Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 229, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 October 1917 — WRONG IDEA ABOUT ECLIPSE [ARTICLE]

WRONG IDEA ABOUT ECLIPSE

Many Had Peculiar Delusion That It Would Be Visible From Only One Certain Spot. —i —— The Manchester Guardian, In England, makes itself responsible for the following story: Not long ago, when, in the usual order of events, there was an eclipse of the moon —visible at Greenwich —a man whose work brought him daily into Manchester was seen going home about two hours earlier than usual. Upon being asked by one of his train companions to account for the sudden break in his routine, he replied that he had to be back in the city before nine o'clock, because he had read in his morning paper that the eclipse of the moon would be visible from Albert Square from about that time onward, and he was not going to miss the as it was a fine night. He lived In the country! The story recalls the famous Incident connected with Dean Swift, when his word was law in Dublin, some two hundred years ago. The dean had announced that there would be an eclipse of the sun on a certain day, at a certain time, visible from his house. Some time before the appointed hour, large crowds of people flocked from all parts of the city and congregated around the dean’s house, much to his annoyance. So much, indeed, did It trouble him, that he finally sent out word to the waiting multitude that the eclipse had been postponed, and would not take place for some time. The people at once returned to their homes, disappointed, but unquestioning.— Christian Science Monitor.