatory just to make dis
coveries such they had unwittingly made, the
two editors separated, satisfied, however that the
comet should be known as THE REPUB-
LICAN comet. Yesterday a reporter was sent
to Professor Hall who said that it had not been OBJ
served by him, as he went home at twelve o'clock.
He said that he did not know what comet it was
unless the one seen June at Buenos Ayres, South
America by DR.. Gould, which was now on its way
north. 1t was conjectured that this was return
of the great comet of 1907 Professor Hall did not
regard the appearance ofthe comet of any conse-
quence, and when the reporter asked him if it
was the cause of the unusually cold evening the
Professor smiled and said:
don't think it had anything to do with the
weather. People used to have an idea that there
was something mysterious and portentous in a
comet but that idea is pretty well exploded.
They are entirely harmless"
The Professor added that he intended to look for
the comet, and then perhaps he would be able to
say more about it. The reporter then went nosing
around among the books in the library and
CLEANED the following valuable information about
the nature and habits Of the beast: The word
comet is derived from the Greek word mean
ing hair, because its tail was supposed to
resemble lock of hair. 1t consists of
exceedingly attenuated matter 1t has been a
question with astronomers whether comets are
self-luminous or merely reflect the light of the
sun. The fact of their becoming invisible in re-
ceding from the sum- though still of considerable
apparent sze strongly leads to the adoption of the
latter hypothesis. The substance is very thin.
Stars seen through them suffer no diminutiOn of
brightness, though the light traverses millions of
miles of the cOmetary atmosphere. Their
large size and the impossibility of predicting
their approach have produced fears of the
results in case ola collision with the earth. The
grOundlessness of such claims from the extreme
impro5ablity of collision with the nucleus and the
probable harmlessness of a contact with the ex-
tremely attenuated surrounding matter seems suf-
fcenty evident.
aThe Smithsonian Institution has received from
Prof j. Sharpless, of Haverford College, Pennsyl-
vania, the announcement of the discovery by Mr.
Lewis Edwards at Haverford observatory on the
23d of June, 1884, at half past two o'clock a. NJ,
mean time, OF a bright comet in eight degrees |
southeast of Capella." The same announcement |
is made by Lewis Swift, of Rochester, NY.
An announcement is also received from Prosper |
Henry, of Paris, of the discovery at the Paris oil
servatory the sd of June 1881 at three o'clock
a. m, mean time, of large comet in five hours |
thirty minutes right ascension, and forty
one degrees north declinatiOn which is probably |
the same comet as discovered by THE REPUBLICAN, |
The Critic yesterday published the following from |
a correspondent: Early this morning, while |
viewing the beautiful phenomena in the eastern sky
of the moon and planets 1 happened to turn my
eyesto the northeast and to my surprise and de- |
light saw there a magnificent comet My first |
observation was about three o'clock. 1t was then
about fifteen degrees above the horizon and forty
five degrees north of the moon. The nucleus of
this brilliant object clearly defined and in size
nearly as large as Venus now appears. The tail
was distinctly visible and from four to five degrees
in length, and as a whole very much resembled
the comet of 1919"