The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-24

AiN+it anu " II >
equally at home in the cl-b and liz tho
drawing r1om. being attractive 20 men
a-t women alike lis manners worc.
from an American standpoint, unusually
g3)l for al Eng..-hman and in conversa-
ton Is well as in Qricknes5 81 appgshon-
sion. ho was Ear more Like an American
than like a Dri.on. 10 iisei even t. ap-
pracil.a american jokes about Boston,
Tor no had been in that city and had had
Lis ow.. experience among the lion hunt
c-s there. Ono of those. lady Of "cul-
cAaw. be toll the writer about. who. IS
81 AnCi1mGsiac thought Il fine 10 dccry
America IN Comparison with Europe She
specially objected ID the climate on this
side. AID spoke rapturoCs,y II tho beauty
Of Italian skies. Il shall novcr forget"
she said, tho sight Of the crescent moon
over the Bay Of Naples with a big star
ulazing exactly in the center OF tho cre5-
cent line
Tho astronomer lost his breath for an
instant. bgt said promptly. Yes. in
deed The atmosphere is SD puro that the
neon itself in those climates becomes
Transparent. 80
l. j. not, perhaps. very widely known
with series. or rather ~ associated set, /
Of mammoth otssrvatories in this coun-
try. Those. as DE- planned the o2tliuo If
tie scheme. were - be l9ca.od-ono in |
F.orila. ono ca some elevated point In the /
Roc-v iaelrt-.ls. c-l ono possibly ia T.
Alaska il any s.-o could De found there /.
rhere tho ctmOsrh--o is sufficiently clear. /
With this chain .l Cbs1rvat0rles. in con- I
nc-.ion with t.1 Lic., Observatory in /
California. he deemed that Americas /
part o. the wCell3 astronomical work [
could D. done Ilo final perfection Of tho .
drelm was. ~ co..fsa. - Do the establish
mcat o. SUCH C5ser,l-Orie5 al over the
world. uaLc- lilicc'-t governments. Ills .
inhibition Was 80 b. ~ atideI, under the
sanction Of the American government, T
with iao three me-tioaol. and he was
sangui-e - the carly realization Of az
least tho beginning Of the work. He be-
lavcd ard Lad told soma Of his intimate
friends that the year 1891 o. 1892 would /
see the voc'. of establishing the Florida
fairly under way. By his
death OF @ disease undoubtedly contracted
ia Florida ha. state lost one Otits warmest
and most influential friends. who would
doubtless haze become one OF her citizens
If he had lived lie had filed bis declara-
ton Of becoming q citizen Of the United
States. and he was making his homo in
Florida.
The work Of these observatores, he
firmly believed. would corroborate the
theories he advanced in "Other Worlds
than Ours" In that book he stated his
belief that the other planets were in
similar to that Of the earth in
past geologic ages, and, wild as the belief
may seem, he thought that telescope OBJ
seryation would confirm this belief In
Brooklyn, during his first course Of Loot
ures. he predicted that Jupiter woulRbc
found to be in an intensely heated condi-
ton, similar 10 what the earth must have
been in the interchangeable periods, and
that the planets Mars and Venus would.
II the telescopes power could be suti-
GENTLY increased, show a condition analo-
gous 10 that Of our own globe in compar-
atively recent geologic epochs. These
predictions have been partially confirmed
by the latest observations OF the planet
Mars -.
Another theory which he maintained in
private conversation was that the old
division Of heavenly bodies into nebul.e.
suns, planets and satellites would be done
away with by telescopes Of higher power
and greater accuracy. and that with these
It would be found that every stage Of
iosmical growth was exhibited in the
heavens He even went 50 far as 10 sug-
yest that the astronomy Of the future
would recognize, first. unorganized nebu
e; second, conferred nebule. similar TO
the solar system in the beginning accord
ng TO La Place; third. nebular systems
iissimilar 10 the foregoing. p which the
aw OF development would be more COM