Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1877 — Scaring Away the Eclipse. [ARTICLE]

Scaring Away the Eclipse.

Soon after my arrival at Bagdad, on the evening of the first day in May, as we were dining on the terrace, we were startled by a most terrific din. We then noticed that there was a nearly total eclipse of the moon, and upon consulting an English almanac we found that it would be “ invisible at Greenwich, but a total eclipse in Australia and some parts of Asia.” The tumult increased, and soon the whole population seemed to have assembled on the house-tops, armed with pots, pans and kitchen utensils, which they beat with a tremendous clatter, at the same time screaming and howling at the top of their voices. Frequent reports of guns and pistols added to the turmoil, which was kept up for nearly an hour, until they had succeeded in frightening away the Jin, or evil spirit, who had caught hold of the moon. It was a most amusing scene, although it interfered seriously with the success of our dinner. Our own servants caught the excitement, and deserted the table without ceremony. Our host told us the next day that they wellnigh knocked the bottoms out from all his kitchen utensils. It was, however, a complete success, and when our servants returned to their duty the moon was shining brightly as ever, and upon their faces was an air of complacent satisfaction.— W. P. Fogg, in Scribner for September.