Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1898-01-20
Visible Tomorrow in India, Madagascar
and Africa,
Five Expeditions are in HlndOOland 10 Observe
the Darkened Sun-The CrOCker
Expedition.

Hamilton, CalltOrnla, DeadS the
only expedition from the United
States which has gone to India to
view the total eclipse of the sun
tomorrow. Three English and
one French expeditions have been
on the scene some time. Profess
sor Campbell and party passed
through this port about three
months ago on the Belgic en- route
to India via Hongkong, Singa
pore, Penang, Colombo and Bonn
bay. After purchasing food sup.
plies and hiring servants, the
party went from Bombay by rail
200 miles inland to Poona where a
temporary camp was pitched.
After travelling first due south to
Karad and sfterwsrd southeast to
Jeur, 200 miles apart, through
both of which places the line of
totality passes, and carefully
inspecting each place with
the proper instruments, with a
view to the nearness of each to the
line of crossing, the elevation, the
supply of water--so necessary to
photography as well as living
purposes-and the other neces-
sary conditions, Karad was finally
chosen as the exact location
to view the eclipse. Here the
party established their final camp
about December 2l and set up the
great forty foot telescope on a
steep hill, and passed the inter
vening weeks in making prepara-
tions for the great event of to-
morrow.
December is the very best time
of year in India, corresponding as
it does in temperature to that of
June on Mount Hamilton, aud
there is but one chance in twenty
hat the weather will be cloudy In
that particular portion of the
peninsula.
Karad has a population of
about IA, 900, mostly Hindoos and
Mohammedans, with here and
there an occasional foreigner.
The food of the expedition will be
daily shipped from Poona. On
account of the snakes which infest
this part of India the party will
be forced to sleep in bammocks.
Three or four days before the
eclipse Professor Campbell will
gather together his dozen assist
ants and carefully train them.
These will probably be officers
and skilled engineers from the
English army, coming by
courtesy.
India was preferred as the base
of operations, the line Of totality
or path of the eclipse-passipg
directly across the peninsula from
east to west. The same telescope
which was used on the unfortu-
nate expedition to Japan last year
has been taken, together with two
or three smaller ones, all for pho
tographing the suns corona. Be
sides these, all the other instru.
ments used in observing the
eclipses in Japan and South
America have been transported,
and at least FIVE spectroscopes
with which to photograph the
spectrum of the different parts of
the corona.
This corona is simply the CASE
GUS surrounding of the sun, which
shows like beautiful halo of deli
cate bluish-white about the moon
during the total eclipse. Con-
trasting brilliantly with it are the
prominences of fiery red which
are thrown out from the sun into
long fantastic steamers project
ing thousands Of miles into space.
The principal problems with
which Professor Campbell will
have to deal ar, first, to deter.
mine the composition of the cor
ona-how much is gaseous and
how much formed of the solid par
ticles supposedly expelled from
the sun; and, second, to study the
nature of the solar prominences,
to decide how the different parts
of the corona are moving and to
anelyze its light. These points
have never been satisfactory solv-
ed.
The eclipse lasts 2 minutes and
3 seconds, and on these very 2
minutes and 3 seconds banps the