Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-04-05

|
set about to discover what laws, If any,
governed the comet. He became con-
vinced that it's orbit was the same as
that of the comets of 1907 and 1881.
Having convinced himself Of this fact,
| he announced that tine comet would
return the last of 1853 or first Of 1859.
He added with a touch Of whimsicality,
! tempered with pathos: wherefore, if
it should return, according to our pre-
diction, about the year 1853, impartial
posterity will not refuse to acknowl-
edge that this was first discovered by
an Englishman." This prediction was
as true as the other one ne had made.
For even today the name of the comet
bears witness to the fact that an Eng
| lishman was the first to know that
comets have closed orbits. HALEY, OF
course, did not live until the comet ap-
| peared again-it Is one Of the pathetic
things of history that most of its great
men and seers, scorned and reviled in
their own day, have not lived to see
| these words pl owed and accepted of
men, But as the time for the reap
pearance Of the comet drew near great
| interest was taken in 1t. 1t was not an
astronomer, however, VINO was to have
the honor of announcing its return, but
farmer Palitzsch, who lived near
Dresden. He was something OF stu
dent of nature, and 50 had become in
| terested in the predictions that the
| comet which HALEY had seen was to
reappear. 1t was on Christmas night,
1853, that he saw the comet, thus prov
| ing for all time that the deductions Of
HALEY, made seventy-fiv years before,
had a foundation in fact.
HALEY himself traced the comet back
| have given their time to 1t and have
been able to discover many interesting
things concerning its appearances be-
| fore that. There have been those who
have inclined to the belief that the Star
of Bethlehem, which guided the wise
men from their home in the east to the
manger where the Christ child lay, was
| this same comet This fact has not
| been established, however, most histor-
ians of science inclining to the belief
| that Halley's comet Is the one which
appeared B. c. II.
The interest which is taken in comets
] today is one proof that human nature
Is not so different now from what 1t
| has been all through the ages. Because
| from the beginning Of time men have
been interested in comets, it is easy to
| trace the history of Halley's comet or
any other great comet. Other data
| which would be invaluable for the as
| tronomer are not always obtainable,
but the records are full Of information
| about comets. In the old days comets,
perhaps because of their startling ap-
pearance, were held to be 'ominous of
the wrath of Heaven and as harbingers
Of wars and famines, of the dethrone-
ments of monarchs and the dissolution
of empires" With history's pages writ
| ten thick with wars and famines, and
the loss of thrones and the fall of en-
pires, it would have been almost i'm
possible for a comet to appear without
something which might be called
"ominous Of the wrath Of Heaven" hap
pening to someone, somewhere. So the
belief in the malevolent nature of COM
cts was held firm. Even in this day
there are peasants Of communities who
will shudder with dread because OF
Halley's comet. The ignorant rustics
of France have already ascribed the
Paris flood, which has just subsided, to
the fact that the comet had appeared.
Historians have found evidence OF
Halley's comet without any break from
| its appearance in B. c. IL, down to the
present. Perhaps its appearance in
1866 caused the most commotion in its
history. Europe was astounded at its
briliancy, and away around on the otn-
er side of the world it was the cause
| Of no less interest, for minute descrip-
| tions of ii are to be found in the Chi
nese annals Of those days. In England
it was looked upon, naturally, cOnsid-
ering the temper Of the times, as the
forerunner Of the victory of William of
| Normandy. Nearly every writer of
the eleventh century bears witness to
the splendor Of the comet, the concur
renee Of testimony being that 1t was
equal to the full moon in size. On its
next appearance, in 1145, it also was
written of xtensively-evidently Pro-
| fessor Moulton's contention that 1t is
the writer's and not the astronomers
VINO are interested in Halley's comet
was as true 500 years ago as it is today.
| When it appeared in 1928 it Is said
to have been visible for only eight
days But those eight days were not
| devoid of interest, for an ancient
chronicle relates that wonderful sign
appeared in the heavens in July of that
year, presaging the death of Philip Au-
gustus of France.
| Iceland, away off to the north of the
great theater of human events, has
records showing tnat when the comet
appeared in September, 1901, it was
visible in that country. On that APP
pearance it was of such brilliance that
it was spoken of for years in Europe
as the great comet" On that last ap-
pearance of the comet, in 1885, it was
not accorded so much Importance as 1t
had been in the days when superstition
was more rife, but great interest was
taken in it, Rosenberger, an astron"-
mer of Halle, forecasted that the perc-
| helion passage Chat is the point near
est the sun i'm the comets orbit would
be on November II. His calculation
was wrong by just four days. as 1t
was on November Is. Agnes NJ. Clerk",
an English astronomer, has the follow
| ing to say of it: "On August 6, 1885, a
nearly circular misty object was seen at
| Rome, not far from the place predicted
for the comet to appear. 1t was not
| until the middle of September that it
| began To throw out tail, which by
October Is had length of twenty-four