St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-08-22

Oaeh WIN seem The Diseanee TAFo1gA
Pssis' New Telescope.
Tho huge block Of crystal which viii
become the mirror for the great tele-
scope has safely arrived In Paris. II
all goes well the exhibition Of 1900
will be able to boast Of distinct fea-
ture. Whether the moon's features will
be equally distinct il another question.
Prof. Loewy thinks not, but n. Deloncle
II still determined to carry through his
idea.
THE moon one yard on" It was
thus the scheme Of the gigantic tele-
scope was spoken Of in the papers, but
NJ. Deloncle, however ambitions he
may be in central Africa, protests that
he never had % prepcsterous = notion.
He claims that it will be possible to
throw ON to = screen views Of our sat
elite brought within . distance Of %
miles. This remains to be seen. How
ever, everybody will wish N. Delonele.
and still more especially his share
holders. every success In what one
must still regard ~ m experiment
The new telescope mirror II the
largest ever made. 1t was cast at Jeu-
mont, = manufacturing place, and the
last French station on the line to Liege,
Cologne and Berlin. This splendid
block of homogeneous crystal weighs
1000 kilogrammes. Its diameter il 05
meters, and in it's present nearly rough
state cost 1000. OF course, It was con-
veyed to Paris In . special train. It
was wrapped up In heavy felt blank
cts, protected BY hoops Of soft wood.
with metal tires, mounted ON pivots.
Thus packed. the mirror was tightly
wedged in . case that was placed In
the wagon on . bed Of hurdles and
layers Of hay.
For greater safety. the train stopped
only once. at Tergnier, and went ut n
slow . pace n royal train. escorted
by . railway inspector. 1t was insured
to its full value. The same afternoon il
was removed from the northern termi-
mus to the workshop. The mirror, be.
fore leaving Jeumont. went through
second grinding Of its faces, being ~
smooth A. fine plate glass. But fof
telescope purposes this sort Of smooth
ness il roughness itself. The finishing
process win take two years and six
months, and by more expeditions proc
esses than any hitherto in use, which,
moreover, will give greater accuracy
than anything known.
Hitherto astronomical mirrors and
lenses have been polished by hand by
slowly rubbing the glass with the naked
hand, sometimes, but not always,
moistened with oil, slbumen and other
substances, which are the makers se-
cret. The drawback Of the process II
that the mere heat Of the hand may
cause the surface to warp.
The new mechanical process, Of which
particulars are not known, will produce
. surface approaching . true plane,
within one ten-thouaandth part Of .
millimeter. Even this marvellous I'M
'sh will leave . margin. astronomers
tell m, for errors. The whole finishing
process will cost $4,000. The silvering
will not cost anything to speak Of.
The mirror will b, mounted on two
arms ten meters long. and will Be Get
in motion by machinery Of the usual
sort The rays gathered from planetary
space will be reflected horisontally
through . mammoth tube % meters
long, laid on piles Of masonry. The
lenses Of flint and crown glass will b
one meter and Is centimeteTs, The
largest in the world, and the images,
ENLARGED 5000 times, will b thrown
onto q screen, which Thousands Of peo-
pie win view ct time.
The moon win. II al goes well. be
brought within % miles, but IL II most
doubtful whether images on this scale
win prove correct u. Loewy, tie as-
sistant director u tie Paris ohserva-
tory, who has s1bmitted some splen-
did photographs u tlss moon. believes
that the limit Of - miles 10 has reached
II the most practical 1or . long time
70 come. Larger images will b indie
tinct.-PaEis Coz. London News.
oo0o 0n01lsA - - = Wsoeo.
An Oklahoma editor expresses hio
thanks for boaket o3 oranges thus:
I'VE hase received . haslpst q orangee
from our friend Gus Brsdlsy. for which