The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-24

suit Of the meeting Of tho ~.
With . domet. The heat ss,.o
BY the impact. he says, If ernrsss.
in calories would have to s. -
ten IL ,05S followed BY II elhs
or 2.105,300, oOO, 600, OOo, 600 ~ !.
the entire earth were coyersS..,n.
water to a depth Of S4.5 fess ~
much heat would raise all thsrS.s
ter from freezing to the ne,e,s.
point. The chief, consolafios 9 !.
such . catastrophe were imml 4.
would be its suddenness.
But while all this is consH...,
possible. the weather man ,dds ~.
th chances of a comet sctp.ns .
striking our little globe are one ~
2S1, 100000. Here again: the a.,s
is SO large that we do not ret ma
OF an idea Of what it means. Arm
the astronomer, explains il j;s.
this: The danger of death 10 e..s
individual would be exactlv scss,
to the danger he would incur. su.
posing that in an urn contsinin.
2S1 100000 balls there should ~
only one white bali, and that ~
would be condemned to dean
should he draw the white hall
1t seems certain that mona :.
the comets whose ways astropom
ers have catalogued could epdan.
ger the earth for thousands q,
years. Automobiles, and shot gun.
, and live wires are a much mors
reasonable cause for fear than M
comets. ~
This One Probably Harmless.
We can, therefore. gaze at Win.
necke's comet secure in the beliet
that 1t has no intention of poltin,
the earth out Of space during the
next {ew centuries anyway. Win.
neckeS comet is a good specimen
OF the garden variety Of comet Il
Is interesting to US because II will
! very probably be visible to tha
1 naked eye sometime in June n
has not yet been picked I'D BY the
astronomers at the naval obserya.
tory here, although they say that il
could probably be seen through !
telescope now if they knew where
to look for it. When the comet
has been located the astronomer,
will be able to calculate the dats
when it will be most clearly visible
and where it will be found in Ii,
heavens.
Comets are rapidly being robDet
of their romantic possibilities, bu
comparatively little authentic in
formation replaces the old mysti,
ideas. A few centuries ago seriou
minded people as we'll as tn,
credulous peasantry could get al
sorts of thrills out of a comet III
celebrated surgeon, Ambrose Pare
looked at the comet of 1928 an,
came away with the following i'm
preston:
This comet was so horrible, 81
frightful that some die o
fear and others fell sick. Il al
peared to be of excessive length an,
was the color Of blood. At tn
summit of it was seen the figure 0
a bent arm, holding in its hand
great sword, as if about to strike
On both sides of the rays of thi
comet were seen a great number q
axes, knives. blood colored swords
lamong which we're great numbe
of hideOus human faces, wit
boards and bristling hair ~
| Seneca, the Roman philosophe
describes comets as being of man
kinds-"some are red, without lu
ire, others are white, and shir
with, a pure liquid light; othel
again present a fame neither pull
nor fine, but enveloped in mu(
smoky fire. Some are blood-re
sinister presage OF the blood soc
to be she'd"
/ Modern science sees less al
more than these observers. An a
tronomer tells US that. the majo
ity Of the comets look so nut
alike that the only sure way
identify them is by calculatil
their orbits There are no arrow
of wrath nor crowns of victory
comets for the modern scienti
star gazer. He studies the hal
| star with his telescopes and car
eras and sees it unassisted
Notwithstanding perhaps
figures, Is miles second ,00t
900 miels away from the earth.
, He does not, however, knC
surely what started the com
whirling on its course, or wheth
it is hot, or what it is made (
Science can assure us what not
believe about comets, but We a
still waiting to know that a com
/ 10