The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-12-29

A Grand Spectacle Witnessed In Japan ID
August, 1897.

A Grand Spectacle Witnessed In Japan IN
August, 1897.
As the time for the eclipse drew
near, the number OF visitors TO the cas-
tie greatly increased, and the prepara-
tions, extended through long weeks.
received their final touches. At last
the 10th OF August dawned-''the
great, the important day"-ushered in
with the clearest of skies and the most
radiant sunbeams. Twenty or thirty of
the guards, in snowy dresses, watched
the castle and all its entrances, and
none except the specially invited guests
were admitted. The instruments were
carefully adjusted for instant use, and.
in spite of the torrid heat, we were all
astir with eager anticipation. The
guests quietly gathered in the open
space below the instruments, and a
subdued hum of pleasant conversation
filed the hot noontide. The eclipse
was to begin at thirty-seven minutes
after two o'clock. About an hour before
this, n delicate little white cloud floated
up toward the zenith and spread very
quietly over the bright, blue sky, un-
til even the visitors began to look up
ward, with some fear lest the after
noon might be only partly clear after all.
And that little white cloud not only
grew into great size itself, but it was
Joined by other and darker ones from
all directions, which, as they seemed
to gain confidence from numbers and
blackness, soon shut out the sun COM
pletely and spread CONSERVATION over
every face around us. The beginning
of the eclipse was not seen at all, but
we caught few glimpses of the sun
afterward-,a gradually narrowing cres-
cent.
AS it became apparent that my part
of the work which was to draw the
iilmy, outermost streamers OF the
corona-could not be done, l left my
appointed station and hastened to the
upper castle wall. Here, standing
near tho Instruments, watched the
strange landscape under its gray
shroud. Even inanimate things seem
endowed at times with terrible life
of their own, and this deliberate, slow
moving pail of cloud seemed malig-
nant power, not to be evaded. At the
instant of totality darkness and
silence like that of death fell upon the
castle and the town and all the world
around.
Not word was spoken; the very air
- ,,,nfinn1ncc If n11
nature were in sympathy with our sus-
pense. The useless instruments out
lined their fantastic shapes dimly
against the massing clouds, and a
weird chill fell upon the earth. Darker
and still darker it grew. Every trace
OF color fled from the world. Cold,
dull-ashen gray covered the face of
nature, and a low rumble of thunder
muttered ominously on the horizon.
Even at that supreme moment my
thoughts flew backward over the eight
thousand miles of land and stormy
ocean already Travelled, the ton OF tele-
scopes brought with such care, the
weeks of patient waiting at the old
castle--all that long journey and
those great preparations for just these
three minutes of precious time.
which were now slipping away so fast.
And already they were gone! One
sharp, brilliant ray of sunshine flashed
down upon us. Totality was over
and lost! This tiny rift n the clouds
showed the slender edge of the sun for
IA second and was gone. And pro-
found sigh, as OF great nervous tension
relieved, came up from the crowd be-
low. The calamity was too great to be
measured at once, and 1t was some
minutes before we cared to speak. We
had trusted Nature. and she had failed
us, and our sense of helplessness was
overwhelming.
Every astronomical student now
knows how the track of this ill-fated
eclipse was followed by clouds all along
its course. and how totality and the
wished-for corona were hidden by
clouds from nearly all the eager eyes
and waiting instruments through Its
entire length. But an astronomer must
be philosophic; and our astronomer
nobly displayed this quality.
And so. gradually, our visitors left
us, and the sound OF demolishing and
packing was heard on the hill. The
tents were folded, and the party dis
persed. Loomis Todd, in ST.
Nicholas.