The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-05-15
The Return Of Venus.

A star OF unW0nted brightness SHIN
ing low in the western sky just after
shutdown hogan to attract attention
in the closing days OF April, and with
daily increase of brilliancy and eleva-
ton it has now become phenomenon
that catches every observant eye. 1t
is Venus, the earth's sister planet,
returning once more with the unvary-
ing regularity of celestial revolutions
to reassert its supremacy as the star
of evening. There are other evening
stars mentioned in the almanac, and,
in fact, all of the planets
at one time or another figured
in that role, but when Venus
is in presence all the others hide their
diminished light, When she shines
at her best, as she will the coming
summer and autumn, this beautiful
planet furnishes never-failing source
of wonder that star can be so bright.
Even now, from her place on the
further side of the sun, she reflects
back the solar blaze from her surface
with such splendor of refulgence
that, seen from the earth, 150,O00,000
miles distant, she is, after the sun and
the moon, the most conspicuous real
ity in the heavens.
Just at present the planet
Mercury is also an evening
star, situated not far from Venus,
and for a week to come it will be
interesting to watch the motions of
these orbs. Mercury moves so
swiftly as to render its change of place
from night to night evident even to a
casual observer. Revolving in an orbit
much nearer the sun than that of
Venus, itappeared few days ago to
overtake and pass the latter in the
sky. having followed it up from the
horizon. Then, after swiftly ap-
preaching the earth in it's sharply
curved orbit, Mercury began to swing
into the hither half OF its round, and
now, as it is about to move in between
the sun and the earth, it will again, in
appearance, approach the sun, meet
ing Venus going in the opposite di-
rection. This meeting will occur at
the end of the week, after which Mer-
curry will rapidly disappear from the
evening sky.
But even more interesting to con-
template than these planetary mo-
tons, which reveal to the eye the
working of the wonderful machinery
of the solar system, are the planets
themselves. What can be more inter.
esting than to know that the light
which streams to us from these dis
tant globes has but a few minutes be-
fore passed through their atmospheres,
which closely resemble the air sur
rounding our own earth, and which, it
is no undue stretch of the imagina-
ton to suppose, especially in the case
of Venus, may be vibrating with the
speech of beings as intellectual as we
are? 1t is also most interesting to
consider that the exceeding brill
fancy of Venus is largely
due to the presence of clouds
in her atmosphere composed OF vapor
like that which scatters the life-sup-
porting rains over the face of the
earth. To any one who enjoyed the
spectacle of the sudden illumination
of Venus atmosphere at the begin
ming of the trans of 1882 by the re-
fracted rays of the sun, the planet
with ring of light, the sight of that
brightly shining globe must possess a
far clearer significance than it could
otherwise do. And the effect was
heightened by the sight Of the lines of
water, vapor revealed by the spectre
scope in the sun-touched atmosphere
of the planet. No such observer
could ever doubt that Venus is a glote
furnished like ours with the two most
essential elements for the support OF
life-air and water.-New York Sun.
The olive tree is exceedingly prolific
under cultivation; the fruit yields
about 70 per cent of its weight, exclu-
sive of kernel in oil. Italy is said to