Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-26
ABOUT THE coMEr-THE ASTRONOMICAL
DISPUTE


Very many people surprised themselves
and their families yesterday morning by turn
ing out from between warm sheets at 5:l5 arc
clambering to such nights IS ambitious barns
and progressive hen-coops and four-story
buildings afford, 70 catch q glimpse of The
comet that is now the forerunner of the each
days sun. One of the RECORD . MONS force,
no. to he caught mapping, and unwilling t.
trust to the vsgaries of alsrm-clocks, sat W
all night in order to critically examine this
stranger in the far East. The reward was
commensurate,with the trouble in fact it far
surpassed it, and he was so well satisfied that
he would willingly have remained up twa
nights to have enjoyed it. The comet
! appears something like three-qusrters of an
hour in advance of the sun. Its nucleus is
like ball of fire, and CLOVIS with a faint
golden tint. In sizs it appears to the eye
about as large IS gloria mundi apple of the
average grade. The tail spreads slightly as
1t iengthens, and reaches one third the way
from the horizon to the zenith, appearing
like delicate ribbon of gsuzy material,
through which the sight easily psnetrases.
1t is, in all, rarely beautiful sight, and, be-
ing an early riser, it not only presents to the
beholder a grand spectacle, but its charm is
| hob iOcS Until lODS Sun HAS pfOK6H
| the bars of night, and stands peeping over the
| threshold of day, and thus it tempts the
spectator to such degree that he remains
and sees the sun rise-a surprising event in
the lives OF some people.
In this connection it is to be noted that
the comet has brought Mr.. William Wiggin
Smith to the surface again. He ia Just now
delviug in the depths of the State Library for
data in support of his theory. which he set
Al l. f
planetary influence upon the e1rths atmos.
phere and our meteorological conditions His
theory was attacked and his deductions an
tagonized by the letters of n. Slater and
James A. Barwick. and in a communication,
in which he metaphorically scalps the latter,
Mr. Smith incloses a note concerning the
comet, and accompanies it with diagrams Of
the milky way and the form which no ascribes
to the earth's atmosphere. This may be de-
scribed as .eliptical. and according
20 Mr.. Smiths diagram looks like
sharp double-ender duck boat. Now
Mr.. Smith believes that the comet
is nothing more nor less than the planet
Mars. He says it occupies the place of that
orb, and by reason Of the sun being on the
equator, and the lenticulsr form Of the at.
mosphere, shadow is cast, ard the red rays
of Mars give the appearance of tail.
Concerning his "storm theory" Mr. Smith
prQceCuS TO GetnOusn MT. bafNlcRB reply.
He says his (Smish's) theory is as old as
Egyptian mythology, and Bsrwick's is the
new one, and that Mr.. Barwick has to admit
the most of Professor Mansell's predictions
to be correct. He says Professor Mansell
swept around the world in his view, while
Sergeant Barwick was confined to a small
corner-i. e., Signal Service ststion-for
observation. That the planets do affect each
other and the meteorological conditions of
the earth. he says, William Virgin Smith,
OF Antioch, sfilrms, and j. A. Barwick de.
MES, and this makes up the momentous issue
that all this pother is about. In his own behalf
Mr.. Smith recalls the memory of Mr.. Bar
wick to his primer days, when he was
taught the fact that the moon throws the
seas from the equator north and south, and
asks him, How is thst2' The sun, he adds,
that mighty leveler," makes the seas sigh
for rest. The waters come beneath the moon
as the earth rotstes, and they back up the
rivers toward both poles at the same time.
Then he desires consideration of the mag
netic current, that is Influenced in the same
way by the same power, though. unlike the
seas, it has no shores These facts, he thinks,
proves his theory. They certainly do prove
that Mr.. Smith does moi make himself clearly
understood, and that it ceases to be enter.
tanning to strsighten out his arguments or
further pursue the debate.