The Benton weekly record., 1882-12-21
VENUS ON THE SUNS DISK
The Great Celestial Spectacle Sue
cessfu11y Observed.
a KseauttfzI ST gzlt I'm tGae Sky az which
thousands Gazed-Tho Splendid
Aunearamee that Venus Made.


his earth will not see a transit Of Venus
again until the year 2004. Those who,
through smoked glasses and the telescopes
Of street exhibitors, caught a glimpse Of
the circular black spot that slowly crossed
tbe lower portion Of the SUMS disk yester-
day. witnessed one of the rarest and most
imDortant of astronomical eyents-an
event that was looked forward to and
whose occurrence was predicted by astro-
nomers more than a hundred years ago,
For more than hundred years to come
school children, as they con theirlessons
in all the languages Of civilized man, will
strive to remember facts and figures based
upon Yesterdays transit of Venus, and
earned men will refer to If as the founda-
ton Of many calculations and the means
of solving many puzzling questions. In
short, it will play most impor tant part in
the science Of the coming century. The
preparations for this great astronomical
event, and the manner in which the obser-
vations Of it We're conducted, were COM
mensurate with its Importance and its
rarity. Hundreds of thousands Of dollars
were spent III preparing instruments and
in sending expeditions to different parts of
the world, and the finest skill and best
learning the world affords were enlisted
in the effort to make the observations sue
cessful. Yet On Tuesday night it looked
as though all this labor ard expense might
prove t0haye been wasted, il this quarter
of the world at least, for q large portion Of
the United States was shadoWed with thick
CLOUDS, and rain and snow were falling
up0n the roofs Of the obserVat0ries. II the
clouds did not clear away yesterday SO
that the sun could be seen the asHono-
mers knew that the labor Of years would
be lost and there would be no opportunity
to retrieve it for 122 years to come. Many
spent a sleepless night going to doors and
windows at frequent Intervals to see
whether there was yet any promise Of clear
weather. But the rain poured down until
almost sunrise. If it kept on thus few
hours longer the beginning of the transit
could not have been seen. The Signal
Service men could give the distressed as
tronomcrs no encouragement. All their
reports indicated clouds and storms. There
seemed barely q spark Of hope left, and
some in this city and its neighboTlood gave
ups.all hope, and tried to resign themselves
to the fated certainty that the great transit
would take place hidden behind clouds.
But, after alr the rain ceased before day
break, and although the sun rose in bank
of clouds, it soon burst through them and
shonc brightly at intervals. If all the
anxious astronomers scattered over the
country could have been within sight and
hearing Of one another at that moment,
and have beheld the joy that shone il one
another's faces, three hearty astronomical
cheers with lively tiger would no doubt
have shaken the obseryatories until the
telescopes danced.
III OBSERVATIONS IN OTHER PLACES.
%PITTTsBURG, Dec. 6.-The observation at
the Allegheny Observatory was rather ut-
satisfactory on account Of clouds. In the
interval between the first external and in
ternal contact was seen gathered into q
bright spot extending within the planets
disk, and occupying thirty degrees of its
circumference. This phenomenon was I'M
expected, and Prof. Samuel ?. Langley,
the observer, said he was unable to ac-
count for it.
UTICA, Dec. 6.-Dr. C. II. E. Peters, at
the Litchfeld Observatory, Hamilton Col
lege, caught a glimpse Of Venus through
q gap in the clouds ten minutes after the
second inner contact.
ALBANY, Dec. 6.-The astronomers at
the Dudley Observatory obtained no OBJ
seryations Of tile transit Of Venus this
morning, owing to the cloudy condition of
the sky.
San FRANc1sco, Dec 6.--At Lick OBJ
servatory, Mount Hamilton, at 8 .. n,
there was splendid weather, and forty
eight photographs Of the transit were OBJ
tanned.
HANOVER, Dec. G.-At intervals during
the forenoon good views were obtained by
Prof. Emerson here. At the Dartmouth
College all views were lost.
HARTFORD, Dee. G.-The German as
tronomers taking observations of the tran
sit of Venus at Trinity College at ! .o'cIock
had successfully secured five full sets q
heliometric measurements.
PoUGHKEEps1E, Dec. 6.-At Vassa1
College photographs were taken before Il
a. m.
BALTIMORE, Dec. 6.-0n the grounds O
the Johns Hopkins Hospital, under thf
direction Of Prof Hastings, observation
We're successfully made 81 the second
third, and fourth contacts.
MER1DEN, Conn.,, Dec. 6.-The firs
alarm bell was tolled Mt the beginning a.
the transit, and shortly after the public
schools closed for the day. Seven tele.
scopes, open to the public, were set OH til.
grounds Of the Rev. 4. q. Pettee, 4 loca
astronomer, and G,00O persons looked
through them. The day was clear, ane
some very satisfactory observations Wert
recorded.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla, Dee. 6.Prot
Eastman reports a highly successful day q
Cedar Keys. The morning was cloudy
and +haefirct zaantaa+ oF -NnnI1e xxxi ifIa INN