Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-12-27

This little island is about 21s miles long
y. n. w. and y mile broad s. S. E.. and
is frnged by a steep coral reef which
dries at low water, and extends seaward
quite a distance. In the interior. of the
island are two small lagoons OF bracklsh
water. Not very promising prospect
for the most enterpr.sing observer, des-
pite the fact that the duration Of totality
viii be four minutes, and the suns al
t!tude will be "A deg.
In 1850 the island was uninhabited. and
the buoys formerly In use were gone.
There is no rise and fall Of tide, and tho
landing is said to be very bad, even for
sui'fhoats. These interesting facts are
70 he found in the monthly notices Of
Royal Astronomical society for March,
1906 and were contributed by Dr. a. NJ.
w. Downing, F. X. S, He gives a still
less favorable report Of Hull Island. This
island is situated half way between the
Marquesas Islands and Solomon Islands,
in long. 172 deg. 10 min. W. and lat. deg.
30 min. s.
Hun Islands, one Of the Phoenix group.
belongs to the British, and was discov-
cred and so named by Wilkes in 1910 1t
has p lagoon and a little fresh water,
and there are some cOcoanut trees on IT.,
about 80 feet high. A coral reef fringes
the island and landing Is difficulty ex-
cept by entering the lagoon by means OF
the boat passag es on the northwest side.
There is no anchorage. In 1899 the is
land was uninhabited.
The winds are almost constantly from
the eastward. but squalls accompanied
by light rain occur in the neighborhood
all the year round. Tho wind is vara-
bic from January to May, during which
period bad weather Is most common.
Small chance there is there of observing
the eclipse with any success. since it
occurs on January g. and totality only
lasts m. 81 sec. The suns altitude will
| be 43 deg.
| Both these islands have been lea sed
| to Levers Pacific Plantation company,
and intending observers are requested to
communicate with the officers of this
company, situated at Port Sunlight. Che
shire. Such is the irony of fate. permit
ting one OF the grandest sights the eye
| of mortal can ever behold to waste It's
glory on these almost inaccessible is
lands On December 20, 1905 another
eclipse track will cross the South At
lantic ocean, and on June r. 1909 an
eclipse will occur In the neighborhood OF
Greenland.
! The South Antarctic regions will be
crossed by an eclipse track May g. 1910,
| and another will visit Australia, May
| 9S, 1911 On all these occasions, since
the eclipse tracks lie almost wholly
across oceans, or in Inaccessible parts of
our globe, no observations of value can
he made. This is due to the fact that
| no device for securing accurate astrono-
mical observations from the deck of q
ship has vet been perfected, while to
reach the inaccessible regions tedious
and expensive expeditions are necessary.
| At a meeting of the British Astronom-
| ical association which met at Sion COL
| lege, Victoria embankment on June 20
! last w. T. Lynn, one Of the members.
| read a paper on the total eclipse of
January 1S, 1907. In II ne referred to the
| fact that 1.-THE Russian government has
recently established ain observatory at
Tashkend, nearly due north OF Samar-
lsand. and no doubt the astronomers
| there will observe tho total eclipse at
| the latter place" He also referred to the
| fact that the second catalogue Of stars
ever made was formed at Samarkand by
Ulugh Beg. In 1887 Ulugh Beg, the
grandson Of Tamerlane, built at Samark-
and the greatest astronomical observa-
tory in the world, one hundred and forty
years before Tycho Brahe erected
Uraniborg In Denmark.
After Mr. Lynn read his interesting
paper, A. c. d. Crommein. the president
of the association. remarked that "un-
fortunately the next eclipse is one that
only those should venture to go to see
who are prepared to brave an Arctic de-
gree of cold. As general rule, they re-
| OF r1a fox,