The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-19
Curious and SuperstitiOus
People Gather to Watch
for a Catac|ysm.
CROWDS IN NEW YORK
SADLY DISAPPOINTED
Added 10 the Views of the Comet By
Astronomers Come Reports of Great
spots Appearing on the Sur
face of the sun

| New York May 1S.-From the four great
bridges across the East river, from the
| decks of ferry boats. from pier ends, ana
| wbarves, from the islands in the harbor.
| from roof-tops, and for the entire length
of the Riverside drive, the people of Man
haitian swarmed and clustered tonight 10
peer into the sky for the incandescent tail
of the receding comet.
| Some prayed and all watched. ana
| few carried bottles in which to seal up the
atmosphere for future analysis
What these analyses will show cannot
be foretold. but there were no bodily IN
dications of gas.
| Word received from the west late today
| that violent distur Dances had been OBJ
served on the face of the sun added
greatly to the curiosity Of the crowd,
who reasoned that IL the sun was suscep-
tible. that was a cause to believe that
the earth might be. The laymen were not
wanted who argued that the showers OF
the morning and afternoon were attribu-
table TO the presence of comet dust in the
| air.
| The sky was overcast for the greater
part of the day and no OBSERVATIONS OF
the sun were possible. Even If they had
BEEN some say, the fact remains that the
greatest university center of the country
la without a f1rst-class telescope.
| DR.. Harold Jacoby Rutherford. profess
sor of astronomy at Columbia university.
said tonight that the sun spots reported
| today from various observatories in the
west might be due to the passage of the
comet across the face of the sun, or they
might be merely fortuitious circum-
| stances.
1.-The sun spot observed by the Rev.
| Brennan" said he, "is unusually large,
but not the largest recorded, If my menu
ory serves me right 1t would be fmpos-
sible to say that the proximity of the
comet to the sun is what we call sun
spot On the other hand. such spots
have appeared in the past when they
could not possibly be attributed to a
| comet And there you are.
II shall be very much interested to
hear the detailed reports of those observa-
tories that watch the sum-" said the pro-
fessor. Columbia does not observe the
sun and we have nothing to record here"
| Observation of Sun Spots
Vallejo. Cal. May 1S.-Prof. T. J.
See of the United States Naval obser-
vatory at Mare Island tonight reported
| the following observation on the
spots:
Great sun spots were noted at 4
p. m. today. The largest spot was
| slightly northeast of the center,
and was made up of three parts rough
| ly Joined together by bridging, such as
| characterize complicated spots.
This seems to indicate that the dis
turbance is destined to last several
days, 1t appears to be increasing in
magnitude and to be of the vortex
whirlpool type which often gives rise
to disturbances of the earths magnet
ism. The sun spots Will reach the
suns central meridian in another day
or two, and IL any disturbance of the
earths magnetism is to occur from
| this cause it is likely to come about
Friday.
"The spots shown are not believed
to have any connection with the comet,
and If any aurora or electric effects
occur we probably sohuld ascribs
| them to the comet rather than to the
| spots on the sun.
1.-The largest spot observed at Mare
Island was estimated to be $4,000 miles
| long and 10000 miles wide. One 10
about IL hours from the central meri-
dian. East of it 13 pores or small
spots The spots are entirely new az
for three months almost nothing in the
nature of spots had been Observed
Three awful groups is the words
that Rev. Brennan described the spots.
THE recurrence of spots at this time
| is unusual, but there is nothing in it
| to cause uneasiness. 1t simply fndi-
Gates internal activity. There, is no
possible connection between the comet
and the sun spots. The comet is S,OO0,-
| 600 miles away from the sun and 1t
could not possibly have any effect on it,
Three Groups of Spots
ST. Louis, May 1S.-Thrty sun spots,
one of which was estimated to be 10000
miles in diameter were seen by the Rev
| Martin S. Brennan, astronomer at Ken
rick seminary. this afternoon. The spots
according to the astronomer. Indicate Vio-
| lent solar eruptions.
| "rhe spots on the sum-" said the as
tronomer were in three groups saw
them at 2.30 o'clock. Twenty-six spots
were in one three In another, and one IN
another group 1t was the lone spot that
was the larger
..rhe biggest sun spot ever recorded
was seen in 1s4s by Captain Davis said
| the astronomer The one l saw today
was very large. l saw it while II was
breaking. Near the bottom appeared
| large rent as If the photosphere was
torn. The spots had no connection with
| the comet because of the soVooooo miies
the comet is from the SUM-
| Continuing he says:
'.The solar disturbances / belleve VIII
| continue several days. The spots at this
| time are quite unusual but no uneasness
need be felt They are caused by in
ternal disturbances in the sun. The spots
which were seen by Professor See at
| Mare Island this afternoon and which he
said were roughly Joined. believe. to be
parts of the largest spot saw earlier In
| the afternoon
Is What Comets Really Are
Mare Island, Cal, May 1S.-Prof. I. j.
See, astronomer in charge of the United
C+ataS naval observatory at Mare Island