Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-30
Z COMETS AT A TIME
Are Now Visible, According to Prof
Jacoby, of Columbia.
A FULL LIST OF THE STRANGERS.
One of Them Discovered by the Help Of
Photography.
PEOPLE CRAZED AT NIAGARA FALLS

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPATcH.l
NEW YORK, Nov. 29.-According to
Prof. Jacoby, of Columbia College, there
are now no less than seven comets visible.
This, he says, is, so far as he has had any
information or experience. the largest num-
ber on record. ''They are all telescopic
comets, however" he said to-day. ''They
are the Holmes comet, which has received
80 much attention of late: Freeman's comet,
which is the latest discovered; Swift's
comet, discovered last summer; Winnecke's
comet, an old one which appears regularly
at intervals of five to eight years; Denning'
comet, another new one; Brooks comet, and
Barnard's comet, which is still another new
one and so Indistinct as to be barely visible
with the large telescopes 1t was discov-
cred through the agency of photography by
Prof Barnard.
Astronomers are watching Freeman's
comet with great interest. At first it was
very close to Holmes comet, and travelled
in the same direction. 1t was discovered
November "a by Prof. Barnard, at Brighton,
England. Cloudy weather has SO far pre-
vented us from taking an observation OF the
mans comet is a fragment of Biela's comet,
which disintegrated about 80 years ago.
Awaiting Clear Night.
"We are anxiously awaiting clear night,
SO that we may take an observation and de-
termine whether its orbit Is the same as
that laid down for Biela's. The comet at
first supposed to be Biela's, and which was
discovered by Prof. Holmes. has been
10 h. r>1x nd hos haa
christened after its discoverer. 1t is now
duly catalogued, and its orbit is established.
think great deal too much was said and
written about the Holmes comet 1t is
now moving steadily away from us in an
orbit that will take it at least seven
years to travel around the earth. 1t
will never come near us. We were unable
to take observations last Sunday night,
when showers of meteors were expected,
because of the cloudy weather. The me-
teors seen last week are undoubtedly debris
of the Bie1a comet, sucn as is met with
each time the earth crosses the orbit of the
lost comet The new comet, discovered by
Freeman, is travelling in southerly di-
rection, so far as we have received reports.
At the last observation from which we
have heard it was still in the constellation
of Andromeda, and, so far as could be de-
termined, was traversing the identical
track laid down for Biela's comet"
Crazy Folks at Niagara Falls.
A special from Niagara Falls says: The
comet scare has reached this end of the
State. A farmer named Andrews, residing
three miles up the river, known for his
closeness in money matters, drew all his
money from the bank and spent as much of
it as he could. He distributed the rest
among his sons and daughters, with the ad-
monition to elbow it in," for the comet
would wipe them all out of existence
before Monday morning. To-day it is
feared he will 60 crazy over the fail
ure of the celestial wanderer
to do his dire work. Instances of
people engaging in prayer Sunday night
are numerous, and crowds stayed out most
OF the night to witness the meteoric display
which was promised, but failed to material
ize owing to the cloudy condition of the
heavens. One weak-minded woman, the
wife of farmer named Strubel, in Porter,
became insane. A little negro boy in the
tunnel district here was tormented and
by gang of hoodlums until he
hid himself in an old cellar and was found
shivering and chattering in an idiotic way.