Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-21
SUNDAYS AURORA BOREALIs.
Brilliant Electric Display fin the
Clouds.

1 Du0@s
" Y Times, 18th.
| A great deal of interest was excited yes
terday by the magnificent auroral display
Of the night before. Until the day broke
! the heavens were ablsZe with light. The
| spectacle between - and was particularly
| beautiful, and many remained up to see It.
| The weather was fine, and half of New York
seemed to be out of bed watching the skies.
Attractive as the auroT9 or northern lights
always are, seldom If ever were they viewed
with greater interest or by larger numbers
than on Sunday night. Later in the morn
ing, however, while the whole city was
wrapt In slumber, the most brilliant ght of
all, perhaps. was presented. At 2:45 O'Clock
perfectly defined and highly nebulous arc
formed in the northwest. From Printing
House squara one end looked as If resting
on the City Hall dome and the other on ST..
Paul's spire. As fitting finale of the ex-
hibition, at $3.50 O'Clock a broad
red band appeared in the west
1t was in the shape of huge sword. To
the beholder 1t seemed to start from the
ground, and 1t extended up until its point
almost reached the zenith. Gradually it
swung around to the north and slowly sank
until 1t disappeared altogether. While it
was at the brightest a paper might have
bathed in the blood-red light which streamed
down from the frmanent and painted the
silent, deserted streets and structures. The
effect was beautiful in the extreme, and en-
tranced those who saw It. When the sword
had vanished into darkness intermittent
flashes of light began, and strcaks of white
ran over the blue vault, The demonstra
tions continued, though with less striking
effects, until the day dawned. No doubt the
dfcDIaxy IZaV off do b,YF ~
course, 1t could not be seen when the sun
came up in the east. Nothing like 1t has
been seen in years, and where 1t is supposed
by ignorant tribes who do not know the
causes that produce 1t, that it portends evil,
there was no doubt widespread consterna-
ton.
Professor Henry Draper, the astronomer.
said yesterday that the display was the
finest that he had witnessed since the great
aurora of August, 1860. He examined the
skies between IL snd l with spectroscope.
A greenish-white and very dense light pre-
dominated and the four lines of red, green,
blue and violet were perceptible. Like
vast umbrella, the northern lights hung
over the earth with the four lines for ribs.
The star Arcturus was In such a position
that It was focus seemingly for the mass
OF light which rose and sank almost to the
horizon at times. A great deal of pulsation
was observed in the lines that came up from
the horizon to the zenith. The idea that
the aurora was a destroying angel spreading
pestilence over the earth, Professor Draper
said, had long been given up, but the
science of aurora was not vet entirely clear.
The manifestations occurred at from one
hundred to one hundred aud fifty miles above
the earth. where the air was very rare. By
running an electric current within an almost
exhausted vessel the same effects might be
produced. The aurora was simply lightning
high in the air, and portended no more evil
than a storm of any kind. Lightning was
an electric spark that struck through dense
air, aud the aurora was aspark that travelled
through rarifed air, with diffused effect
Nothing was known of the constitution OF
the aurora beyond the fact that it was asso-
ciated with hydrogen, as the red light was
due to watery vapor in the air. The preva-
lent belief among astronomers that auror@
were connected with the condition of the
sun has been growing steadily for years.
Outbursts on the sun were generally fol-
lowed by auroral manifestations on earth.
The sun was quiescent and active by turns
in what was known as the eleven-year
period. It was now approaching the maxi
mum of its disturbance. The appearance
of the aurora of 1860 and the present one,
with an intervening one Of note, made the
relation to the sun plausible. The foTms-
tion of new SPOT on the sun indicated that
an explosion was imminent, and the spot
that had been apparent of late suggested
the cause OF the aurora on Sunday night.
The explosion excited the electric current
in the air.
The effect of the aurora on the telegraph
system was serious. From 1915 until
o'clock yesterday morning the wires could
scarcely be worked at all. The afr durfbg
that time was heavily charged, and the pull
sations OF che currents rendered it i'm
possible to keep steady stream Of elec-
tricity Oh the wires. It was reuorted to the
Western Union office in New York that the
switch In the Springfield, Mass, Office was
set on fire. Night Superintendent Dolan, of
the Western Union, said last night, that the
interruption or business was so great that
with all It's facilities the company was still
far behind In the transmission of messages,
The deep sea cables were affected as well as
the land system. The currents reached the
cables at the termini. The Anglo American
and French cables were six hours behind in
transmission at this end aud three hours
and half on the other side. In an
''electric storm" as it is known,
the cables, or in fact any telegraph
wires, can be worked by making a metallic
circuit clear of the ground. Toe greatest
difficulty was experienced in the North and
West while the aurora lasted. The air seemed
to be most heavily charged In the region of
Ju6 RE6db ldA6Ss IL WAS uOL uubll noon YES
terday that the atmospheric influence on the
wires ceased. Tue quadruplex and duplex
instruments were abandoned because they
could not be operated, and 1t was found
necessary TO fall back on the old style of
sending a single message over the wire at
one time. Reducing the facilities to such
an extent was what put the company so far
behind. Last night, however, the wires
were working all right again. During the
hoE 49, q
lasted for three or four days, Superintendent
Dolan took careful observations of the in
huences and established the fact that the
communication could be kept up by forming
the metallic circuit A popularity about
this aurora was that 1t continued in a rain
and wind storm, and the press dispatches
were sent between New York and Boston
on an auroral current. The current was
unusually steady In this instance. Ordi-
narily It is so irregular that one minute e
will set the instruments pounding Ike trip
hammers and the next will leave them
silent. Superintendent Dolan some eight
or nine years ago followed an auroral cur
rent almost around the world. To see an
aurora in April, he said, was an unusual
thing. Most of them were seen in the win
ter. Superintendent Dolan observed that
the aurora Of 1872 was followed by unusually
severe volcanic action. The reason that
aurore played SO much mischief with the
wires was because the latter were such per-
feet conductors. An auroral influence was
generally felt for two or three days after the
first manifestation.
At the Signal Service Bureau last night It
was said that auroTe were usually followed
by colder and clearer weather. At present
the weather is In a settled state and no
marked changes had taken place. The ap
pearance of the aurora on Sunday nieht was
reported from all the Western stations. It
appeared at a somewhat earlier hour in the
West than 1t did here. The weather last
night was clear and warm, and the indica-
tioDs foreshadowed no particular changes.
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HOWgate's Flight.