Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-05-29
VIEW THE SOLAR ECLIPSE;
CORONA AND PHENOMENA OBSERVED
HOUSE TOPS CROWDED.
President Mckinley and Party
Seen Eclipse ofLambsrt's Point.
Did Not Leave the u. S. $. Dolphin Some
thing About tho Observations Taken
New Phenomenon Discovered The
Shadow Bands Looked FOR.

Shadow Bands Looked Tor.
On schedule time to a second. the edge
OF Luna peeped over the suns disc yes
terday morning. At its appearance
thousands OF intent sun-gazers, with
craned neclIs and straining eyes, utter
ed an exclamation of delight, yet partly
awe-inspred.
The magnificent sun, grandly rising
on his daily course to the MERIDIAN
the sun. whose grandeur and sublimity
have not yet been adequately described
co.. All Of Il sase-e:
fered himself TO be slowly hidden from
view, eclipsed, by 4 WORKOUT, desert
planet one-seventy-m ilionth it's size. 1t
was the sight OF life-tim and the
'fnany thousands of people who Witness
ed it IN this section experienced a SEN
sation akin to awe, but rapturous ut the
same time. The world was brought
into nearer comprehension of the plains
Of the universe by the great astroncrni-
cal event which came and went in 50
brief Il sSace. The scientific value of
the observations taken along its path
way is not yet known, but when COM
puted interesting results are expected.
ON TIME TO \ DOT.
Precisely at 7:4O.59 o'clock. the moon,
Whirling through space with the an
proXimate speed OF a cannon bail. pro-
truded its rim over the brilliant surface
OF the sun. Swiftly in reality, but slow
ly to mans eye, 1t encroached upon the
suns path until the phase OF totaNty
was reached.
The exact time of the eclipse at Nor
folk was as follows:
Beginning OF eclipse. 7:40.59; begin
ming OF totally. S:52.33; ending of total
ity. S:5S.59; ending of eclipse. 10:l5.Q5.
At Virginia Notwithstanding at
7:41.12; beginning of totality. S:52.57;
ending CT totally. S:54.33, ending of
eclipse, 10:15.3i.
THE PRESIDENTS PARTY.
President Mckinley anu his party
viewed the eclipse from The u. S. $.
Dolphin, anchored just off Lamberts
Point. The Doinhin arrived in Hamp-
ton Roads Sunday afternoon.
The mamberS of the Presidents party
had 4 real good view from .where they
We're stationed, and they felt more than
doubly repaid for their trip. The Presi-
dent felt all the enthusiasm of the
average layman over the wonderful
event. There We're on board the Dol
phin 4 number OF glasses and n first
class telescope for the use OF the party
The eclipse had no sooner ended than
the Dolphin weighed anchor, and start
Cd on the return voyage 10 Washington.
AMONG THE OBSERVERS.
The crowd of Observers on the roof of
the Citizens Bank building INCLUDED,
besides the Hartford ScfentIic People,
Chief Willis l.. Moore, OF the United
States Weather Bureau; Mr.. Herbert l..
Rice, of the Naval Observatory; Dr.. l..
a. Iesler of the u. 5. Naval Hospital
at Boston; several visiting newspaper
men, and a number of others. There
were several large glasses and one tele-
scope on the roof. and Mr.. l.. Il.
Harvey, of the Hartford party, had
41-inch lens focus camera with which
he took two excellent exposures OF the
corona when the sun was in total
eclipse. twenty-five or thirty ladies
were in the party.
DR.. Hesler was in the United States
Government expedition TO the West
Coast of Africa to take observations OF
the total eclipse in 1869. 4 thin cloud
rendered the observations useless for
scientific purposes. DR.. Hesier was in
tervicwed by a Virginian-Pilot reporter
on the eclipse of yesterday. Te thought
it was the grandest sight of his life
tlfie. Tie TOOK cspeC4ai SlOtice OF the
"prominences." the flames about the
edge of the eciipsed sun. which are
supposed to be caused by exploding hy-
drogen gas in the chromosphere. a thin
shell around the sun.
"BAILEY'S BEADS" SEEN.
He also saw "Baiiey's Beads" as did
several other Observers. These are
caused by the light from the sun shin
ing through the lunar valleys just be-
fore the disc of the sun is covered COM
pletcly. DR.. Heser thought the plain
Visibleness of Mercury one Of the most
interesting features OF the eclipse.
Besides Mercury a least one other
star was plainly visible. That was
Venus, and several observers say they
say three, four or five star5 with their
naked eye. Stars likely TO have been
seen besides Venus and Mercury We're
Orion, CAMS Minor. Gemimi, Taurus
and CAMS Major
WIRELESS TELEG RAPHT TEST.
Professor Reginald y. Fessenaen,
who is perfecting the wireless tele-
graph system for the Weather Bureau.
with several assistants. stretched a
wire in the City Park and received q
slight manifestation of the electrical
current through his Marconi instrument
just as the sun peeped from behind
the moon
N0.4;,,.ori ~, Coco =