The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-15

this evening at 81 hours. 16 minutes, 4:
seconds right ascension, and 40 hours
S,,rhn1 2S minutes: 40 seconds north declension
Is greenish in COLOR
Hardly month passed but the dis
coNefy OF teiescopic comet at some oh.
se1xatcry was announced In the press
Inc announcement had made no deeper
impression on astronomers than others
OF the same kind which they had beer
IN the habit OF receiving. A great mum
in the position indicated and had fol.
! lowed 1t carefully. The Neue As
tronomische Nachriohten had published
me results OF observations, and a German
| Visional orbit from the published ephe-
merIs.
Hardly had this orbit and the cphe-
meris been printed than a Japanese
the comet According TO the German $
calculation, the comet ought TO rush from
an almost Infinite distance in outer space
toward The sun, and cross the plane OF
point not far distant from the point
where the earth would be at that par
ticular time.
He urged the advisability of under
taking an elaborate mathematical inves-
tigatlon to determine whether or not the
comet was likely to encounter either the
earth or the moon in It's fight toward
the sun before perihelion passage, or
away from the sun after perlhelion pas
sage.
A young woman. a laureate OF the in
stitute and candidate for the post OF
director OF the observatory, had followed
The suggestion and had eagerly snapped
up up every telephone message received at
the central administration. In less than
ten days there had been received more
than hundred messages,
Without losing a moment. she had
In plotting q new orbit for the Comet. IL
rransplred that the German mathemsti-
clan had made an error in the perihelion
distance, and that the conclusion drawn
In the date assigned for the crossing OF
the plane of the ecliptic by five OF six
days.
All observations of the comet were re-
Erected on the worlds loftiest peak. at
$1,000 feet elevation. amid eternal snow.
in a rare; pure atmosphere. which Of
fered no obstruction to telescope vision,
ii was here that the rings Of the moon
and the tenth and eleventh satellites or
Jupiter were discovered.
While the European astronomers dis
cusscd the ephemeris of the new comet
and stated that the orbit OF the comet
would surely intersect tho earths, and
that the two bodies would meet In space.
the Himalaya observatory had sent
phonogram reading;
"The comet Will become visible to the
naked eye. stnl green 1t is moving
The absolute agreement of all astro-
nomical calculations. whether they came
from Europe, America or Asia, was evi-
that collision was Inevitable was an
nounced. the widest tales were circu-
lated, Whenever the comet was spoken
Of tand who did not speak OF itD tragic
commentaries were made, and the orig
inal announcement was adorned with
Ghastly pictures OF the suffering that
would ensue whom the comet struck the
Garth The exact facts OF science were
lrl r1pnSplV pyaCCGTltpd bN fantastic
mors.
The first Astronomical announcement
stated that the comet was travelling at
enormous speed, and that it would strIleo
The earth at definite date; the second
announcement stated that the fiery wan
derer would precipitate q. world Wide
catastrophe by poisoning the air and by
pune turing the carth's thin crust.
Popular imagination was in a ferment
every one fancied he saw the blazing
star before his terror stricken eyes. or
dropping from fhc sky and hurting itself
upon this helpless earth.
The astronomers themselves were mol
at first alarmed by the prospect ol u
meeting as far as the Iate OF nnnllan,ay
views published merely tho usual dry.
technical articles studded with mathcmat-
ical symbols. IN which the scientific prob
lens involved were treated at lcnGth. The
collision OF the comet and the earth was
astronomicaily regarded merely as an cx-
ccptionally interesting case In celest'a!
mechanics. SclenEf1c mon were aS s,'i
as could be- Just as physician may IN
oculate himself with a malignant disease
for the purpose OF studying its progress
and effect, so the astronomers cons idc?cu
the dangerous position Of the earth
Soon another phonoGram, sent TINS tlnc
from Mount Hamilton in California an.
nounccd discoveries Of immense import
10 chemists and physlolosists;
Spectroscopic observations have os-
tablished tho fact that the comet IL
dense mass composed Of many gases
in which carbon monoSide prodom-
mates.
II astronomers Wore not oNcr"rouSn5
by the impending collision. accusioinSu
as tbcv were to conjunctions oi tne
heavenly bodies as harmless chsnilSNs /
and phTsiclans were more concerned thy |
effect OF carbon monoXIde was TOO WGl!
known 10 be ignored or Regarded mercy
as n scientific curiosity
Even il the earth escaped serious aaii
age from the mechanical ciecls OF tle
collision, there WAS no denying lho p,,is., poisSs
bility OF asphyxiatlon. assuming d,,c,, oain@,
monoxide to he present In larse eiodEn Ifsi
quantities. Following the advice OF - Iio I
tinguished physIologist. the taGtor,es o- p
pon ia turn out respiratory hetnlels-
calmly ma SKIS which fitted over VIC ~, ~
and supplied oxygen 1" INC rcHpi iSS
organs from Z tanie strapped 10 lne nhEh, H
Architects slavcd night and day @9IaMi1o @
plans OF hprmotjcally aeHlcd puliuinsS ,ho
be supplied with oxygen, 70 "Hion ~ ~
poorer people, who could not aHo'o iu