The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1900-05-29
The Eclipse in NeWbGrry.
iHE ASTRONOMERS AND THOSE WHO
CAME TO NE"BEKKf PLEASED
WITH TIE RESULT
In" strange and Pretty Ihcnnmcnn wit.
h"sS"d by Eser,bndy~-Thu Work OF the
Government Observation Parties Ia
Ncwb"rry II SuccCss--V Visiting
PARTIES from Several Towns
-prof BlGciuw Talks

Cloudicss skies met the ewes of
the anxious muliitudcS yesterday
morning as they began 20 bcstir
themselves early to make prcpara
tons to witness the strange, but
beautiful phcnomena--a total eclipse
of the sun.
1t was indeed a beautiful sight,
one that will never be witnessed bv
those of us Oh this side of the globe
again.
Ncwbcrry was favored on this
occasion, first, by the observation
parties from New York and WASH
lnGton, a number Of most pleasant
gentlemen and ladies', whom we
were glad to have as our guests,
then there were quite a number Of
ladies and gentlemen from Due
West, Johnston, >ipartanburg,
Grccnvillc and other parts through
out the State, the visitors number
ing probably 200 in all.
Prof. Bigclow and his party, with
whom we talked, were delighted
with their visit to Ncwberrv, and
felt proud that he had selected this
place to make his observation.
Among the prominent visitors to
Ncwbcrry on this occasion were
Prof. and Mrs. Il. II. Bigclow, Mr..
and Mrs. ROberdcaw Buchanan,
Prof. Cleveland Able, Prof. lanes
Page and Misses Eliza and Jane
Wilkes and Miss Lindsay, Of Wash
ington; Prof. Garrett p. Scrviss,
Otis Wcttles, Chas. I.cnbke and
Wallace Goald I.eviSon, Of New
York; Prof. p. l.. Grier, Of Due
West; Prof. Watson and DR.. Jud-
son, Of Grecnvillc; Prof. Evans and
others from Spartanburg.
The day was an ideal one, the
sun rising OH Il bright, beautiful,
cloudlcss blue sky, and every one
was i'll waiting with thc smoked
glass 10 view the strange sight and
get a glimpse of Mcrcury--thc
beautiful star which is SO near the
sun and is SO rarely visible.
One of the government obscrva-
ton parties was stationed at the
rear Of Dir. IIouscal's residence,
near the standpipc, the other near
the residence Of Mr.. W. Y. Fair,
and still another i'll the field near
MIR. J. J. Lanes residence.
The following facts concerning
the eclipse and the work of these
parties were kindly furnished us in
an interview with Prof. Bigclow:
Temperature at 6.45 a. III. 0S de
grces. 1t fell at 9.I5 to o. degrees,
equivalent to a fall OF 6 degrees
from beginning Of, to the middle of
totallty. Light wind at s O'Clock
fell to perfect calm at s. 80. The
corona was seen i'll most perfect
manner and had the usual bright
inner corona circle surrounding the
disc of the moon and apparently
about one-Ilth of the radius Of the
moon. On north and south there
were fine isolated polar rays similar
to those surrounding the poles of a
magnet. TO the east and west
along the ecliptic there was broad
sheet Of blush white light covered
with stlrac, extending about two
diamctcrs, OH each side Of the
moons disc. The western side was
broader than the eastern and spread
out like a, fish tail-two prominent
points. On eastern side the wing
tapercd of to cone shaped figure,
the point being to the south Of the
line of the ccliptic. This figure
corresponds very closely to the
coronas which were observed in
1869, 1878 and 1880, and is charac-
tcristic Of the corona at the time of
the minimum of tho suns spots,
that is to say when the sun s activity
is the least developed and output of
the energy apparently as little as
possible. The corona, therefore,
extended east and west probably
five million miles or six diamctcrs
Of the sun. 1t is probable that the
strongest rays could be traced one
or two million miles more OH both
sides. The inner corona was very
bright, almost dazzling to the eye,
and gave exactly the effect pro-
duccd by the annular eclipse. The
contrast between the inner and
outer corona in the amount Of light
was enormous and made the object
one which was exceedingly difficult
to photograph. The brightness OF
the corona was such that it seemed
to have destroyed the sharp edge
Of the shadow of the moon which is
generally observed in an eclipse
and the effect was that the shadow
which is SO impressive an object i'll
ordinary eclipses was hardly at all
observed by any one at Ncwberry
The majority Of persons reported
that they could see no sharp edge
to the oncoming shadow but tha,
the darkness gradually increased
mp to the time of totality, and il
fact it was difficult to assign tho
exact moment when the inner