The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-12-17
A GREEN CHRISTMAS


Promised u the spots on ths san DOnu
Clear up-Ths BlotehsS on Old sol.
soms Alarming Views.
New York Press; After showing a
clear and rosy complexion Tor many
months, the face o: the sun Is agaih
dIsagured with one Of those mysterious
bemshes which periodically adlIct 1t,
and which science popularity diagnoses
as sun spots"
How long the present group Of spots
has been growing oad spreading no
man knows, Astronomers, however, Tor
The last four months have been aware
oi IFS presence on the SUMS countenance
and have been watching its growth
with keen interest through the!r tele-
scopes So great and uusightly has It
become that the sun can 10 longer con-
cal It from the world, and the mnekesi
man ON earth now can gaze upon It
with the same freedom as the most pro-
found astronomer, provided his eyes
are normal and he holds piece ~
smoked glass between them and the
sun,
The spot which has Just made itself
visible is remarkable In several ways.
IN the first place 1t is the wrong season
FOR sun spots. The maximum period In
which they move In groups from the
mole to the disc has passed and given
way to the minimum period, when they
are rarely, II ever, seen. In the second
pace It's size Is extraordinary, about
10000 10000 OF square miles OF the SUMS
surface being involved in the disturb
ance. In the third place, the spot, or
rather the group OF spots, Is, according
10 one scientist, the direct cause of the
unusually warm weather which has
prevailed all through November and up
70 the present time.
Professor Henry c. Maine, the astron-
Omer, OF Rochester, who Is recognized
throughout the country as an authority
on sun spots, declares that the eXtraor-
binary heat Of November and December
Is merely the latest evidence of the dis
turbcd hemisphere,
As a blemish covering ten billions of
square miles OF the SUMS face IS not
likely to be removed in the course of
DAYS or months, 1t is altogether prob
able that the earth Will have green
Christmas,
Aside from these sun spot facts, there
Is a piece of gossip afloat regarding the
sun that would be remarkably interest
ing II true. Since the blemish became
visible many persons have held that the
sun was about to give birth to another
planet Professor Corrlgan. director of
the Goodsell Observatory, predicted this
bIrth several months ago, and asserted
that at any moment huge mass Of
molten matter might be hurled out in
to space. and that when Il was so hurl-
ed all the planets, including the earth
and It's nelghboring sisters, would have
to stand from Under"
As n precedent the director OF the
Goodsell Observatory cited similar
detachment OF solar matter which oc-
cured 23000.000 years ago and resulted
IN the total humiliation OF every living
thing on the face Of the earth.
Few OF Professor Corrigan's fellow as
tronomerS seem to share his Views or
his fears Garrett p. Servlss said last
night to a reporter for The Press that
while the sun spot now visible was eN-
traordiDary, It was we'll known pht-
romcnon and had no connection what
ever with the birth OF new Planet
The sun as body" said Professor
serviss, has already passed through
all the more violent stages Of evolution
and has entered upon steady course OF
radiation and slow cooling, leading ultl-
aately to It's extinction. It will give
birth to no more planets The magnetic
influence OF this spo: may be noticed on
the telegraph instruments and tele-
phones: otherwise cannot see that 1t
has any special Significance"