Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1882 — The Transit of Venus. [ARTICLE]

The Transit of Venus.

The cloudy weather in various parts of the country was a great disappointment to many astronomers who had made laborious and elaborate preparations to observe the unusual and infrequent celestial event—the transit of Venus—which occurred on the 6th of December. They knew it was the only opportunity they would ever have, for another transit would not occur for more than a century to come. The transit was successfully observed at Chicago, where Profs. Hough, Burnham and Garrison took the time of the contacts and secured ten photographs. The French astronomers at the old fort at St. Augustine, Fla. are highly satisfied with their labors. The German party at Aiken, S. C., partially failed in their object. Prof. Waldo and his associates at Yale College report satisfactory results, Profs. Wilson securing 150 full plates. At San Franpisco forty-eight photographs of the transit were obtained. Prof. Hall, after great difficulty, took 201 photographs at San Antonio, and Prof. Honzeau, the Belgian astronomer, took 20 measurements. The appearance of the planet as it crossed the son's disk is described I y the observers as simply that of around black spot with a smooth surface. There were no indications of mountains and volcanoes which the anc ent astronomers claimed to have seen, but which have never api eared to modern observers, toon after the first contact the whole planet could be seen, and it was surrounded by a fringe of light due to its atmosphere, a circumstance which was noticed by the astronomers who viewed the transit in 1871

A lady who had company to tea reproved her little son several times — speaking, however, very gently. At last, out of patience with him, she said, sharply: “Jimmy, if you don’t keep still I’ll send you away from the table.” Looking at her in surprise he asked: “Didn’t you forget to use your company voice then, mother?”— D troll Port. Water from the holy well at Mecca turns out to be ten times worse than the average sewage of London.