Mohave County miner., 1910-05-28
HaIley's Comet As Seen From King.
man, Arizona,
On the Evening of May 2srd. 1910.

nate indeed, in being able to witness
through an Arizona atmosphere a
! transcendent display of Celestial
glories on the night of the 23rd of
May. The sunset was from a cloudless
sky, and the atmosphere was unusual
y clear. The night was perfect, the
kind known only to the high desert
plateaus of the southwest. A cool
breeze, fragrant with the aroma of
desert vegetation added to the comfort
and pleasure of Witnessing the most
inspiring and beautiful Celestial scene
it has been the privilege of man to
witness since the dawn of creation.
AS the delicate and beautiful colors of
an Arizona sunset changed into the
somber shades of night, the noon rose
above the rim of the Eastern horizon
like a great FURNISHED disc of copper.
l never remember seeing its copper
sheen more pronounced, the sky more
blue, or the stars shine larger and
brighter in the light of a full moon.
1t did seem as if earth and sky had
taken on their greatest beauty in an
ticipation of the coming conflict Of the
night for the supremacy of the glory
of the heavens. The great spectacu-
lar scene and mighty drama in the
sky commenced by the North lower
limb of the moon showing the dark
shadow of the earth as it commenced
its transit. Slowly this great black
spectral shadow crept upward and
over, until the great copper colored
disc was completely covered and the
moon was in total eclipse. The great
star Autures now blazed with great
brilliancy close by, and to the south
west of the eclipsed moon; while to
the North in the constellation bOOtes !
the great Arcturian sun shOne in I'M
natural size and beauty, hut no star
on this night equalled in splendor the
fiery, angry glow of Mars, below and
close to the nucleus of the comet bold !
ly visible in the Western sky. AT the |
time of total eclipse the necleus of the /
comet appeared like a silvery luminous
ball, about two hours above the West |
ern horizon, with its tail streaming |
eastward far past the meridian of the !
heavens, asserting this night, suprem-
acy and dominion over the starry realms, |
and as its streaming tail blaZed with /
splendOr, at times SHOW
ing the more delicate cOlOrs of the |
aurora it again revealed to man the
flaming sword of Gideon, the star of
Bethlehem guiding the Wise Men and
heralding from the sky the birth of
the child who gave to the world the
promise of eternal life and the lesson
of peace on earth, good will to men.
This immense heavenly visitor with
its brilliant flaming tail reaching over
half the span from horizon to horizon
is the greatest of its kind within the
knowledge of man that has visited this
solar system. Mans knowledge of its
existence dates from the days of Abra-
ham, and from the days of the father
Of Israel to the present time it is sup
posed TO have swung on its great or
bit, so it was visible to the people of
this earth in cycles of seventy-fve
years: but never in the knowledge of
nan has it come as close TO the earth
as on this visit, and never in the
knowledge of man has there been a
Celestial display of this character
equal to what the people of Arizona
were privileged 10 see on the night of
May the 23rd The sublimity, trans
cendent beauty and grandeur of the
night was indescribable, and to those
with receptive hearts and apprecia-
live ewes, who saw and witnessed this
mighty and spectacular drama in the
sky, it gave some conception of the
perfect order in tn plan of the Uni
verse, and the power and glory of the
Intimate God, more than is given in
the beauty of the rose, the grandeur
Of the cloud c0lored sunset, or the in
spiration of the mountain heights.
J. d. JORDAN.
KINGMAN, May 26, 1910.
Beecher and Strohm have their