The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-06-13


scured was very short, less than a
minute and half on the average,
along the path Of the shadow IN the
United States
No other ninety seconds ever passed
SO swiftly. 1t vas quick withdraw
ing and instant reclosing Of tn cur
tain Of the sky, and the echoes of the
cries of wonder uttered as the
corona burst forth in weird splendor
seemed yet to be lingering in the
chilled and darkened air when the
marvellous vision vanished as if dis
solved by the touch Of the first re-
turning sunbeam.
The suddenness Of the appearance
Of the corona and the equal instan-
tancousness Of its disappearance add
ed Immensely to the awc-inspiring
character of the phenomenon. AS the
lunar shadow swept like vast purple
and black curtain over the sky, and
the opaque globe Of the moon obscured
the last thin crescent Of the sun, seq.
ments Of dazzling light, silvery in
color, ran swiftly round the dark cir
Gle of the moons disk, meeting on its
eastern edge and blending in COM
pletc ring Of surprising beauty.
The sun had been blotted out, and
only jet black disk occupied its
place, with that cleaning circle - the
inner corona-inclosing it. But at
the same moment that the circle Of
the inner corona appeared, the tire.
mendous wings Of the yet more mys-
tcrious outer corona spraDg into ex-
istcnce, spreading east and west Of
the hidden sun SO far that their reach
from tip to tip could not have been
less than five or six millions of miles.
The effects Of the eclipse upon ami
mate nature are hard to describe and
equally difficult to explain. The ex-
citement Of the crowd around our
station at Newberry, S. c., many oe
whom had come long distances and
slept the night before on floors and in
unaccustomed places, wherever an
apology for bed could be made, was
intense to such degree that the ner-
vous strain was very apparent.
The shout Of surprise, quickly
turned into half cheer, which greeted
the appearance Of the corona was re-
peated on its disappearance. The
whole wonderful pageant, with its dis
play Of strange lights and cleaning
color, was over so quickly that many
could hardly believe their eyes and
stared around at one another in mute
astonishment
The darkness, owing to the intense
brilliance Of the inner ring of the
corona, was less than had been ex-
psoted. Yet it evidently impressed
all dumb animals with the sensation
Of night. Many mocking birds, which,
in the early morning Of the critical
day and on all the previous days while
our preparations we're going on, had
fitted joyously among the trees, began
to fly low, with curious cries, as the
darkness increased, and during totality
disappeared in the foliage.
A flock Of young turkeys were gath
cred by their mother under her wings.
A great, buszsrd, with his horrible
beak and bloated neck, seemed to seek
human companionship, by taking
refuge in mimosa tree in the midst
of the crowd.
A duck quietly tucked her head un-
der her wing then, startled by some
noise, withdrew it for a moment,
cooked her eye up at the sky and, ap-
parently mistakipg the serious shaped
silvery radiance there for the moon,
replaced her head under her wing and
went, or tried to go, to sleep.
A negro ploughing in neighboriug
field unhitched his horse and started
for home, but stopped, astonished
when the sun suddenly emerged aud
the darkness passed off. He had evi-
dently expected that the eclipse would
last long enough to give him holi-
day.
While many birds seemed to show
some signs of terror, the only real
fright manifested was by a little dog
bearing, most appropriately as it
turned out, the name Of dewey"
When the darkness was suddenly
pierced by the strange CLEAN Of the
corona, dewey put his tail between
his legs, with yelp Of fear, and ran
away.