mand “No, I hope that not another foot
ad Fate of ground must be abandoned” he
heard Ludendorff to the end. Then in
flarne Defeat
a brusque, dry tone, “Yes, your excel
lency, that sounds a bit different from
Rosner. f what yo utold me here four days ago.”
« oka Ludendorff stiffened, reddened and re
I n { plied in a staccato military tone, “Re
ors has written a new | verses are a possibility of every wal
or | ns of the { If, however, your majesty’s confidence
the tr i lays of the " Wilhelm declined the tendered
ollag the German | resignation, but the bond of cor (
m was broken The emperor and hi
fl n 1 in general had not to glo
de ptions. | over the danger, nan peo
1 int chapters | ple were not to
) ( he kaiser As the emperor left Hindenburg
I defeat | handed him the da headquarter
y Scam. | bulletin, prep 1 durir the confer
n Ani 1 ence. It read simply The French
n the | att { Stror fore nd tank
1e Ge in t Joi | be tween the Aisne and the Marne and
{ zained some ground. Our reserve
aise n [ y | were in readiness re now er
LOSS W I ) he | gaged.’
{
the H 2 nd i
wl 1 R 1 11 | <
turned or 1 Luden- | Grange Adopts
rto t lol of
Resolution
e offensive { Harrist x. Pa Secret
d reserve which presaged his later | cultuer Fred Rasmussen last
eived notification that the Penns
nfall.
he kaiser hur ito Av nia State Grange had gone on record
rters of General von H as heartily endorsing the work of the
Ludendorf as soon Pennsylvania Department of Agricul
the reverse was known to ture.
tails. The motor trip w Announcement was made that the
oomiest nature. The kaiser rode in | State Grange had unanimously adopt
reary silence ed a resolution commending the work
General von Plessen, th kaiser’ the State Department of
hersonal adjutant and friend, appar-| has accomplished during the past
antly affected less by the def itsell | and calling upon the incoming
than the probable effect on the lature to give he Department full sup
declared that Von Hin
Ludendorff should never
t~d the kaiser to expost
the risk of his personal pres
linking his name
nburg and | port in carrying on its work during
have permi!- | the coming year
The resolution follows:
Whereas The Pennsylvania De
Agriculture, during the
past vear has displayed commendable
the monarchy by
with an offensive, launching it in hi
partment of
majesty’s presence, unless absolutely | activity in aiding in solving the prob
sure of the result lems of the farmers of Pennsylvania,
Snubbed General Ludendorff
i
Finally Avesnes was reached, and
ind
Whereas
» newly established Bureau of Mar
f
Agriculture is working toward a solu
through the activities of
grasped Von Hindenburg’s
the kaiser
hand, whose first words confirmed the
the Pennsylvania Department
tidings of disaster. “Your majesty
seen much in these grave days: wi tion of one of the greatest problems
has shown its hard face Che kaiser | confronting our agricultural life, viz.,
with a formal
then greeted Ludendo a more efficient system of transporting
“Your exctllency,” instead of the usual | and distributing the products of the
“My dear general.” farm, and the necessity of co-operative
The kaiser then listened to Von
Hindenburg’s account of the reverse
which the latter ascribed to the unex-
whippet
organizations among our tillers of the
soil, and
Whereas, the Department has accom-
plished excellent results in its work of
among our
pected use of hundreds of
tanks with machine
whoch the Germans had no defense
guns, against | eradicating tuberculosis
cattle and the control of disease and
The emperor interjected the question
to which Von
Hindenburg replied that the resisting
power of the reserves southwest of
pests affecting our plant life, there-
“Oour men failed us fore, be it
That the Pennsylvania
annual
Resolved:
State Grange, in session as-
Soissons had been overestimated, but sembled, heartily endorse the work of
that the situation was difficult for any |; Pennsylvania Department of Agri
troops.
Worried About His Prestige
“Will the new line hold; have you
thought of the effect of this for the
culture, and urge that the work of the
Department be given the full measure
of support from the incoming Legis-
lature that the importance of the work
wun?” waa the te » of the e \r- : g
Crown?’ was {lie fonor of ihe emp merits; that funds be provided for the
or's next remark, showing in what di indemnifying of cattle disposed of in
rectio i houghts vere turning. : :
rection his thoughts were WINNS. |, typerculosis eradication work, and
ly contained an
Von Hindenburg’s
implied rebuke for the
seeker.
internal
upon hos heart, but his first ahous
that everything possible ba done to
facilitate and further the work the De-
ged in for the bet
iculture and the
imperial sell
rart lv the effects mn the
Certainly the effects upon the partment is eng
heavily 5
terment of the
Ty
situation weighed
v1
people of the State
naturally, was of his military obliga- la
tions, of the security of his armie
and the attainment of the military Shakespeare’s Town
goal.
The field marshal then called upon
Ludendorff, whose first phrase caused
the discharge of accumulated imperial to Avon. the farary Mec
ts in England were for
the light of the twentieth
has been diffused over the rel-
displeasure and pain. “This distrtssing
surprise for the supreme ymmand,”’
Ludendorff began, but the kaiser in
are sur
terjected. So we reg
prised!”
interruption, continued, “Lay not in
ics of the seventeenth is i ndanger of
Ludendorff, disregarding the
revision to the semi-darkness of the
Owing to inade-
itself—we had to Mid-victorian period.
quate rates prescribed bp the authori-
the counter-attack
expect that from the moment when oul
jes there has been a depreciation of
attack east of Rheims stopped and en ties there has been a dey ati
bled Foct lispose 1 reserve equipment which has brought the elec-
yvled Foch to dispose his serves : :
. tric ny to a point where it can
but in the failure of our first line to
i ger. If some-
to extend the in no longer 1
old, and consequently L 7
hele not promptly done,” the lo-
s. “the undertaking will
present bril-
enemy’s initial success.” A the de
feated general continued to discuss the | :
defunct. Our
Illuminated shops will have to
former somberness, the
ile will come again into
situation, the
possibilities of the
chances of forming and holding a new
Ss
es to safety
line, withdrawing th
from south of the Marne a
that he couldn't foresee a result which
depended upon the resisting powe
the troops, but could only
1d admitted
stically decorated rooms
biected to discoloration, ceil-
kened with impure emanations
ings dark
hope
jinery made dependent
ons | and local ma
. 3 woul 10ld, the kaiser grew | ©" .
the troops would ho I power—when this
i uf S 1S] dic o
gloomier and gloomier. | pon spasn :
Visioned Retreat to Rhine
is available.
osner conjectures that his majesty :
F ) If you wrap your ceese In a cloth
|
was picturing an infantry retreat 10)
| Colic
1d
the Aisne, to the Meuse, to the Rhine,
but aside from an impatient half-com- cheese will neither mold nor dry.
moistened with
EMRE
ETA i
Put Your Money to Work
This has been throughout his career from potato
digger and bookkeeper to billionaire the key prin-
ciple of the world’s richest man.
Far-sighted Investors are Picking Up Bargain Stocks *
Information on any listed securities you desire
without charge
SCHMIDT & DEERY
Members Consolidated Stock Exchange of New York
STOCKS and BONDS
1323 Walnut Street
PHILADELPHIA
Keystome, Race 4080
2 30 Broad Street — NEW YORK -—- 319 Fifth Avenne J
{
{
Bell, Walnut 4641
J
SERRA TT
World’s Largest
Airplane Being:
Built in Navy |
Yard
ladelphia will witness next sum-
Pl
er the launching at League Island |
largest heavier-than-air
craft, when a plane now being
of the world’s
constructed there first takes the air.
is this ship, which will
tower into the air the height of a four-
|
1ouse that the navy has already
tory
named her the G-B type for giant
boat. Larbe and heavy as were the
tranocean N-C
boats, they will ap-
ar beside the giant.
The keel for the hull of the G-B has
just been laid in the naval aircraft fac-
[¢ Ss toVvs
ory at League Island, and already
hows the form the huge boat will
take. It will be sixty-seven feet in
ze of a large motorboat.
Although workmen have been assemb-
ling the keel for about six weeks , so
ricate is the job that progresses has
been slow.
The Giant
and with that exception and the fact
that it
housed in three
Boat will be a triplane,
will be driven by nine engines
nacelles, will appear
much like the N-C boats. The
coupled in threes to
very
engines will be
three tractor propellors in such man-
ner that one motor will always be held
in reserve for each prepellor.
Planes to 150 Feet Long
planes will be 150 feet
and twelve feet wide, from bow to
The three
long
the end of the tail will measure ninety
feet. From ground to top plane will be
feet. The ship will have
60,000
forty-eight
a carrying weight of pounds
and will be managed by a crew of
twelve men. The nine engines will de-
velop 3600 horsepower, and a speed of
from 105 to 110 miles an hour, it is
estimated. The vessel will have a
1g radius of at least 2200 miles.
While the hull will be built
pletely of wood, the frames and cells
com-
of the wing construction will be of
steel which has bee ndeveloped into an
alloy of great tensile strength and ex-
ceeding lightness. Work has not yet
started on the wing frames, which will
be so large that even the usual space
nthe aircraft shops will not be suf-
They
will be built in a special hangar to be
ficient for their construction.
erected for the huge plane, where the
parts will be assembled.
The pontoons for the ends of the
lower wings have been started and are
in themselves as large as the nacelles
of most airplanes now being used for
one and two passengers. They will
be fourteen feet long, four feet wide
and about five feet deep, built en-
tirely of wood with three-ply sheathing
and canvas linings. The pontoons look
very much like motorboat hulls.
Rudder Control New
The interior of the hull will be simi-
lar to that of the N-C type, controls
will be similar and there will be more |
space for the crew. A feature of the
machinery will be the use of power in
- + SANCAS™
x
Mob Hanges Three
Men in Cemetery
Santa Rosa, Cal.—George Joyd, Ter-
rence Fitts and Charles Valento, ac-
cused of having murdered Sheriff Pei-
ray, of Sonoma county, and Detectives
Jackson and Dorman after attacking
a score of young women last Sunday
afternoon, were taken from the county
| Jail here last week and hanged.
At 12.30 A. M., a mob of about i00
men, all wearing black masks, entered
the jail, overpowered the officers there,
took their keys and removed the pri-
ssoner to waiting automob’les.
Fifteen machines carrided the party.
They moved quickly down the street
to the cemetery, three blocks beyond
the city limits. The men were taken
from the machines and hanged to un
oak tree inside the cemetery.
For fifteen minutes, while the bodies
dangled from the oak tree in the glare
of three automobile headlights, the
mob waited at the scene to make cer-
tain their grim task was completed.
Then all departed leaving the bodies
swinging in the darkness.
The when
their cells wore only underwear. This
three men taken from
proved to be their death garb.
The oak tree had been selected
Over one limb hung three
ropes and at the end of each was a
earlier.
noose, tied wit ha “hangman’s knot,”
that fits behind the left ear.
Joyd went along without struggle
He made no comment.
Fitts
fought to escape his fate. They gagged
tulated, but not vehemently.
him with a towel.
80 P. C. of Fir
Mills to Close
By Dec. 125 as
Orders Decline
Seattle.—Production of fir lumber
for for the last week again has fallen
coincident with the announcement that
80 per cent of the fir mills will be
closed by Christmas through lack of
total of 121
mills, which represent commodity pro-
orders. A association
duction, accepted orders for only 673
carloads to move East, the smallest
volume in a single week this year. The
hold an
3107 carloads, estimated 30,000 feet to
mills unshipped balance of
the car.
Production for the week was 30.25
per cent under normal and is constant-
ly falling.
received fo rthe week was 31,648,211
The total of new business
feet, which included both eastern rail,
intercostal and export charges.,
Prices at the mills have held steady
at $49 to 6 for vertical grain floor-
ain flooring,
ing, $26 to $29 for slash gr
$26 to $35 for ceiling, $28 to 36 for drop
siding, $17.50 for broads and shiplap,
and $13.50 to $15.50 for common di-
| mension. It is felt that wiht the gene-
ral closing down of the industry, the
market would stiffen but for the ab-
elevator and rudder controls. At pres- |
ent all machines built in this country
are operated entirley by hand. The
motor is used in European planes and
is a wind-driven machine so construct-
ed that the movement is started by
the hand control and is taken up bp
the motor which is operated solely by
wind
Near the G-B 1,
eb known, a small flock of
pressure.
as the plane will
Loeming
planes is being built for service with |
the big fleets. These planes are de-
| siemed to be taken aboard large ves-|
gels, and can be launched from turret
tops of a dreadnought. They are ar-
ranged for both land and water serv-|
ice, having wheels and landing gear
similar to a land plane.
A New Kind of
Hangar Door Like
4° Portcullis
A new fashioned door for airplane
hangars has recently been invented by |
a major in the Quartermaster Corps,
: : . |
and is now being tried out in at least
one government flying field. The door
is not unlike the drawbridge of a me-
diaeval castle, consisting as it does of
a wooden surface which serves during
the daytime as a platform in front of
the hangar and during the night-time
as a door.
vinegar, the |
The hinges are placed along the edge
| of the door, and are so disposed that
the operation of the door is oddly
automatic. To swing it down, for ex-
ample, two men must pull vigorously
at the two ropes provided. Pulled
down a short distance, the door then
settles lightly into place. Similarly,
to swing it up, two must lift the cut
ward end above their heads. In this
position the door becomes unbalanced
again, and closes by its own weight, or,
more exactly, by that of the counter-
weight beneath the edge of the door,
and are so disposed that the opeia-
tion of the door is oddly automatic.
To sming it down, for example, twa
men must pull vigorously at the two
ropes provided. Pulled down a short
distance, the door then settles lightly
into place. Similarly, to swing it up,
two must lift the outward end above
their heads. In this position the door
becomes unbalanced again, and closes
by its own weight, or, more exactly,
by that of the counterweight beneath
the floor.
If one-half teaspoonful of baking
powder be used for the crust of each
fruit pie, the upper crust will not sink
in and become SOgE&Y.
normally heavy stocks of lumber that
have been piling up at the mills the
the last sixty days. Whether the mills
will ins with the spring trade that
they endeavor to move stock at a prefit
or whether the long, lean period will
{
|
i
|
|
{
stimulate them to accept business by
price eutting, is not yet disclosed. The
custom has been to get the business
following a prolonged dull period.
Inquiries through the
that the eastern buyers may be on the
week show
| fir lyumber market at an earlier date
tha nat first expected. There are some
| prospective orders for February load
ing, but a majority of mills and whole-
| salers do not anticipate a brisk re-
May
sumption of the demand until
It is felt that the
prices with the safety of rebuilding on
readjustment of
| the ruins will not be possible before
|
that. The action of the steel market
which is still unsettled to the view-
lumberman,
point of the west coast
must first be more definitely defined
Throughout the fir lumber trade the
| conviction is felt that 1921 will be a
1
eavy construction year, the only ques-
1e being at what time the re.
| tion at isst
! .
{ sumption may start.
Clock that Really
“Tells” the Time
A New York inventor, W. Hartman.
has for seven years been making use
of a clock of his own invention and
construction which actually “tells” the
time. So it is apparent that this clock
has a rugged and lasting mechanism,
and is out of the experimental class.
The clock in question is a speaking
clock; that is to say, it speaks every
fifteen minutes, announcing the cor-
The voice record is carried
on a band of film which is perforated
in much the same manner as the
stand motion picture film. A conven-
tional phonograph reproducer is used
to translate the latent sound record
into actual sounds. Pressing a button
causes the clock to repeat the time,
while another button keeps it silent
The clock is only 16 inches high, 10
inches wide and 9 inches deep.
rect time.
“What became of that bright son
of yours that you sent to college? Was
he graduated?”
ested in dictionaries.”
“Ha!
“Well, not exactly a lexicographer.
He is soliciting subscriptions for a
dictionary.”
Become a lexicographer?”
COUNTY.
Valento expos- |
i cluded recently.
“Oh, yes. He is at present inter- |
| "No, sai
PRN
Chinese Banks Give
Credit to Offset
Slump in Trade
New York—An interesting outline of
of commercial and financial conditions
in China is given in a statement by the
Guaranty Trust Company. It was com-
piled from reports of special corres-
pondents of that company and other
reliable sources and shows that to off-
set the business depression many mer-
chants i nthe leading Chinese cities
are being carried by their bankers,
some for very large amounts, and that
there are lar stocks of merchandise
on hand
The third session of the commission
of Chinese and foreign engineers to
consider plans for the standardization
of Chinese Government railway was
held in Pekin, September 13-17. Agree-
ment was reached in regard to specifi-
for a standard guage, clear-
weights of
cations
ance, measurements and
cars, brakes, couplings and curves of
permanent way. 3ridge steel was not
standardized and Chinese Government
buyers will be free to buy either Amer-
ican or British steel.
Railway Station Plan Revived
The plan for the construction of a
Pekin for the Pe-
Pekin-Hankow and
central station at
kin-Mukden, the
the Pekin-Suiyang Railways is revived.
Mr. Yeh Kung-choo, minister of cora-
munications, is said to have given in-
structions for carrying out a survey
as soon as practicable and for provid-
ing estimates for a new bridge across
the Yellow river on the Peihan line.
A loan agreement for the extension
Lang-Hai Railway was con-
Construction of the
of the
Tungkaun-Kaunyintang section be-
tween Honan and Shensi is expected
to begin in the near future. Railway
construction engineers from Holland
are said to be on their wap to China.
It is expected that inquiry will be made
in America for eight locomotives of mi-
kado type for use on this road.
Trade Commissioner Lynn W. Mee-
machina
kins reports that the new
wp of the Pekin-Hankow Railway at
Changsintein, seven miles west of Pe
kin, will rank with the most important
in China. Most of the shop equipment
is of Belgian or French manufacture,
but the rolling mill machinery came
from the United States, and 500 Amer-
ican steel gondola cars of forty metric
tons capacity are being built. Specifi-
cations for new passenger cars will
soon be ready
The Pekin-Hankow Railway uses
fairly large quantities of white zine,
linseed oil, red enamel paint, black
enamel varnish, aluminum paint, vege
table oil and vaseline.
tottofqof ,ofdp?yvo hdcludeon-ernishiaf
The transpacific reports that Amer-
ican mining experts who have been
the last
prospectir three years in
Yunnan have located rich deposits
containing silver, lead, tin and copper
in the northwestern part of the prov-
ince. A chinese company, the Mingh-
Mining Company, has been
sing
formed. Mining of tin is no new in-
dustry in southern and southeastern
Yunnan. The Kochiu mines of the
Mangtsz district employ 100,000 wo
my
ers. The mines cover an area of 100
The crude product
shipped in slabs to Hongkong, where
square miles.
it is refined and prepared for shipment
to the United States, Canada and Eu-
rope. The Kochiu Tin Mining Con
pany is installing up-to-date pumping
machinerp and it is thought that other
companies will follow its example.
Wolfram, some of it showing an as-
say test of 61.74 per cent is found near
Northeastern Chihihli.
r Eastern Revie wsays that the
Tongshan, in
The
Bureau of Administration at Lanchow
plans to establish a refinery there in
The present output
is used chiefly by the government ar-
the near future.
senals.
Big Condensed Milk Imports
China's imports of condensed milk
during 1920 are estimated to exceed
in value 1,000,000 Haikwan taels. A
factory in Manchuria, however, is not
only producing condensed milk, but
has begun its export.
teuter’s
that an American electric company is
Shanghai
service announces
trade
houseboat at
ing out a
which will make a tour of the rivers
and canals of China this winter. The
boat will carry many of the latest elec-
t
motor driven machines, vacuum clean-
al labor-saving devices, including
ers, irons and washing machines.
Electric fans of American manufac-
ture have been marketed successfully
in China. Ceiling fans and various
types of portable, standard and oscil-
lating are in use.
The establishment of numerous
printing, cotton and fiour mills is an-
| ticipated in China. The demand for
machinery is expected to be large.
With Bad Results
Tommy was always in trouble of
some sort. ne of his greater faults
Ni
Xv
The Observatory
The Observer loves children. And
so it happened, i nthe not far distant
past, that he took three little girls,
about ten years old, for a ride in his
car. They were adorable children and
loved their chauffeur migtily, for many
times they had sat on his lap to help
steer the car, and often they perched
on his knees to hear fairy stories.
When it was about time to turn the
car toward home, the erstwhile tour-
ists were beguiled by a wayside spring
and the three children flocked out to
throw water and drink a little.
When it came time to start again,
the question arose as to which child
should sit beside the driver. The argu-
ment waxed bitter, the party was in
danger of disruption. Suddenly one
of the aspirants to the chosen place
declared, “I shall sit side of him ‘cause
I love him most.”
The argument was convincing—for
the moment. Then the blonde of the
party spoke up. “You can't, either.
I'm going to sit side of him. I love
him as much as I love my father.”
A gloom fell upon the other two.
They
fervor that
third and youngest
her companions. “I shall sit there,”
defeated; when with a
bespoke inspiration, the
forever silenced
were
she said, “for I love him most of all.
I love him than 1 love my
father.”
more
* * *
Have you ever wanted to motor, with
two men in uniform on the front seat?
Have you ever wanted to ride feeling
safe, knowing that your chauffeur is
sure to observe the speed laws, never
to make mistakes in traffic rules? You
admit that it must be
“a grand and
glorious feeling.
Well, if you feel that way about it
here is the way to do it. Call “taxi”
and one will roll up with one of Phila-
delphia’s “finest” seated alongside the
chauffeur. The strike taxi-
drivers is responsible for the added
among
attraction.
Many Would Marry
This Immigrant Girl
Several young Englishmen seeking
a wife or a housekeeper have been
visiting the detention
Bureau of Immigration, at Gloucester
house of the
City, and seeking an interview with
Ann Helen Hight, pretty, twenty-two-
year-old English girl, who drove an
ambulance for the British forces dur-
ing the war and now awaits the ar-
rival of more money from her sweet-
heatr, C. B. Majors, so she can resume
her journey to Troup, Texas, where
A letter
with some money arrived last week.
she expects to marry Majors.
The young woman complained
against the swarm of suitors, and an
order was issued by Commissioner
James L. Hughes that no more visitors
can see her.
The young woman is attractive and
sensible and would make any man a
good wife; but she has her heart set
on Majors, and she expects to be his
bride.
Majors was with the
United States navy during the war and
connected
met the girl in England. They became
fast friends, and he proposed and was
accepted. As soon as he returned to
Texas and was mustered out of the
strvice he sent $400 to the girl to come
to Tex: She arrived on the Ameri-
steamship Haverford last
can Line
week.
The fund became exhausted in buy
ing clothes, arranging for tht trip and
paying for the passage. When she ar-
8¢
rived at the detention house a message
was sent to Majors to forward money
When found he wired he would send
the money. Some came by main and
the rest will arrive soon.
Venus, the Queen
of the Planets
The beautiful and most brilliant of
the planets,
rise, was called by the ancients Phos-
when visible before sun-
phorus, Lucifer or the Morning Star,
and when she shone in the evening,
after sunset, Hesperus, Vesper, or the
Evening Star.
Next to Mercury, Venus is nearest
tod the sun, and greatly resembles the
former in many respects. Her diame-
ter is 7500 miles; her volume about
four-fifths that of the earth, and her
desity is almost the same as our
planet.
When Venus is at an elongation of
40 degrees, her brilliancy is greatest,
and renders a minute examination
through a telescope impossible.
She is fifty times as bright s any
other star in the sky, and can come
nearer to us than all the rest of the
heavenly bodies, except the moon.
She can get within 26,000,000 miles
of us when in inferior conjunction—
that is, when a planet is between the
earth and the sun; and at superior
conjunction—when the sun is between
the earth and the planet——she is 16,
was that 1 er stopped talking.
So fathe dered hi mto remai
silent at meajitimes until he wi
spoken to {
One dinner f time he noticed the
small boy sirfaply bursting to speak,
so he asked
“Well 1
“Are ¢
indly:
oy?’
hillars good to eat?” asked
little Tomnyy.
father; “what makes you
ors
ask that
“You hac
it's gone
one on your lettuce, but
ow,” replied Tommy.
000,000 miles away.
EE ———
the length c® her day, which, however,
has been estimated to be a fraction
over thirty-eight minutes less
that of the earth.
This calculation was arrived at by
fixing attention on a mountain at the
southern horn of the planet, which,
instead ob being sharp as the horns of
a crescent of a perfect sphere should
be, was discovered to be very blunt.
This was assumed to show the
whereabouts of a mountain, beyond
which is a luminous point supposed to
be the top of another mountain which
rises into view and sinks into darkness
i nthe same manner as any brilliantly-
illuminated peak would do.
Venus has an atmosphere, and in it
is watery vapor, and she is divided intn
torrid and temperate zones, which
overlap each other, the polar regions
having alterntely at one solstice a
torrid atmosphere and at the other a
than
prolonged arctic cold.
The inequality of the nights has
been found to be very marked, and the
heat and light are double that of the
earth, while the circular form of the
planet's orbit gives nearly an equal
length to its four seasons.
When a planet is in inferior con-
junction—a phase explained above-
it some times passes in front of the
sun, and appears to us as a round,
black spot, swiftly moving across his
disk.
This is called a transit, and is of
great importance in astronomy, as it
furnishes the scale whereby the uni
verse is measured. We may know, for
instance, how far Jupiter is from the
sun in proportion to what the sun is
from the earth, but unless the distance
from the sun to the earth is known in
terms of some familiar measurement,
we are in aquandary.
By observing the passage of Venus
across the sun’s disk from twe places
on the earth, the distance of which
is known, we are enable to calculate
the distance in miles of the sun and
the distance throughout the
Thus, so to speak, we have
measuring
thence
universe.
discovered an immense
stick. Fifty years ago this stick was
supposed to have a length of 95,000,700
re-measure-
mlies, but subsequent
ments, made in 1874 and 1882, showed
that a discrepancy existed, and this
mile 2,000,000
shorter than it was thought to be.
Kepler, one of the greatest astrono-
measure was miles
mers the world has ever seen, pre
dicted in 1627 that a transit of venus
would occur in 1631, and the Gassendi,
an eminent French philosopher and
mathematician, watched for this tron-
sit in vain.
for the long-looked-for event happened
at night when the philosopher leggy” e¥
pected itThe succeeding re
will not have a chance to observe the
next transit of Venus, as it will not
occur until June, 2004.
A young English clergyman named
Horrax earned the distinction of be-
ing the first person on record to ob
serve one of these transits. He had
set himself the task of computing the
orbit of this planet and discovered that
a transit would take place in 1639. It
so happened that it would occur on a
Sunday, whe nhe would be engaged in
conducting rtligious services.
As a matter of course, this worried
the enthusiastic astronomer;; but,
true to his duty, he resolved not to
secure a substitute, but to attend to
the church work, and observe the tran
sit, of time permitted.
At nine o'clock in the morning, he
held a short service, and an hour later
hastened to observe the sky, but found
nothing remarkable about the appear
ance of the sun. Another service was
gone through at mid-day, and at once
he was again an anxious watcher.
Still there was no sign of the ex
pected event, and, to add to his dis
appointment, the sun became obscured
by clouds.
Still another service had to be at-
tended to, but shortly
o'clock, his day’s duties were finisehd
after three
and he was at liberty to renew his
search.
The clouds had now
and on the disk of the sum he could
see the dark spot he had se anxiousl
disappeared,
looked for.
It was the depth of winter, and the
sun was setting rapidly, only a half
hour remaining in which to make his
observations. His preparations had
been so carefully arranged beforehand
however, that is short period proved
sufficient, and he secured careful and
exact measurements.
That night Horrox retired a very
happy man, proud of the fact that he
was the first to observe and record
the transit of Venus.
“That man bust play in a band,”
said Bobbie.
“Why do you think so?” said Wil-
ton.
“Because he has bandy legs,’
Bobbie.
»
said
back to
So you got
Proud Father—‘Welcome
the old farm, my boy!
through college all right?”
Farmer's Son—*“Yes, father.”
Proud Father—“Ye know I told yv-
to study up on chmistry and things,
Like Mercury and the moon, Venus
jappeors to us fortals in phases, and we |
see her either “full,” or “mew,” or in
“quarters.”
When closest to our sphere, she is a
thin crescent, but is then double the
apparent diameter that she is when at
| the full.
No satellities have been found circ-
ling round her, but this is not proof
positive of their non-existence, as the
| dazzling brilliancy of the planet makes
| their discovery an impossibility.
This brightness has also served as:
| a bar to the accurate determination of
so you'd know' best what to do with
different kinds of lands. What do
you think of that flat medder there,
| for instance?”
Farmer's Son (joyfully)—*‘Cracky,
| what a place for a ball game!”
— a
For Sale
Entire equipment for a 40-ton ice
| plant for sale; also a few smaller
| plants.
HARRY DRY,
Refrigerator Engineer,
Wildwood, N. J.
This failure is not to be donwered at,
|
Lo
th
of
fa
bu
all
S61