The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1908-09-26

IHe gracious GOd guldeS the reetS
of man on earth guides too the foot
steps Of the Martians and directs the
destinies of all his creatures in worlds
unknown to u.s." The Rev. Father
Guicheteau Of the French Catholic
church. Of st. Vincent de Paul in
West TMenty-third street, stood on
the steps of his astronomical OBJ:
servatory on the roof of the parish
house and talked earnestly to some
| visiting members of his congregation
on the wonders of the heavens by his
| remarkable telescope.
The more deeply have gone
into the study of astronomy the more
| deeply have I been impressed with
the magnitude Of Gods wonders.
What is revealed to man by the tele-
scope is almost beyond comprehen-
sion. No further demonstration need
be given the unbeliever than a view
through the telescope on clear and
starry night. 1t brings to mind that
line from the Might Thoughts of Ed
ward Young, BY night an atheist half
believes in Cod"
l. The little observatory on the parish
house roof top was practically built
by Father Guicheteau himself It is
modelled on the lines of the gresk
modern observatories, such as the
Yerkes and Lick. The circular dome
is supported on wheels, which permits
of its turning completely around. An
opening two feet wide, through which
the telescope may be pointed to any
part of the heavens, runs across the
dome. A long and narrow wooden
shutter delicately balanced on ball.
bearing wheels may be drawn at will
to open or close the aperture. The
telescope is a very powerful instru-
ment for it's size, containing excep-
tionally fine lenses. It is mounted
Oh clockwork, as are all the great tele-
scopes nowadays, in order that the
instrument may turn just as the plan
| cts move One of the eyepieces OF
the telescope is cleverly arranged
with prisms, so that the observer can
!lcok down in the eyepiece while the
instrument is actually pointed at some
|orb high up in the heavens. Another
,eyepiece has different arrangement
of prisms, and is designed to defect
half of the rays of the sun. This is
invaluable in solar observations.
Father Guicheteau has made very in
teresting studies Of the sun and it's
corona.
| CAUTIOUSLY enough, the greatest of
all the worlds astronomers WHO have
! Idevoted themselves to a study of the
sun was also Catholic priest, the
celebrated. Father Secchi. Father
Secchi devoted lifetime of study to
the sun, known about the great lu-
;minary of the heavens are due to the
interchangeable italian priest
Father Guicheteau is said to be the
only Catholic priest of prominence in
the United States who is also an as
itronomer. In Europe there are sew
eral notable astronomers who are
priests in Catholic church. Father
tSecchi is now dead, but Fable Mo-
Teux, director of the observatory at
!Bourges, in France, has followed in
Father Secchi's footsteps and accom-
plished some very remarkable work
in astronomy. At Cartjuta, near Gren-
ada, Spain, is the observatory Of the
Jesuit fathers, of which Father J..
Mier y Terra is director. Fourteen
Catholic priests at this observatory
! devote the greater part of their time
to astronomical research.
Father Guicheteau as the head of
the Fathers of Mercy of ST. Vincent
de Paul church cannot devote himself
entirely to astronomy, for his church