Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-01-19
CLEARFIELD Pa WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 49, 1881.

ter effects of the perihelia were to be.
gin making their appearance this Fail
when Jupiter passed his perihelion,
and next year the scythe OF death was
to be put to the harvest in the far east.
and tosweep westward, with a swathe
as broad as the continents, until 1t
reached the Pacific Ocean. The mar.
row Atlantic was to be no more than
brooklet in the path Of this terrible
harvester. Plaques, famines,, pesti.
lences, fire, earthquakes, floods, and
tornadoes were to scourge the human
race until only few remained, like
Noah and his family, to repeople the
earth with sturdier and more God.
fearing race,
PRACTICAL SCIENCE.
So much alarm was caused by this
hocus.pocus of pretended science and
prophecy. that some real man nfsccnco
Mr. Proctor among othors-wcre at
the pains to show that so far as these
predictions professed to rest upon
scientific facts they were baseless.
The great planets will not be in peri.
helion together at any time. 1t is true
that several Of the chief planets will
reach their perihelion within a few
years, and that is rare for them to be
grouped so close together as they will
be at one time this year. 1t is also
true that remarkable condolences have
been observed between the existence
of great storms on the sun, that pro.
duce electrical disturbances and possible
meteorological changes upon the earth,
and the presence Of Jupiter near his
perihelion Astronomers have also
suspected that the influence Of some
OF the other great planets upon the
earth can be perceived, but they have
never discovered any reason to believe
that the combined force of all the
planets could, underany circumstances,
produce upon the earth thousandth
part Of the evil effect ascrlbed TO them
by the astrologers, if indeed they pro-
duce any evil effect whatever.
AsTROLOGY.
Still the astrological almanacs for
this year are repeating substantially
the same predictions OF evil things to
begin, if not to eliminate, in 1881. |
Because, as they say, the ravages OF
Black Death in the mlddleages followed
the nearly coincident perlhelia OF four
great planets, they predict similar con
sequences from the confgurauon Of
the planets now But neither in their
premises nor their inferences does
science recognize any validity.
In truth, however, the astrologers,
not less than the astronomers aud all
star gazers, will have plenty of phe
nomna in the heavens to occupy their
attention for the next twelve months
The sky will not present such brilliant
pageants again this century. There
will be remarkable series OF conjunc
tions, and double and triple conjunc
tions The most interesting OF the
great twenty-year conjunction of Jupi
terSaturn in April. This conjunction
is one Of the strongholds of the astrolo
gers. As it occurs in the ring Taurus,
which they say rules Turkey and Ire.
land, tliey feUl saiv, Vu avuVunt Of re.
cent occurrences, in predicting very
effects in those countries
from the conjunction. There will also
be conjunctions of Jupiter and Mars,
Venus and Jupiter, Saturn and Venus,
and the far-away giants Uranus and
Neptune will play part in this re
planetary levee.
Venus will reach her greatest bright
ness in the Spring, and will be so bril-.
liant as to be visible at MONDAY. Her
delicate crescent will be favorite OBJ.
lect in the amateur astronomers tele.
scope. Saturn will open still wider in
it's wonderful rings, and will be one of
the chief attractions of the evening
sky for several months. Jupiter will
not lose much Of his present brilliancy
before he becomes morning star in
April. Mars will begin to brighten in
the latter part of the year, and then
his snowy poles and shadowy cont
nents will again become the admira.
tion of those who gaze through tele.
scopes. In short, there will be no end |
Of attraction in the starry heavens, and
all the representations Of the sootb-
sayers will not be able to darken the
sky of 1881.