The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-02-12
Warsaws' Bulletin Of 1869 Has Ac.
count of This Phenomena Which
frightened Many Peo-
pie Then.
CANAL WAS BEING BUILT
This Occurance is One of the Land.
marks Of limo by Which Old
Residents Gauge
Events.

The total eclipse of the sun which
occurred in 1859. during the building
of the old canal here, is more or less
of monument by which some pas
sages of time are gagged by the olde..
people of Keokuk. The eclipse oc-
CURED August Z, 1862 A total eclipse
of the sun will occur on Sunday but
will not be visible in this country,
The Warsaw Bulletins feature, Days
Beyond Recall" contains the following
interesting account of the phenomena:
Saturday, August Z, the total eclipse
came off as advertised. Large num-
bers Of farmers came to town to see
it, We viewed 1t from the roof Of the
Estes house building, Keokuk. House
tops in every direction contained large
numbers of people eagerly watching
the movements of the big heavenly
bodies. Slowly the moon made its
way over the face of the sun. Shad-
ows began deepening and the yellow
ish light took a more CHASTITY blue.
Like a fash, darkness swooped down
upon the earth. A faint shout went up
and then silence like the grave set
tied upon the city. Man stood with
his face toward heaven, awed by the
working of the Supreme Being. The
sky presented a picture Of undesir-
able grandeur that once seen can
never be forgotten. The horizon,
chameleon like, changed to the various
colors of the rainbow, the vault OF
heaven attained darker hue and
bright stars flashed from the blue
armament. The sight was magnih-
Gently sublime, but before we were
able to take another observation the
sun burst out again.
Stage Is all Set.
After two days of haze, smoke and
rain, which threatened to spoil obser
.vations, early Saturday morning the
eastern sky began to clear away, the
barometer rose steadily and the OPP
portunity for observation was all that
could be desired A few minutes be-
fore the time ell were in readiness with
smoked glasses, gazing with intent
ness on the northern limb of the sun.
An agitation tremor was observable
on the suns edge at precisely three
hours, Sc minutes, 8 seconds p. m.
The eclipse from time Of first contact
to near totality created little other
interest or phenomena, more than or
binary eclipses, but as the total phase
approached, the gloom of twilight
deepened into the shades of night, |
and a breathless silence seemed to
pervade all around: the scene became
impressive of the strange condition OF
the agitated elements, the suns cres-
cent rapidly diminished, and at pre-
cisely four hours, Sc minutes, 80 sec !
onds p. M, suddenly and startling
darkness ensued. The stars came out
as at night Lights became neces, |
sary, animals were frightened by the
sudden darkness, and chickens went
to roost A sudden flash announced |
the emerging sun at precisely four
hours, SO minutes, 20 seconds, the |
duration of the total phase being two |,
minutes and fifty seconds. During the
totality the solar thermometer fell 80 |
degrees, while In the same time the !
in the open air fell only |
8 degrees, the extreme GOODNESS of the |
atmosphere fully accounting for var
iations. The barometer fell nearly |
two tenths of an inch. The waning
phase, apparently more slowly thaa
when it was coming on, continued I'M
til five hours, "a minutes, 80 seconds,
when the eclipse ended, the total dur
alton being one hour, SO minutes, FL
seconds.