Evening journal., 1902-01-03
QUEER BLUNDBRN
AUTHORS MAKE
Apparently Come From Lack
Of Observation and Are
Unnecessary

It is curious to note IN how many IN
stances strange Astronomical errors APP
pear In works Of fiction quite unneces-
sary TO the requirements Of the story
and resulting apparently from sheer
lack Of observation. AS a modern
example Of such gratultous blunder-
Ing take q piece of description from
Mr. Han Gaines "Scapegoat:" 1T was
a wonderful night The moon which
was In its first quarter, was still low
In the east, but the stars were thick
overhead" A wonderful night, in
deedl And strange that such a lover
of nature as Mr. Hall Caine should
not have reflected that when the moon
IN its first quarter Is low In the east
1t Is broad daylight with the sun high
in the heavens!
Nevertheless on this point he erred
IN good company. The young moon
has proved a stumbling block to many
writer who has attempted TO intro
duce II as a picturesque adjunct to his
description OF evening.
In Dickens "Our Mutual Friend"
Eugene Wrayburn, in his walk along
the river bank, finds It has just risen
when "the stars were beginning to
shine in the sky, from which the tones
Of red and yellow were tlickering."
Dickens, in truth, was sublmely SUI
perior to astronomical niceties, espe-
cially when they in any way inter-
fered with the artistic effect Of his
stories In his "Chllds Dream of Il
Star" the point turns upon one special
star, "larger and more beautiful than
| the rest" which always came out
every night IN one particular place and
at one particular time, thereby behay-
ing as no star has ever conceiyably
been known to do. This is undoubted-
ly taking q liberty with the solar sys-
TEN, but It is small indeed compared
with the license sometimes claimed by
authors deslrous of calling In the aid
of astronomy to assist their plots but
who are either insuiHciently acquaint-
ed with their subject or count 1t no
sin to twist and convert facts TO suit
their requirements.
very famous and noteworthy in
stance of this is afforded in Rider Hag-
CARDS "King Solomon's Mines" where
the phenomenon OF total solar eclipse
IS employed with most happy and dra-
matte effect as far as the story is con-
cerned, but with a perfect disregard
OF astronomical details which In It's
audacity is almost startling. Here,
again, as IN so many other cases, the
difficulty of the young moon comes
In. aud the sun has scarcely set be-
2 fore the "fne crescent" rises IN the
east within a wonderfully short space
Of time after this curious event the
t moon is fun, and only a day later the
/ total eclipse Of the sun takes place
, despite the astronomical fact that Il
5 Is at mo moon (or more accurately
7 speaking. the last few seconds Of tn,
r old moon and the first few seconds oI
5 the new that a total solar eclipse alone
is possible.
But perhaps the most interesting
feature of this altogether remarkable
K eclipse is that the total darkness last
r for nearly an hour. Alas. under th'
t rarest ana most favorable conditions
1 seven minutes alone Is the utmost limi
of time during which the suns face 4
1 totally obscured. and the observer un
4 der ordinary circumstances counts him
t self lucky Il he is rewarded for a jour
{ ncy OF some thousands of miles by al
4 uninterrupted view Of the corona 70
three minutes. two or even less.
Y Some years ago one of the magazine
$ contained Il story called "The Portent,
G the motif Of which was "A certai
strange seeming In the heavens which
q whenever 1t appeared. boded III to
q particular family. This prophetic sig
Il was none other than the appearance
l. of the crescent moon with a star be
tween the two horns. Nor was this
q particularly novel idea. for Il will b
T remembered that In Colerdges "Ar
y cient Mariner" that veracious seama
relates how at one period OF his aC
It ventures there rose
2 above the eastern bar
/ The horned moon. with one bright star
Ia Within the neither tip.
4 In purely miraculous and fancifl
creation like this famous poem
would be ridiculous 90 cavil at sue
a detail though In the case of III
story 1t might we'll be questioned ho'
: the star could manage 10 appear
! such position. We may perhaps r.
!, fer to the line IN "The Burial of S
- John Moore" where the great soldi'
4 Is represented as being inferred "b
the struggling moonbeam's mist
= light" whereas as a matter Of fac
|, the moon was but a day old at q
N time of the battle Of Coruna and ther
10 fore Invisible. This seems like hype
10 criticism. especially In a poem thu
lays no claim to astronomical accurac
pa The case IS different when an auth'
, deliberately makes a statement whiS
.s he Intends shall be believed. In Il
nocents Abroad" Mark Twain draw
special notice to the point that on Il
voyage across the Atlantic they o
J.. served the full moon located Just
~ ~ the same spot in the heavens at q
q. same hour every night He accoun
- for this by the motion OF the shi