The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-11-08


cr5,iine Ia rp;riinrs-. Instrument.
are mrnn,rd or .u-pa,itci. Cam
rrl- .lvp been Ioc;,.cd. tine most dis
,ant obirr;- icing used Io' the pur-
pose. Thermometers haze io-n placed
50 that We Shall be ablc 20 take the
temperature Of the air an,: soil: we
haze been told of b. our director, who
has given each Of Us some pecial duty
% perform. aud who oush, to have
knowledge sufficient to tell IL What TO
look Tor and to explain the variois
phenomena as thcy come under our
notice. TimcpicccS and thermometers
must be read information a. to cx-
posing plate must be given. the mo.
ment- Of contact announced. and thc
seconds during totality called oil in a
loud vpic". And though wc are all
assisting. wc Hall be able to SEE cy-
crytlInH. Professional astronomers
will not DE- - fortunate yhcy must
be IN constant attcndancc upon their
instruments and will probably work
behind screens shuttins ilcm off from
The world, 20 that their attention Shall
not be distracted.
From our calculations. we know
when the various contacts Will occur.
The sun is about three hours high,
and the sky clear. We are told that
the edge Of the lunar disk is all but
touching the edge Of the sun, but We
cannot detect the presence Of our sat
elite. 1t has been explained to US
that the moon is really moving toward
the East and at the rate of about a
half mile per second, that the surface
OF the earth is carrying us toward the
East at the speed Of about twelve
miles pei minute, and that the shad-
ow is approaching us from thc West
at the velocity Of nearly one mile a
second. During the hour and twelve
minutes which must clapsc between
the first detected cutting by the moon
into the sun $ limb and tOtality. we
shall have ample opportunity to OBJ
serve and draw sun-spots and faculac,
II any, to note down our Impressions,
to estimate the effect the gradual cx-
tinction of the direct solar rays is
having upon objects around us, and
the falling Of the mercury in the ther-
momcters. AS totality approaches we
should be on the alert for the shadow
bands which are usually present in be-
wildcring array for few moments be-
fore the face Of the sun is hidden,
pulsating, it is said. in Il manner to
suggest the tErOcs Of nature in disso-
luton, and as if conscious Of impend-
ing disaster Nor should we forget to
notice the effects Of increasing twi-
light upon animals, birds, insects and
flowers. On such occasions domestic
fowls go to roOst, birds return to their
nests, butterflies 'act as if drunk"
deer run about in alarm, and flowers,
such as crocus, tulips, ancmoncs, gem
tians, pcpatica, pimperncls, wood sor-
rel and wild gcranium close, and a pc
culiar hush falls upon everything. At
this moment attention must be given
to the sun, or what is left of it, for VIC
must see the splendid phenomena
known rs Baily's Beads, visible for an
instant or two as the moon advanc-
ing edge closes in upon the eastern
edge Of the sun, but visible again
when the western edge Of the moon
moves forward just enough to allow
the solar rays to CLINT around at us
through the valleys among the lunar
mountains.
But when warned by our director,
every eye must be turned to the West,
for whatever else we succeed iu doing,
we must not fail to see the lunar
shadow as it approaches. We may
not live long enough to witness anoth-
eT eclipse under such auspices. Let
US make the most Of this. Forbes,
who observed at Turin, the total
eclipse of 1912, said that he was con-
founded by the awful velocity Of the
shadow, which swept toward him from
the Alps, that he felt as if the great
building upon which he was standing
swayed beneath him and began to fall
over in the direction Of the coming
gloom. The rapidity Of its motion
and it's black intensity produced the
sensation that something material was
flying over the earth at speed "per-
fectly frightful," and he involuntari-
ly listened for the rushing noise Of
mighty wind. Airy describes as "very
awful shadow rctreatiug away