The sun., 1898-02-07

noblsman alone gave rise 10 reports from which,
alasi the most spotlens life and reputation can
not always defend themsslvee The present Sir
Rawdon Crawley (who succeeded HE late uncle.
Sir Pitt 1889; Sir Pitt died on the passing OF the
Reform bllp does not SEQ his mother. and his
undutifulness II . cause OF the deepest grief
70 that admirable lady. IF u were not for
AioAer thfa0s' she says. how could she have
borne up against the worlds caiumny. wicked
husband's cruelty and falsensss. and the thank
lessness tsharpef than psrpent's TOOTH Of an
adorod childi But she has been preserved,
meroifully preserved, 10 bear all these Hriefs,
and awaits her reward eisetrhsre. The italics
are Mrs. Crawley's own.
"she took the style and title Of Lady Crawley
for some time after Sir Pitts death, In 1899;
but It turned out that Col Crawley. Governor
Of Coventry Island, had died Of fever three
months before his brother. whereupon Mrs.
Rawdon was obliged to lay down the title which
she had prematurely assumed.
"Thelato Joseph Sedley. Esq, Of the Bcngal
civil service left her two lakhs OF rupees on the
interest OF which the widow lives in the prac-
tices Of piety and benevolenoe before mentioned.
She has lost what little good looks she once poe
sessed, and wears false hair and teeth tthe lat
ter give her rather n ghastly look whom she
smiles). and-for pious woman-is the best
crinoiined lady In KnirhtsbridRe district.
"Col. and Mrs. w. Dobbin live in Hampshire.
near Sir r. Crawley; Lady Jane was godmothor
to their little girl. and the ladies are exceedingly
attached to each other. The Colonels History
Of the Punjaub' is looked for with much anx-
iety In some circles.
capt and Lieut.-Col G. Sedley. Osborne Cho
wishes, he says. TO be distinguished from some
other branches Of tho Osborne family. and Is
descended by the mothers side from Sir Charles
SedleyI 10, need not say. well. for saw him In
O most richly embroidered cambria pink shirt
with diamond studs bowling to your Grace nt
tho last party at Devonshire House. He is in
Parliament; but the property left him by his
grandfather has, hear. been good deal over
rated.
He was very sweet upon Miss Crawley. Sir
Pitts daughter, who married her cousin. the
present Baronet and o good deal cut up when
he was refused. Ho is not, however. q man to
be permanently cast down by sentimental dis
appointments His chief cause of annoyance at
the present moment 10 that he is growing bald,
but his whiskers are still without O gray hair
and the finest in London.
II think these are the latest particulars re-
lating to q number OF persons about whom your
Grace was good enough to express some interest.
! am very glad to be enabled to give this In
formation. and am
Your Grace's very much obliged servant,
"W. NJ. THAcKERAY.
"P. s-Lady oDowd 10 at o'Dowdstown arm
ing. She has Just sent in q letter of adhesion to
the Lord.Lieutenant, which has been ac-
knowledged by his Excellency's private secre-
tary, Mr.. Cory Comedian. Miss Glorvina
O'Dowd is thinking Of coming up to the Castle
to marry the last-namod gentleman.
"P. 8. 2.-The India mail just arrived an.
nounces the utter ruin OF the Union Bank at
Calcutta, in which all Mrs. Crawleys money
was. Will Fate never cease to persecute that
suffering saint"
Astronomers in England are much puzzled
over o remarkable discrepancy In the accounts
OF the recent solar eclipse. At present the de-
tails which have reached London are not suffi.
cient to enable them to form any definite idea
of what the observers in India have really done.
But Sir Norman Lockyers message on his OBJ
servation OF the corona differs SO much from
what Prof. Turner sends over that the Royal
Astronomical Society is anxiously waiting for
sary to say that the corona" is the luminous
ray extending in different directions from the
sun during the period Of eclipse.
Now Prof. Turner says that the corona ex-
tended to o distance equal to one radius of the
moon In the direction OF the suns axis both
north and south; Sir Norman Lockyer says
1.-THE largest streamer was polar one, and had
q length equal to four apparent diameters of the
MOON" And these two great authorities are
equally at variance in their account of the
corona In the other, or equatorial. direction,
Prof. Turner saying It extended to distance
of three radii of tho moon, while Lockyer says
that "there was no equatorial extension Of the
luminosity"
These two accounts are. of course. utterly ir-
reconcilable. The apparent diameter of the
moon during the eclipse would practically be
that of the sun, S50. 900 miles. so that, accord
ing to Sir Norman Lockyer, the polar streamer
extended distance OF 3.400, 900 miles. Mr.. w.
II. Wesley. assistant secretary of the Royal
Astronomical Society. says that o streamer Of
such o length has never been known at either
pole. though the equatorial extension has been
much greater. This being the case. Prof. Turn
ers account would seem tho moro likely;
though, OF course. some error in Transmission
may bo responsible for Lockyer's startlingly
different description. According TO Mr.. wes-
10y. these 'streamers" appearto be in some way
connected with sun-spot development. They
alter their form with the maximum and mini
mum sun-spot period Of eleven years. II has
been found that this sunspot period Is not SO
reliable AZ II was supposed to be. but still the
connection 10 plainly indicated. At tho maxi.
mum OF sun spots there 10 o ragged corona
pretty evenly distributed all around the suns
disk. At the minimum poriod there 10 Just Q
little fringe of luminosity at the north and
south poles, and great wings Of light millions Of
| miles long stretch away right and left. The
recent eclipse took place very nearly midway
between the maximum and minimum periods.
As to the composition of these atreamers 1t
seems as yet TO be q matter Of conjecture. It is
thought that they may bo electrically luminous
particles OF matter. They cannot be supposed
| to indicate the existence OF solar atmosphere,
because gaseous matter. subject to the tre-
mendous attractive power of such mass as the
sun, would condense into q solid at tho SUMS
surface. And the fact that comets have passed
| close to the sun without appearing TO meet any
atmospheric resistance, proves that there is no
| such solidity.
| It has been suggested that these solar
| streamers arc something in the nature OF our
own aurora boreAlis on big scale. The con-
| nection between magnetic earth currents and
auroral displays seems pretty well established,
and there 10 apparently an intimate connection
betWeen the spota on the face of the sun and