Evening journal., 1912-12-06
HALLEY'S
COMET AS BAD
OMEN FOR TURKS

PARIS, Dec. 6.-Fiammarion. the
noted astronomer, writing to the
Paris edition Of the New York Herald.
said:
An American astronomer, Joseph
p. oliver, Of the University of Vir-
ginia- has just made an important
statement. The shooting stars which
from May to May 10. appear to come
from the neighborhood of the star Eta,
OF the constellation Aquarius, which
have received the name OF Aquarides,
come from a partial dlslnteRration OF
Halley's comet.
by comparing observations made
In May. 1910, 1911 and 1912, the calcu-
lations of this astronomer show that
the meteors OF May 4, 1910, were 1O1 =
100000 kilometers ahead Of the comet,
while those of 1911 and 1912 follow IT,
The ascertained orbit of these meteors
Is almost like that of the comet. with
the difference due to the fact that
none Of the meteors Is found to be
less than 100000 kilometers distant.
and that a certain number are 100000
600 kilometers distant The observa-
ton of the shooting stars Of the month
of May will therefore, be all the more
interesting.
Let us add that it. is rather piquant
to speak now of the disintegration of
Halleys comet at time when there
begins to be accomplished crusade
like that which rendered so famous
the appearance of this hairy heavenly
body in the middle of the Fifteenth
Century. In fact, In the year 1456,
Halleys comet shone with a magnif-
cent brilliancy which impressed the
imagination osobseryers the more be-
cause at that time cOmetary bodies
were considered as maleficent and
harbingers of all sorts of evil, and
this appearance conceded with the
invasion Of Central and Eastern Eu-
rope by the Turkish army under Ma
homet H., who boosted of nothing less
than that he would have his horse
drink from the alter Of St Peters. at
Rome
1t was then that Pope Calixtus Ill,
thoroughly terrified. directed all his
efforts 10 unite the Christian princes
against the Mussulmans, and to stop
the victorious march of the Turks,
who had just seized the Grecian en-
pire. To exercise the double terror
caused by this invasion and by the un-
usual brightness of the comet, the in
fluence of which was feared by the af-
frighted populace he gave orders to
ring the bells at noon in all the
churches to call the faithful to prayer
In order to protect the Christmas
against the menaces of the heavens
and on earth. Such was the origin of
the Angelus at noon. The evening An
gelus had already been instituted by
John XIII, in 1918.
The Turks we're beaten and Mah0-
met II. had TO abandon the siege OF
he city of Belgrade, defended by
John Huniades. Nevertheless, war
continued throughout all Europe.
Four hundred and fifty-six years
have passed since that historic event,
Today we see again Christian people
gathering for a crusade against the
Turks and the Tsar of Bulgaria pro-
claiming a holy war. But there is
little thought of the. comet, which
without care for the troubles Of man
kind, is gradually going away from
US, continuing its fight across the inn
mensity of space toward the ultimate
regions of its aphelion, but not with
out shedding on its way some particles
of its cOmetary body.
Four centuries and a half of work
and progress have not changed much
the general mental power of human
ity The appeal made TO the God Of
the Christians by the Balkan States
and to the God of the Mussulinans by
the successors of Mahomet renews
almost exactly at present the episode
of the Fifteenth Century.