St. Paul daily globe., 1892-11-19
SHOWER OF NIETEORS.
Eastern Astronomer Predicts 8
Rain of Fire Oh the Night o.

Eastern Astronomer Predicts a
Rain of Fire On the Night of
Nov. 27.
DR.. Louis Swift, of Rochester, N. Y.
in talking with Post-EXpress reporter
the other day. said: Il predict that on
the evening of the 27th of this month, as
soon as darkness falls, there will com
mence a rain of fire which will be re-
membered for years. This display is
not one of the periodic ones alluded to
before. but is connected with the ap-
pearance of this new comet AS the
whole matter is of great Importance Ill
astronomy, | will explain the connec-
ton. Meteoric showers used TO cause
terror on all sides. As recently as 1888
the lower classes in this country con-
fidently expected the end Of the world
had come on the appearance OF violent
disturbance of this sort. Now it is
known that meteorS are closely con-
nected with comets, and 1t is believed
that they may be parts of comets"
DR.. Swift produced the following tel
egram: "Berberich cables comet
holmes possibly Biela's. John Ritchie
Jr." That~would be puzzle to All or
binary mortal. but DIR. Swift read and
reread it with evident relish. DR.. Swift
examined Holmes comet Thursday
night with care, and was struck with
several strange qualities possessed by
it. Friday afternoon the telegram came.
The Interpretation of the message is
this: John Ritchie Jr., observer at
Harvard university, sends this notice to
| DR.. Swift to inform him that a cable
| gram from the German astronomer,
| Berberch, has been received at Har-
ward stating that Holmes comet MAY be
| found to be the famous Biela'S comet.
Il believe that is the true solution"
said DR.. Swift. This Is certainly the
most remarkable comet l have ever
seen. In its clean outlines and position
there is something familiar. Biela'S 5
comet is. perhaps, the most interesting
| of the heavenly bodies. We know that
! it should be seen at certain periods
| Sometimes when its season comes it
blaZes fiercelv, at others there is not a
trace of 1t. and again it appears i'll two
divisions, separated from each other.
| In l772 Montaigne discovered comet;
thirty-three years later Pond found
another, and in 1926 Biela gave
| his name to Il new comet.
Imagine the surprise of the
astronomical world when it was
learned, a few years later, that these
three comets were one and the same.
Calculators at once began 10 search out
the path of this heavenly tramp and 1t
was proved that 1t should appear once
in sixteen and SiX-tenthS years. The
figuring was correct and sometimes the
comet appeared when the glasses were
ready. At other times it would not
even show a tail-feather. 1t was no
ticed, however, that Biela's comet came
in sight only OH multlples of the time
calculated for its regular appearance" F"
"Does the comet look the same at one
visit as at another?" was asked.
mo, indeed" was the reply. "In
1916 Biela's comet was seen to be di-
vided into two parts; in 1852 the divis-
ion was more prominent. When a de-
tective is Oh the track or crook who
has hitherto succeeded i'll going into
secure hiding places when hard pressed,
any clew is seized eagerly. The phe-
nomena of 1916 and 1852 gave US a cleW
to the tricks of Biela'S comet. Gould ii
he possble?' asked some one, that
Biela's comet at certain times breaks ur
into pieces, remains for a period III
chaotic state, and that. after q
time, the parts are again drawn t.
gether by some strange force and the
comet formed again% Then it was re-
membered that the appearance of this
comet had often been connected with
mete oric showers. Biela's comet was
due in 1866 and that year marked the
most wonderful meteOric showers ever
seen in Europe or Asia. We had only q
remnant of it here. and yet | counted
SS9 meteors during the night. fillet