The Washington times., 1912-02-26

a felt that, somehow, everything
would come out right, now that
they had their possessions well in hand.
For, In spite of the scare, nobody real
ly believed that an actual deluge was
coming. There might be great floods.
ind great suffering and loss, but the
world was not going to be drowned
Such things only occurred in early and
dark ages.
Some nervous persons found comfort
in the fact that when the skies cleared
after the sudden downpour brilliant
rainbows were seen. Their hearts
bounded with joy.
1.-THE Bow of Promisev " they cried.
"Behold the unvarying assurance that
the world shall never again be
drowned"
Then a great revival movement was
set on foot, starting in the Mississippi
valley under the leadership of an elo-
quent eXhorter, who declared that, al
thought a false prophet had arisen,
to Scripture, yet II was true that the
world was about to be punished in I'M
expected ways for its many iniquities.
This movement rapidly spread all over
the country, and was taken up in Eng
land and throughout Protestant Eu-
rope, and soon prayers were offered IN
thousands of churches to avert the
wrath of Heaven. Multitudes thus
found their fears turned into a new d.
rection and by strange reaction Cosmo
Nersal came to be regarded as q kind
of Antichrist who was seeking to mis-
lead mankind.
dismay and uncertainty, a grand and
fearful comet suddenly appeared. 1t
came up unexpectedly from the south,
blazed brightly close beside the sun,
even at MONDAY. and a few nights later
was visible after sunset with an i'm
mense visible head and a broad, curved
tail that seemed to pulsate from end TO
end. 1t was so bright that ii cast
shadows at night as distinctly as those
made by the moon. No such cometary
People shuddered when they looked at
1t. 1t moved with amazing speed,
sweeping across the armament with a
bosom of destruction. Calculation
showed that 1t was, not more than
100000 miles from the earth.
But one night the wonder and dread
awakened by the comet were magnl-
fed a hundredfold by an occurrence
so unexpected and extraordinary that
the spectators gaSped in Amusement
The writer happens to have before
him an entry in a diary, which Is prob
ably the sole contemporary record OF
this event. 1t was written in the city
of Washington by no less a person than
Iol. JtTeIlld1 mOSeS, OIL lTt COullCll
of the Carnegie Institution. Let 1t tell
ITS own story:
"A marvellous thing happened this
night. 1 walked out into the park near
my house with the intention of view
ing the graf comet. The park on my
side 0he wesD Is bordered with a
dense screen Of tall trees, and I ad-
vanced toward the open place in the
center in order to have an unobstruct-
ed sight of the flaming stranger. As
I unI he n1rrn Of IN oh 20 do
of the trees-the ground ahead being
brilliantly illuminated by the light of
the comet-I suddenly noticed, with an
involuntary start. that I was being
preceded by double shadow, which
forked away from my feet,
II cast my eyes behind me to find
the cause of the phenomenon, and saw.
tic my ineXprcssible a;nazcment, that
the come. had divided into two. There
were two distinct heads. already widely
separated but each, 1t seemed to me. as
brilliant AZ the original one had been,
and each supplied with q vest plume of
fire a hundred degrees ir length and.
consequently, stretching far past the
zenith The cause of tho double shadow
was evident at onCe-bIt what can have
produced this sudden disruption of the
comet? 1t must lave occurred since
Last evening. and already, II the calcu-
lated distance Of the comet is correct,
the PARTS Of the severed head are 100000
miles aSunder."
Underneath this entry was scrubbed:
Can This have ANYTHING to do with
CoEmo Versars nood"'
Whether it has anything to do with
the Good or not. at anv rate the publ,
believed that It had. People went about
with fear written on their faces.
effect The phantasrn was pointed out,
and stared at with superstitious terror
Ey thousands every night. The fa
there there was nothing really myster-
'ous about 1t made no difference. Even
those who knew well that it was an
inevitable optical result of the division
Of the bright comet were thrilled with
instructive dread when they. saw that
forkcd umbra. mln'icNinC, their every
movement. There Is nothing that 81
lpsets the mini as a Sudden change in
the aspect of familiar Things.
The astronomers now took their turn
about Cosmos prediction, and genuine
II desnious of allnyinG tho popular
alarm, issued statements in which, with
a disingenuousncs that may have beer
unntentional. they tried to sidetrack his
arguments.
Prot Pludder led the wav with q
prcnunciamento declaring that "the alb
surd VaporinCs Of the modern Nostri'
damus Of New York" had now demon
strated their own eniptineSs.
"A comet" said Prof. Pludder, witt
! reassuring seriousness, "Cannot drown
| the earth. 1t Is composed OF rare gases
| which, as tire experience or fial!eN
| comet many years aSo showed, are
unable to penetrate the atmosphere ever
when an actual encounter occurs. ]!
| this case there cannot even be an en-
| counter; the comet is now moving away
Its division Is not an unprecedented oc
! currenCe, for MANY previous comets
| have met with similar accidents. Thii
! comet happened to be of unusual size
| and the partition Of the head occurred
when 1t wes relatively ncarby-whenCt
the startling phenomena observed. There
! is nothing to be feared
! II will be remarked that Prof. Pludde
entirely avoided the real Issue. CosmC
/ Versal had never said that the como
! would drown the earth. IN fact he hat
been as much surprised by its appear
! ancc as everybody else. But when m
READ Prof. Pludder's statement. FOLLOWED
| by others OF similar import, he took VI
the cudgels with n vengeance. All GvC
! the world. translated into dozen Ian
guages, he scattered his reply, and tn
| effect was startling.
FolInNN-pitiyanG NJ tho WOr1I in ~