The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-05-05
THE POSTS LETTER BOX

facts and curious Information. Questions
of personal interest only will not be
answered. No business or personal ad
dresses viii be given. Questions as to the
| value. ETC.. Of cid coins and stamps will
not be answered. All correspondence
should be addressed to The Letter Box.
care Houston Post, aud to receive atten.
tion must be signed by the name In fnll
of the party making the Inquiry, as well
as that under which 1t IS desired that the
question shall appear. owing 70 the large
number Of questions received answers can
not always be given 2romptly)
Robert So. VIII you please give some
information regarding the harvest moon}
A. Every person who observes the ordl-
nary astronomical phenomena OF everyday
occurrence will no doubt have noticed that
there is great variation in the time Of the
moons rising and setting. This is due to
several causes, VIZ, the direction OF the
moons apparent path with reference TO
the horizon of the place, her distance from
the earth, and her daily motion eastward tn
right ascension. During every lunar month
the moon rises or sets only twenty-three
or twenty four minutes later for three or
four consecutive evenings, while during
the remaining month the retardation In the
time Of rising or setting may vary from
twcuty-four to seventy-cieht minutes In
this latitude. When fun moon occurs at OF
near the autumnal equinox. and II at the
| same time the moon Is In her ascending
ucdc, that IT, passing from the south to
the north side Of the ccllptic OF suns APP
parent path, she will rise at almost the
samc hour on several successive even ngS
and at a point of the horizon opposite 70
tnat Of the sun This phenomenon is more
noticeable In high northern attitudes as in
the middle and north Of Europe. The dura.
| ton Of moonlight on such occasions Is the
greatest possible and as the harvest occurs
In these ATTITUDES at that season N the
year the excess II moonlight is Of great
assistance to the farmer. and hence the
name, harvest moon" In order TO under.
stand the action Of the causes which pro
duce this phenomenon, 1t viii he necessary
to bear in mind that at the time Of the
autnmnol equinox, Scptember IL the sun
SETS exactly in the west, and the south
half of the eciptlc or the suns apparent
annual path In the sky will then he wholly
: above the horizon and the northern half
| Entirely below. and the ecliptic will make
tho least possible angle with the horizon.
| IT, AT the same time, the moon Is at or
near the fun and in the ascending node
/ her apparent path will make a still smaller
angle with the horizon by about degrees
5 seconds and as she advances In her orbit
about 10 degrees every day. this are or por.
ton Of her orbit will evidently he less de.
! pressed belot the horizon than az any
other time, and as her motion is also north.
ward as well as eastward she viii not only
rise at almost the same hour on several
successive evenings but also at points OF
the horizon farther and farther north Of
the east point. In high northern attitudes,
as in Alaska, British Columbia. the north
Of Scotland, and Sweden and Norway. the
moons path NJ such times is almost paral
lei with the horizon and she rises OF nearly
the same nour for more than week
directly opposite thing takes place
when the fun moon occurs at or near the
time Of the yerna equinox; the moon S
path Is then nearly perpendicular to the
horizon and she rises latcr aud later every
| evening ty about seyeuty-eight minutes.
There Is then the least possible amount Of
moonlight
James R.-Q. who originated the follow
ing psrasez: "ScE Man Of Europe,
Home Rule" "Mrldle and Middle"
Armed Ncuualty,' and Mastery Inac-
| tiyty,' viii n I ind In English history
A. The Sick Man Of europe Is a well
known description Of the Turkish empire,
yet very few people know the origin OF IT,
No less person than Gear Nicholas / was
the author Of the trehchant term, and his
majesty Invented II In conversation with a
British diplomat, just before the Cumeau
war. There is in our hnnds very sick
mana very sick man." the emperor Is re.
ported TO have said. "and it would be a
very great misfortune II be would some
day slip away from u.s.
Home Rule" was invented by Rev ]. A.
Galbraith, aud he used the words for the
first time at Wicklow street. Dublin, in
1870
Lord Derby struck out from the mental
mint that happy ALTERATION, NEEDLE ana
Muddle.' Speaking to the foreign policy
of Lord John Russell In 1865, Lord Derby
said: The foreign policy Of the noble
lord so far as the principle or nonInter-
/ vention Is concerned may be summed up
| in two homely but expressive words
NEEDLE and muddle.'
Armed Neutrality" and Mastery Iuac.
tivity' were coined by Disraeu, earl OF
Beaconsdeld.
Subseriber,-Q. have heard II said that
an egg laid on Coed Friday Will not become
E rotten and may be preserved for years.
= Please say II this is true and II so, how is
: the phenomenon accounted fort
I A. There could be no truth in such a
theory. Good Friday begins immediately
after midnight Of the preceding Thursday
!, and there is no reason known to science
why that would prevent an egg laid ave
minutes before that hour from keeping as
J. long as one laid i've minutes after that
: hour-or ten minutes later. The climatic
{ conditions would be quite the same. and
with the component parts OF the egg the
e same the chances OF preservation would he
e as good in one case as In the other. OF
course. there may have been times when
an egg laid on Good Friday has kept for a
'' long period. 1t could not be more than an
Incident, however. aud has also happened
Is to eggs laid ON other days where preserva.
l. lion has been accomplished by some process
of Fermentation or some method existed
for excluding gas or air from the substance
Of the egg until It became dry,
III |