The sun., 1910-05-19
NOTHING At ALL HAPPENED


-'Thought %. " says Prof. JaeOby N
.the Patient Crowd On RiveFsile Drive
-roWn TOoA Disappolntment CALMLY.
Well nothing happened hsFO. ItwssA
pleasant night 10 Be out Of doors, and NE
In the open air 10 recommended by the doc-
tors. and 30 the time very likely was vel
spent but as 10 getting any CLEANS Or
glamour from the comets tail or any die
play Of auroras from electrical ooHnso-
tons with that appendage or any me-
teorites a. immigrants from q far hung
world 10 ours. there was not any oR thsss
things. live were actually In the comets
tail no casual man would nave dreamed
Il II IL had not been mentioned several
times recently in the newspapers that
we were going 10 he there and that no
body knew what might happen. beginning
at iO.SO p NJ. or thereabout.
Thsre wasn't a cloud In tho aky over
Manhattan. Island st the Tina astrono-
mers had told us that We would pass
through the tsnuous streamsr Not
meteor fell within aisAt Of the city
up 70 midaish.. nor vas thsss any sEss
dsnce Of northern lights or other illumi-
nations Of that nature near the horaOR
Harold Jacoby. Rutherfurd professor
Of astronomy at Columbia University.
left his house in Seventy sixth street &c
iOsO p N. and went 10 the shore Of tho
Hudson 10 So whether there had been
any foundation for the conjecture Of
phsnomsna.
when u was certain that by the cal
culations we were well within the tail
Prof. Jacoby looked around him. up and
down the river and over 70 the Jersey
shore, and a. far east a. the tall buildings
would permit and laughed a little a. he
said:
We'll, We were right when we said that
nothing was going 70 happen. yersnt
We? Most Of us were sure that thers
would be nothing extraordinary tonight.
but We had 10 take precautions just the
same. This isn't telescope JOB, and 4
anything Of an unusual nature were GO
ing on we cosld witness Il here just a
a. well a. anywhere. except possibly In
an observatory out In the country. where
buildings and city lights would not OBJ
struct our Wow.
The real show for the people of New
York. and everywhere else for that matter.
will begin on Friday evening. or possibly
nos until Saturday. Then We ought 70
have a splendid view OF the comet a. it
hangs In the western sky just after sunset
every evening until June 10 or possibly
later. Then these people out hers will
be rewarded with something worth look
ing at
A ne spoke Prof. Jacoby looked around
up and down the drive. where At the park
wall was a solid line Of people. Taxicabs
and autos were drawn up beside the curb
along the drive Il wasn't a comet crowd
in any sense either High hats sprinkled
through the crowd and many women In
evening gowns had thrown cloAka over
their shoulders and come out bareheadsd
to watch for possible wonders. Around
street a number Of young men palpably
from east Of Fifth avenue gathered closely
and declared that Il any OF that cyaHogen
gas stuff came their way they would dive
in and not come mp for air until the tail
had passed
Early IN the evening there were heavy
dark clouds tracing across the face %
l . - kHuH aNa -
every one came out for the spectacle
the sky had olosred and periodical fan
of scattered nindrOps ceased. The moon
was very bright. with Jupiter standing
guard close % her. II Imagination played
any part in the calculations of those Who
watched they may have thought that rhers
was a peculiarly brilliant radiance about
the moon az that time Prof Jacoby said
Il was No greater than on any good noon
light night
From remarks dropped by many per-
sons who stood along the drive II seemed
90 be the not uncommon idea that tho
comet itself was scheduled 20 appear
They haven't figured IL out in their
minds said Prof Jacoby. that the
comet s tail points directly away from the
sun and that when the sun u below the
horizon the only possible spectacle would
be either a reflection from the head Of the
comet in the west or a luminous appear
ance q the tails particles a. il rises in the
east.
The last time that Halley's comet
appeared he continued. there vas
a. much public interest in the phenom-
enon a. there is now. IL We may rely upon
1he records. But there could not be the
same significance attached 10 its visit
because there was no photography 70
preserve iss appearance. We have nOth-
/ ing but drawings made at that time, and
yet they are not dissimilAr to the pictures
that We get to-day
Il was impossible to tell exactly when
We entered and when We emerged from
the tail. Prof Jaooby explained this by
saying that tho presence Of phenomena
Was the only means Of determining thass
thinEs In the absence Of anything ex-
eraordinAEy We could only guess a. Il,
and even then the IDEAS Of astronomers
varied materially. Qua on the Pacific
slope. where the atmosphere d clearer.
they have made out a much broader tail
than could be- observed By the astrono-
mers IN the Fast. The broader tbs tail.
he said. the longer u would take NJ %
pass through. And Whan computations
varied 20 materially there wa no way of
Determining the tFansit absolutely.
Up around the TsnderiOin Last night
/ Uncle Joe Cannon naturally led tho timid