New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-07

sv.orIoN FELT IN WASHINGTON.
SATisf ;. rur WORK DONE AND RESULTS
DssoRn.n-rALKs WITH PROFESSOR HARDNESS
opfAiSEp-'
.xp OTHERS. v, r,uuxxJ
- Dec. g." Yes, the great event Is
wisHis,., clad of it, said Professor HARNESS.
49, sno observatory. to a TRIBUNE correspond
the Ns,,, mon him at o'slock this after
tt wne ar work has been more successful
boon ~.,.sa 10 be this morning. But here is i'm
thAn ~ he continued, (which must attend
ecfts'' o. and talk with some OF the others
Rnes. hack to me In an hour"
sba oe~ rr,sby was found in bis office, his race
Profess 49,. natured smile of welcome. 81 have
sesnns 6guring." he said, land can give .''
las pp' NE ~ Won want it, Ny time OF i'r'' c""'.
lhe rsa' IA minutes and As seconds. The sec
vsss no ,oura. 10 minutes and seconds the
end VS. az minutes and 57seconds; aud the
BIRD - Ks minutes and So seconds, Washing
hsh ,,me. Just before the frstcontact." said
scp W. Il observed very faint indents-
re .s,ouah the clouds which Thought
you he Venus, and proved
nus The definition for the first contaot was
x.rn although very faint on account or the
se~ =, was rather cloudy at the moment. AT
to'~ -,anee of the second contact L WATCHED mar
pe sor the black drop but saw nothing OF the
wv irregularities whatever l saw notnlne
nao' ,,ue eeometrics contact for the second Oh
sa' 49,, That isl sawVenus enoroachng upon the
I.aw IL getting more and more on unni, as IL
nn' there was a little band of black ana that
ss ~ GETTING less and less until II went rlght
Wv MA black drop,' continued Professor trlsoy'
.,r 20 an inquiry, as an appearance-an lliu-
- conrse-seen upon internal contacts. IL
~- ~ m, planet when it left the outer rim oil
-, 20 cross its face tried hard to pull the rlm
-, Is If the outer baekness was OF the con-
-, Of molasses and some OF 1t adhered 10 the
aeptrang planet o, oua,.ions Tho
so0 account Of atmospherical conditions the
- was pickering in appearance, out thlnk the
- observation was good one Inc tempera-
49,, was changing and caused the lncAerlng' ma"
sh.en steadily warm or cold tor some 'iine pre-
Nv. 49, shnuld not have had that appearance.
81. tbiri contact was very much ike inc seconu'
,ne s,okeripr IN the same way, and the uncer-
...,v was lust about the same. The hickerlng was
mi mere noticeable at the fourth contact Inc
-, sutered the suns edge on the lower eastern
"a and moved westward and upward across us
iscsr ;o, ro,o
p,ote,sar Frisby used the twenty-six-lnch Equa-
,oral the largest telescope on the continent ana
s"s1 hnt one in the world. The object glass,
,ou,ver. was covered with the exception OF six
nm aperture 10 the centre, reducing the held OF
rhseryatiOn TO that size.
Iosnb A. Rogers who has been acting as chlei
,ho,ographic adviser to the Commission, and under
sho.s superyision the Photographic material Tor
& .svera parties sent TO foreign stations was pre-
,a,sA also made observations through a three-inch
,.l.seope for contacts. He saidi II lost the hrst
contact. "a suppose the other observers ala. Inc
,sh,y three contacts and especially the two inner
so.,ar,. were fairly observed. The last one was
vary uncertain" Mr.. Rogers had not figured up
4. time having been busy with the work of
photographic observation. The Photographic work
r.seared on under the joint supervision of Profess
sor Hsrkuess who was in charge OF the washington
Station. Mr. Rogers. Professor A. H. Buchanan. OF
Cumberland University. Lebanon. Tenn, and Lieu
tenant-Commander Davis, of the Navy.
Professor Hardness found himself at leisure and
was preparing to 60 to dinner about O'Clock. Inc
hy which had been overcast to some extent
6urips a good part of the day had then
cleared up and the stars were showing up
Arshtly through the crisp, cool air of the
evening. Eyes, the event Is past" resumed
Professor Hardness, "and another one of the kind
will not occur during any lifetime-and l am glad
rift. The work of preparation has been very try
.ps and severe. Much of the executive work has
fallen upon INV shoulders, and 1T has kept me busy
night and day.
"Ohl no, we are not through, by any means.
re, Much work must be done tonight. l have
30, vet figured up my time of contacts but shall
desc tonight Ar the time Of the first contact, at
tye minutes before o'clock this morn
hG IL was SO cloudy-I was watch
hg through the telescope all the time
II didn't think il was possible to see the
contact with sufficient accuracy to make it worth
While TO take it. The second contact / got very
Iany at hours. 10 minutes and % seconds. WASH
hgoD mem time. The atmosphere was hazy, but
he definition was tair. The power was about 2lo
tns fye-noh telescope. So far as the definition
Allowed me'tO Judge the act was perfect geomet-
tssIly-with no black drop to be seen. But any
shghl shade Of II that might have existed on the
susps would not have been noticed on account OF
the haze
"Ahout the beginning of the transit we got twelve
Photographs. Here Is one of them. The plate Is
sysa inches square, the sun being 4as inches In
diameter and the planet about an Is OF an mcb.
ior can see the clouds, that shaded appearance
Across and about the sun. We got twelve of these
nthe beginning of the transit. and then 1t got so
eoudy that We could not get any more. Then ABOUT
iSelOcs we began again. it having cleared up.
during the next twenty-five minutes we got forty
sas pietures making total Of Gfty-three. At the
Tine OF the third contact il perfectly clear and
We got good observations. have not
hN the time worked out yet. The
nn showed saw-teeth around its limb on account
hthe RIGHTEOUSNESS OF the atmosphere. but that
I'd not interfere IN any way and 80 far "a could
We there was no black drop at all, but there was
ssitle shade on tho cusps They were slightly
'atssr than the rest of the sun. Tho fourth con-
alrealIy did not get Probably it was within
esthan half minute Of the time Of the contact
'hse aeoud came over tho sun
Vur pictures" continued Professor Hardness,
ana great deal moro valuable than contact OBJ
swallows csa be. No, our work with the transit
ny no means finished. In one respect 1t Is but