, 1890-06-26
THE CITIES IN THE sky
Vessels That Sail Blithely in the
Blue Empyrian Many Leagues
Away.

in vertical height without alteration
in breadth. Distant hummoc<s of
ice are thus maguiiied into immense
towers and pinnacles, and ship II
sometimes abuOrmally drawn out
until 1t appears twelve or thirteen
times as high us 1t is long. Rocks
are seen to be drawn up to ten or
twelve times their proper height.
{ Houses, us well as human beings
and animals, appear in like eNag-
/ gerLted shape.
/ Another form of mirage is when n
ship, or some other object near the
water, seems greatly elongated, aud
from above, Sometimes the proper
image of the object is elevated far
above the lake or sen, while the Sec
ond image strangely appears in
verted ieueuth 1t; the whole SUR
rounded by II sheet of sky, which is
mirrored and repeated within 1t.
In lS22, in the Arctic region, Cap
tain s'coresby recognized by its in
yerted Image In the r'r, the ship
Fame, which afterward proved to be
seventeen miles beyond the visible
horizon of his observation.
DR.. Vince, on August q, 1866, at :
l.. NJ, saw from Ramsgate, at which
place only the tops of Dover castle
towers are usually visible, the whole
of the castle. 1t appeared rs though
3 tiftAI l,.ltiNf ,.l..naI 4 Ia.
near side OF the intervening hill. SO
perfect was this Illusion that the
hill itself actually could not be seen
through the figure.
Some forms of mirage are lateral
as well as vertical, arising nom un-
equal density of two contiguous
vertical bodies of air, Thus, on
Lake Geneva, u boat has been seen
double, the two images some dis
tance apart. Persons have been
duplicated in the same way. Any
one on a hot day, by placing his e'u
near TO a heated wall, may sec lat
eral mirage Of objects at distance,
and nearly on a line with the wall.
Here, on the shores of Lake on
tario, many beautiful aud wonder
iul miruiges are witnessed. The lake
IL 50 wide, the opposite ls not at all
visible. And yet during some pccuI-
lar states of the atmosphere IL IL
clearly outlined. y gentleman wit
messed Al most perfect mirage from
Sheldou's Point, Oswego. 1t was
about | O'Clock in the afternoon,
when IL splendid view of the Canada
shore was given. 1t extended from
Is point nearly opposite Oswcgo city
To Cape Vincent, ut points on the
Jefferson county shore, Whole
blocks OF the city of Kingston were
Visible aud localities distinctly de.
fined. From Sucketts HurbOr 10
Point Peninsula, ten miles distant,
has appeared not more than two OF
three mites away, and so plainly in
view that the limbs of the trees were
visible. stony island stood out
plainly In view, and far beyond IL
could bc seen Gallop and Duck
island. Even the Canadian shore
in the vicinity Of Long Point and
Prince Edwards bay was NJ times
plainly In sight.
4 vessel mas been seen sailing
along the horizon with the hull up
pcrmo,t, visible at Lake Bluff Ac-
com punying the appearance of the
ship was tnUt oi mountains and
hills, as though the Canadian shore
was coming into view. y pun OF
wind apparently caused the whole
phantnsuluyOria To melt away ~ II
10y magic,
In Syracuse, a distant city, re-
markuble mirage was witnessed 10y
many persons. IL lasted two hours,
ana was best observed rom tniVor-
slty hill, looking northwest over
Onondaga lake. Lake Ontario was
plainly visible, ara stretching out
ut an angle OF % degrees OF the ho-
rizon II lUokcd like an ocean. Pro-
lessor Comfort says that few years
previous II similar mirage OtcurIe |,
aud 1t WAS 30 distinct that by means
OF IA glass he could discern "A town,
probably Kingston.
Portions Of Rochester and sec
tlUns of the country lying south of
1t have been seen out in the lake six
and ten miles distant, Us though the
city was standing erect in the air.
Trains ot moving cars and other OBJ
lects were clearly defined, the aerial
phenomena continuing tor nearly an
hour.
A well.known lake captain has
also witnessed wonderful. mirage
out ON Lake Ontario. While on his
way from the -. Lawrence up the
lake and near the islands known rs
the False Ducks, and while stand
ing at the wheel, there suddenly
burst into view the city of OswegO,
thirty.onc IaIlcs distant, with the
.,as lights in the streets and all the
appearance n town ligh ted up would
present from hill In the iinmc-
diate vicinity ut night. The light
house at Orwcgo and Others on the
lake shore below Us Tar rs Sackett's
Harbor were distinctly seen. II
was II sort of night III rage, and II
rare sight, indeed. 1t lasted for
several minutes, then slowly faded
away into darkness,
At RocVester, which is about
twenty miles inland from Lake on
tarlo, u mirage of most surprising
character was witnessed by many.
The entire northern sky as fara the
angle or bison was lighted above the
landmark with the blue waters of
Lake Ontario, while rejecting from
her bosom could lie seen the noun
tains, hills, valleys, bays and rivers
Of the Canada shore nlaud for miles.
The co,st could be plainly seen mir
rorcd over II stretch Of fifty miles,
and 30 perfect Mt one time that the
forests couldreadily be edIstlnguished,
The reader can form some idea of its
grandeur by knowing thata country
separated from Rochester by lake
seventy miles In width was, as If
l.l.A..I.. L., IL. h..I.I L.. 4 -.