Arizona republican., 1921-05-15

en paid theIr respects to the new acquaintance. although the greater number were totally unfamiliar with her name or nature
 Almost coincident with the begin ming of the incessant tinglinR Of the telephone bells in the editorial rooms of The Republican, the Associated Press paid its compliments to the heavenly visitor by going out of business. Until 0:3O o'clock there was no communication over the leas- ed wire between this city and Den yer. circuit headquarters for south western territory. At that hour Den yer sent out the first two para graphs of what started to be an in teresting story of the new arrival. i but at this point she demonstrated ! her femininity by again making the wires as useless as clothesline in Russia.
 Rust to Telephones At the same time. during which | The Republican was being deIu9ed with telephone calls. F. M. Smith. observer at the weather bureau Of l flee, was having troubles of his own. inquiries came to him from all parts or the city and county, many bel;ey- ing that terrific thunderstorm was Tn progress north of Phoenix, ai- though the Arizona skies, from ho- | IT..
 While the aurora borealis proved instantaneously fatal, as it were. to the teiegraphic lines, it had no effect upon the telephone system of the valley This Is explained by the fact that the aurora borealis causes an excess of static electricity in the at mosphere. and the static electricity discharges into the earth. All cleo , trical instruments record what i, , known as foreign battery" in the earth. and this '.battery'' affects any grounded electrical circuit to a cer- i fTtain extent. The Associated Press :, lines are operated on a grounded sys- . tenn. and the excess static electricity rendered their operation impossfble. . The telephone lines are not ground ed and were therefore unaffected by the discharges.
 : The Associated Press trouble was felt as far east as Amarillo, Tex. and was very pronounced both east and west of Denver. The Western Union Telegraph company experienced con- siderable delay to commercial dis patches, and long distance telephone service was affected slightly. Scientist Sends Message
 The brief message which the Asso- ciated Press was able to get from Prescott with Updegrafs account Of the Aurora Borealis follows:
 
 of the United States naval observa- tory at Washington. who is now Hv- ing here (Prescot). tonight declared that he never before had hnown of the Aurora Borealis being visible at this latitude. but. that tonizht-s dis plays of light undoubtedly were due to the Aurora BOrealis
 "Updegraf said that since the southern extremity of the Borealfs
 was noted by him within 10 degrees Of
 the southern horizon. 1t might have
 arisen from magnetic disturbances
 at the south pole as well as at the
 north pole.
 "He said he noticed no unusual
 conditions of humidity at his private
 laboratory here, but that late this
 afternoon rain clouds had discharged
 moisture which did not reach the
 earth but evaporated again at com
 paratively low elevation above the
 mountains"
 2 The following attempt at an ex-
 planation of the Aurora Borealis |. = taken from late encyclopedia ,ant . seems to be as good an explanation ., as any other:
 .u What It Is The intimate connection betweer . .s the Aurora Borealis and the magnet. '' ism of the earth is shown by variou. z. facts. During the occurrence of tn. - phenomenon the magnetic needle ap- 99 pears very much disturbed, some. o times deviating several degrees iron 5 its normal position. and appearing t, ?" be most affected when the Aurora i, o' brightest: and this oscillation is ire
 quentiy perceived far beyond the dis
 trict where the Aurora is seen. Tn, E vertex, likewise. of the .luninou Hs arch is almost always found to be i, ~ CT very near the magnetic meridian ut and the boreal crown has it's seat il aS prolongation of the freely suspend sr- ed needle. There seems moreover VI to be a connection between the mag F" netic poles of the earth in regard t II the aurora for, so far as has bee, lt ascertained. the metero occurs simul
 taneously at both. The Aurora Bo is realis appears to be au electrical dis ne charge connected with electrical dis ne turbance."
 Too Much Fruit on Wire
 DENVER, Colo, May 14.--Auror
 Borealis. alias earth currents, alia
 statis. held up the little ions whic
 carry out the telegraph signals owe I the wires In the Rocky Mountain re e zion tonight and robbed them of ev
 erything they possessed in the shap ts or coherent interpretation. In con .+S sequence no messages had been sen Il,, out of Denver up 10 a late hour. Tn ar commercial lines as we'll the news = paper leased wires were affected. he Scientists have various ways of ex f platning the strange condition ths rd settles on telegraph and telephon n wires throughout the country at diff rk lerehI seasons oA .He year. ne A ce rora IIeQuehuH accohipahieh
 phantom wisps of light in the north as ern sky. as it was ill Colorado to lJt night
 Telegraph opera tors. AS we'll a ed scientists have way Of their oN Ire of explaining the phantom. n- Too much fruit on the wire the uc say
 ,e- .How's that"