Lancaster enterprise. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1891-1905, 1900-05-16
WHEN THE SUN HIDES.
What Will Happen During the
Coming Total Eclipse.
By An6reS Downs.

By An6rew Downs.
On the morning of May 2Slh,
when the, spring sun ID rIuiug
high In the heavens, u strange
thing will happen. Tue moon, IN
visible, OF course, Will get between
the earth and the sun. Although
the moon Is an ,nsignlticant Illtle
ball when compared to the SUI,
it's 80 much nearer US that the
great orb OF day will be entirely
blotted out
Reaching down through space
will dip, like great pencil, me
black shadow Of the moon. This
shadow will draw across the face
of the earth broad black line.
1t will be a rushing, sweeping
stroke. that will swing eastward
at the rate of nearly 1000 miles
an hour. This will be the path of
total eclipse. The line will be
about so miles wide. 1t will cross
Mexico and strike the United
States at New Orleans. From
there it will sweep northeast to
Norfolk, whence it will pass out
across Cape Henry and over the
ocean.
So from New Orleans to Nor
folk the eclipse will be total.
This means that for the space of
about 80 seconds this part of the
country will be in semi darkness.
ALI the rest of the country, from
Salt Lake City east, will have to
be satisfied with only a partial
eclipse. But this will be we'll
worth seeing. If you are any
where near the line of total
eclipse, you will see the greater
part Of the day star obscured, as
if a great hand were trying to
shut out the light.
Eclipses of the sun, as you
know, are not everyday occur
rences. Even when they do come
1t often happens that America is
left out. The last total eclipse
visible In the United States east
of the Rockies was in 1878. The
next one will not occur till 1916.
So if you are fortunate enough TO
be within the path of totality dur
ing the coming eclipse you should
make the most of it, for this is
the chance Of a lifetime. The
people who have seen more than
one total eclipse are the astrono-
mers who have travelled to the
ends of the earth for that pur
pose.
But this is a popular eclipse.
1t is not une of those shy affairs
that go off to inaccessible parts
Of the earth to be seen by the
favored few. 1t will come to
thickiy populated and easily
reached section of our own coun
try.
1t will occur on time too. There
is to be no uncertainty about this
phenomenon. There will be no
disappointment, as there was
about the meteor showers last
fall. Echpses are reliable. They
never cancel dates. Only cloudy
or stormy weather can obscure
the show The eclipse will go on,
clouds or no clouds, but unless
there is clear sky we connot see
1t.
AS a spectacle a total solar
. eclipse ranks among the most
marvellous ever presented to the
eyes Of man. The race of the
moon shadow across the face of
the landscape as the moment of
totality approaches has always
been described by observers as
one OF the most ggerIng, awe
inspiring scenes that is possible
to imagine. Then come the OBJ
scurity, the disappearance Of the
sun, the strange chill Of unnat-
ural darkness, the outburst of the
wonderful coronal streamers
aronnd the spot where a black
hole seems suddenly to have
taken the place Of the sun, the
red flames Of the prominences
and. after one or two minutes of
awful pause and silence, the
CLEAN of the reappearing orb and