The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-29
pAY FROM SUN SPOT.
Display of Northern Lights NOT No'eo
at Night or burning Dlsturbanee

n,.n,.x of Northern Lights Not Noted
at Night or burning disturbance
Chicago record Herald.
A magnetic ray that shot out from
the heart of @ great 40,0VO-mlle spot
on the surface of the sun saturday
clogEed with conLenQIng currents ev-
cry electric wire on the surface Oh tne
earth. The influence of this beam OF
out the civilized world by the inter-
mittent checking Of telegraphic COM
uIunication anu In the wilderness OF
the North by brilliant displays Of the
THE trouble started at about s o'clock.
Chicago time, or noon at Greenwich,
and during the next nve hours the teA,
egraph wires between chicago ana
points on the eastern coast were SO
aeranged that communication was ex-
FrOm LONDON, Paris, Berlin, St. Pee
tersburg and other continental cities
reports came that during the day the
same trouble had been felt here:
Ground wires suffered more than did
those stretched Through the air, ana
the trans-oceanic cables passing tor
thousands OF miles through VAter were
made virtually useless.
In the United States the magnetic
wave seemed to reach its crest at about
noon. 1t was felt at Chicago, New
York. Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Bos-
ton, and at all intervening points. Tel
egraph operators are familiar with the
phenomenon which Is attributed to the
aurora borealis, but none OF them could
remember Of SO severe an attack. The
wires worked as though some gigantic
hand was breaking and closing the cir
cults all over the country. The wires
would work apparently all right, sud-
denly fall dead for a few moments and
then pick up lamely.
During the height of the disturbance
he measuring instruments In the tel
egraph office registered the presence on
the wires of upward of 500 volts of
electric current from the mysterious
source. This is a greater voltage than
is supplied for the operation Of any or
the land wires and 1t lighted the In
candescent resistance lamps and Hash
ed brilliant sparks acros the gaps hen
the telegraph keys were opened.
One tel.erapher long in the service
stated that he could not recall earth
currents OF such intensity as those Of
yesterday.
"In our Office" he said, "the electric
wires attached to the instruments to
counterfeit the effect of casual ground
currents burned out as fast as they
could be screwed on.
The phenomena was most severe ond
made it's first attack over southern
New England and Long Island and
then swept westward, carrying down
every means of electrical communica-
ton before 1t As far west as Pitts
egraph wires from New York TO Chi
cago were paralyzed and west of Chi
cago the Interruptions were felt. but
with decreasing force. The magnetic
wave showed the first sign of passing
at 1851 o'clock and seemed then to be
moving rapidly westward. From wire
points picked up internationally 1t was
reported that the magnetic wave ex-
tended as far south as virginia and
eastern Tennessee.
Scientists are unanimous In saying
that the wave was due to great sCn
spot 10000 miles in area, which 10 now
he nF hn N
1t is supposed that the earth is low
revolving in the rays flung on by this
sun spot.
The aurora, while still much of an
enigma, is known to be closely asso-
ciated with the electromagnetic sys-
tenn of the earth. both as to Its origin
and it's visibility. although the inter-
mittent effects which were manifested
yesterday are not fully understood. The
most probable explanation, scientists
say, is that solar radiations possess
electri-magnetic sneDgy which; when 1t
principal fields-one of which passes
through the earth in q line nearly par
allel to the line joining the two mag
netic poles and the other parallel to
The first acts by the law OF mag
netic induction and the second by The
law of magnetic refraction.
According to the men who have
made a study OF the aurora, this is the
season in which such disturbance
might be expected.
Director +. Schlesinger of the ALLIE
gheny Observatory at Ptttsburg, sal i'd:
I'VE have been observing this srot
on the sun during the last week; 1t is
unusually large. The spot Is about
40, 600 miles across, and 1t usually takes
such a spot about two weeks to cross
the surface OF the sun. The storms
alWay become most violent when the
spot nears the center OF the suns sur
face, where 1t Is now. The spot can
be seen by the aid of smoked glass,
and II will no doubt take another week
before it passes OF the surface of the
sun.
I'm the case Of these magnetic storms
there Is no high wind, no thunder and
lightning or rains, but merely an at
mospheric disturbance. The atmos-
phere is highly charged with electric
jty, that Is liable to anect telegraph
and telephone wires, and II Is possible
that there can be an aurora oorealis
phenomenon occur at the same time.
Professor Edward Frost OF Yerkes'
Observatory, said last night:
We have been making our usual CD.
servations and have kept an eye out
for the auroral display, but have seen
none tonight. 1t looks as II the dis
turbance had died down. II is prob
able that one occurred during the cls-
turbance but was invisible because Of
the light. It is certain that none oc-
CURED last night up to sunrise.