The Portland daily press., 1896-02-25


buildings need not have to fear, even if
the comet should he heading to come
slap down on the concrete roofs Though
the comet may be as big as the sarth it,
self, or half dozen times bigger, and
II its speed should increase to 10, OOU, 900
miles day, nobody need worry about it..
Its all right, the astronomers say.
Every one may not know it, but in 1861,
it is asserted, a comet great deal big
ger than the one coming at us, and with
tai! q hundred million miles long, and
travelling great deal faster than this
one Is travelling, swished it's long tail
clear around us-enveloped us with it.,
Dut IT didn't do us a bit of harm. Gar
rett T. Serviss, the astronomer, talked
with reporter yesterday about the pos
sibilities Of collision
- haven't seen this comet YETI he
said, "and all I know of fl is what /
have, read in the papers. I judge it is a
small one''
''How small2', asked the reporter.
We'll, 1T might be as large as our earth.
comet. 1t probably is not
COMING TOWARD US,
as the dispatches say, for if it is, then
there is no possibility of it's hitting US.
We are travelling 10 miles second. and
by March IA, the date they talk about it's
arriving, We shall be millions of miles
from where we are now. To hit us it
must be travelling toward the spot, about
40, 600, 600 miles from here. Whether or
not the calculations that have been
made "about the present positions Of the
comet, its velocity, and its course are ex :
act, depends on whether the observations
have been good. 1t is not likely that
they are exact, for q comet is hazy
body, and it is difficult to get good obser-
vations. If 1t was point like star it
could be told with mathematical GER
tainty just where 1t would be at a GER
tain minute OF hour, but, being hazy
thing, it is difficult to see where Is the
| head, the greatest point of condensation,
and to tell exactly what the comet is
| doing. You remember in 1892. 1t was
| thought for some days that comet was
going to hit us, and then it was discov-
cred that the comet was going away
from u.s. instead OF coming toward us. +"
swell, assuming that this comet is
correctly observed, and will hit us on
March IA, what will happen?" asked the
reporter.
"Well - said Mr. SERVES, ssthere would
be fine display OF fireworks in all pro-
liability"
"But what would become of us?''
eve would probably bs out looking at
the fireworks and enjoy the SPECTACLE
And that's all the damage body
as big or bigger than the earth would do
If it hit the sarths'
That's all the damage body of the
nature offs comet would do' said MIR.
Serviss. IA comet, you know. is not
q IT,
up of minute bodies. We might compare
it with dust cloud. While in size 1t
compares with the earth, there is no
comparison in solldity of the two So
far as we have been able to learn there
are no large
PARTICLES OF MATTER
in comet. They are made up of atoms
of dust Of iron, nickel, or sorne other
metal. Our atmosphere is practically
impervious to such body. Seventy or
eighty miles above the earth. where the
atmosphere is SO rare that the vacuum
is almost as good as that of a Crookes
tube, there is still enough resistance to
disintegrate and destroy a body like a
comet travelling with the swiftness with
which a comet travels. The particles
than the ultimate atoms of matter. They
would ultimately reach the earth.,
"If body as large as the earth is dis
integrated. and falling spreads over the
face OF the earth, wouldn't the dust be
pretty deep when it bad all settled?'
Don't . you see," said Mr.. Serviss,
that while in bulk or space it occupies
the room of the earth, and in that sense
is rs big as the eallh, 1t is not packed
solid like the earth? Take an ordinary
dust cloud for example; it may cover q
mile square of space, but IL all the arti-
oes were compressed into the smallest
possible space they would occupy very
little room. So comet as large as the
earth might not contain more than
enough matter to make layer one ten
thousandth of millimeter deep If spread
over the earth If comet was made
of solid chunks of matter the result
| would be different
'"rhe heat generated by the contact
with the atmosphere would be sufficient
| to melt things For instance "a 1Oo-ton
piece of iron might burn a hole as big as
tremendous heat the earth and stone in
the Immediate neighborhood would be
vaporized Immediately. But, as / told
You before, there are no large particles
of matter in the makeup Of comet.
There is just one possibility of unpleas
dnEneSS IN C0n6J'S n1GG]ng the earth
That is the subsequent effects on the as.
tmosphere. 1t would seem likely that
the atmosphere would be filed
WITH GASEOUS MATTER
and it the comet was very big one.
made up in part of gases. as they are.
it might introduce matter into the at
mosphere that would be deleterious TO
health. 1t might give or predispose
us to the attack of other diseases"
The reporter asked how comets were
made, or where they came from. Mr.
Serviss laughed he replied:
''SOme say that comets consist of what
was left after the creation. After the
universe, comprising the sun, the world.
the stars, and all else was made. there
was some material left, these people saw
Comets are entirely Independent of the
solar systela."
Speaking of comets that had struck the
earth, or had came near it, Mr.. Serviss
told Of the comet of 1861, which swisbed
us with it's tail. The skies were illumi-
mated at night. There were no other
Irncwn efYaets In 1899 he aai6 oo-.4