Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-06-21

Astronomers Are Tremendously Inter
ested Because the Occasion Furnish
les Opportunity for Calculations tina.
~ Have Bearing on Movements Of All
Heavenly Bodies.
I when the path of the total eclipse OF
De sun began to sweep across the
United States on June s. starting at
South Bend, Washington, at 2.55 In the
afternoon. and leaving the continent at
Orlando. Florida, at SAP. perhaps the
most anxious group of men In the
country was q party Of five scientists,
three from the naval observatory at
Washington and two from the Univer-
sity Of Virginia, stationed at Baker
Oregon. There the shadow arrived at
sos p. m, and the duration Of totality
was III seconds, just eleven seconds
longer than the eclipse which took
large party OF scientists from the U. ).
naval observatory to Spain some years
ago.
The uncasiness which scientists ex-
perience ut the time OF an eclipse, to-
gether with a graphic pen picture OF
the phenomenon, Is described In a
Communication to the National Geo
graphic society from Rear Admiral c.
VI. Chester formerly superintendent OF
the U. S. Naval observatory and COM
mander- in chief of the American
eclipse expedition to- Spain. A part OF
Admiral Chcstcr's communication Is is
sued by the society as the following
bulletin
"The three principal stations of the
American party for observing the
eclipse were prepared for the cvcntful
30th of August with the greatest care,
and the instruments adjusted to the
exact location Of the point occupied
with refined accuracy. The deter
mination of latitude was easy, but as
the stations selected were necessarily
| well away from ccntcrs OF activity, the
proper means for determining longi-
tudc were wanting. Here the govern
companies in Algeria came to our res
cue and not only extended the tcle-
graph lines TO our camps, but detail
cd operators TO assist us in the work.
We-werc thus connected at Guclma
with the fine astronomical observatory
at Algicrs. and the Daroca and Porta
Cocli stations were given, Mt stated In
tervals, the tick OF the clock Of the
royal observatory at Madrid. The ex-
| tension line from Valencia to Porto
0eoli alone was nearly IS miles in
length and was put up at very con-
derable expense TO the Spanish gov
opment.
Dlhis, was only one of the many fea-
816ss 81 the eclipse expedition 10f
which we were under obligations to
the Spanish authorities. desire to
place on record here that so cordial
was our reception from the alcaldc OF
Scgorbe as TO include the offer OF the
principal park of the city for camp
ground and a good portion of its mu-
nicipal buildings for the use OF one oi
the parties, but It's location was about
20 miles within the eclipse belt, and
porta Cocli, 10 miles nearer the edge
was selected for station ..
"rhc morning of August 30th dawn
ed with gloom in the air as well as In
the minds Of many an anxious astrono-
mcr in Spain: great masses OF black
clouds chased each other across the
heavens. as II bent on shutting out
from the view of man the grand per-
formance of nature about 10 be enact
ed; but toward noon II began to clear
at our Porta Coeli station. There
were, however, signs Of n return Of the
clouds that kept us between hope and
fear for several hours. The Daroca
station telegraphed about two hours
before the eclipse, Cloudy but clear
ing Our anxiety simply became In
tensified by this brief message. If il
would be clear at one station in time
to make observations. the strain OF oul
over wrought nerves would be com
pensated for; otherwise the labor Of
years would be thrown away and
fear the chief Of the expedition would
be the victim OF the fools GRAND
"For six weeks preceding the eclipse
a drought had covered the land ant
the sky had been cloudless: but thu
want Of rain left the air full of i'm.
purities, and its motion. being magni
fed in our instruments gave an indis
tinct picture in our cameras that caus
ed alarm. The storm then sweeping owe
Spain, however. cleared away all th'
imperfections and caused distinctive
ness to our photographs rarely seer
during an eclipse. Clouds still sur
rounded US, however. drifting will
great rapidity and we watched will
keen interest to see II they were steer
ing toward our objective; but the mis-.
which they made was as good as man!
miles to us. We afterward learned
that at Betera, only six miles from
Porta Coeli, the sun was obscured b!
clouds all during the time of totality
1t was then n source OF congratulatior
that the station had been selected a
an elevation OF some 1000 feet, which
, while increasing the difficulty Of trans
portation, gave us better view Of th'
eclipse than could be had on the low
lands near the Mediterranean shores.
"Soon after noon the sun sent out he
glorious rays down into the gates o
heaven on as fair a view as can b.
imagined. Mr.. Hill, assistant astrono
mer, in charge of the s-foot camera
called my attention to the picture o
the sun on his ground-glass plate. A
clear as q bell,' said he-not a quive
in the atmosphere.
"As the time drew near for the frs
contact, all eyes became riveted on tn
sun. Suddenly Mr.. Hill sang out
Here he comes It was twenty second
ahead Of the time predicted, but VIII,
We did not stop to consider. At frs
only through the delicate instrument
could we discern the contact Of the SUI
and moon and no appreciable effec