Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-15

There is going to be much pad Ior'
tune for somebody next June. for as
tronomers announce that huge com
ct will be visible in the heavens some
comets remain visible two or three
Years. Comets have portended over
turning of thrones and deaths oil
kings throughout all historic times
Kings are getting so scarce nova
DAYS that it seems a great waste OF
raw material to shoot a comet millions
of miles Just TO broadcast one more
departure Of royalty. Now there are
many June brides; perhaps next
June's comet has some OF them
in mind Or there is the impending
war of the Orient and Occident. brew
ing in China. That may be approach
ing the comet class in magnitude.
To which party is the bad fortune 10
come? 1t is just as easy for any par
ticular person or party TO assume that
the ill prophecy of the comet is aimed
at some other victim as to accept its
i'll omen as applying to one 5 self. Ma
poleon saw a comet on the eve OF ms
invasion of Russia, and he interpreted
it as very bad newS-for the Russians.
When the Roman emperor, Nespasian,
was dying, he heard courtiers COM
menting on q comet and intimating
But he reused himself to say, NO.
this hairy star does not concern me;
il means rather the King Of the Par
thians, for he is hairy and l am bald >
Perhaps our own presidential candi-
dacies will crystalline next Summer,
while this hairy star" is high in the
heavens Will it be bad luck for
beardless and baldheaded candidates.
or predict success for mustached
presidential Barkises? 1t is sometimes
referred to as ''the goat" Does that
forecast success for the goat party?
Unsubstantiated history relates that
when HalleyS comet appeared in the
middle ages, while the Turks were in
vading even Central Europe, the Pope
communicated the comet, and Gen.
Hunniade. head of the Christian Army,
won a battle over Mahomet. COM
polling the enemy to raise the siege
of Belgrade.
The earth is 10 pass through the
tail of next June's heavenly flyer, and
there is speculation as to what poison
gases may he in that immeasurable
tail The Spectroscope has found in
ii carbon monoXfde. which is deadly
poison. Hence the timid ones foresee
the end of all life upon earth within
a few minutes of the first Whit of
that huge mass of poison gas. The
world is to come to its end-again.
Scientists indicate no worry,
though they confess to the presence
of carbon monoXide-the gas which
is produced with deadly effect when
an automobile is set running in an
unventilated garage. until all human
life in that trap expires.
There are opponents of chemical
warfare who assert that it is terrible
Though ii is far less fatal than any
other weapon for defeating the
enemy, but what horror would be
upon humanity if the entire earth
were swept with a poison gas of in
finite quantity. so that in a breath.
in the twinkling of the eye. all life,
human and animal, birds and fishes,
were utterly destroyed, and the round
and desolate globe were left to roll on
its orbit. through all time. sepulcher.
What if some of the gases should
unite with the oxygen of the air, and
all atmosphere should burn and dis
appear? Both animal and vegetable
life would perish. The moon has no
atmosphere; probably other planets
have none. so why must 1t be as
sumed that the planet Earth will for
ever retain its air?
* X 4
A new book on Astronomy" by
Russell, Dugan and Stewart-three
eminent astronomers working to-
gether. says:
'It is probable that the earth has
undergone many collisions with COM
cts during geologic time. 1t may read
ilv he computed that a small, rapidly
moving body, which approaches the
sun within one astronomical unit,
stands one chance in 400 900. 600 of
hitting the earth. AS about five com
cts come within this distance every
year, the nucleus of comet should
hit the earth. on the average, once in
about sc, 900 900 years"
The books describe a unit" as 206,-
900 times the earth'S distance from
the sun. No use trying to dodge when
a comet actually gets so close as that. |
PERHAPS our first 80 .000,O 900 years are |
still unfinished-but so is the earth.
There is the tail, dragging behind, |
millions of miles. 1t might whip !
around and choke somebody. What is |
this tail? OF what is the whole comet |
The comet has q nucleus of solid |
and plains-per- |
haps Il group of bodies like the earth |,
like several "earthS" punched to- |
an immense orbit |
around the sun and out into i'm |
space. Tt takes some of |
the comets centuries to get once |
around their orbits, back to encircle |
the sun.