Newspapers / The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.) / Dec. 12, 1922, edition 1 / Page 20
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PAGS TWENTY DURHAM MORNING HERALD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1922. SCIENTISTS PHOTOGRAPH SOLAR ECLIPSE FROM REMOTE POINT TO MAKE TEST OF EINSTEIN THEORY ( By W. B. CAMPGELXi Director of Lick Observatory, Universi ty of California, and head of Crocker Expedition to Australia to record total eclipse of the sun. San Francisco, Dec. 11. The observ ing station selected Tor the total solar eclipse of September 21 was Wollnl. a combined post and telegraph office on the northwest coast of Australia a mile and a half inland from the "Ninety Mile Beach." The inhabitants of the Wollal region, say 300 square miles in area, consisted of six white men, sev eral scores of Aborigines (lilacks) and some tens of thousands of sheep. The tides on the Ninety Mile Beach have a range of 26 feet and Wollal was announced, two years ago, to be hope lessly Inaccesible. On that account the expedition from the Greenwich observa tory went to Christmas island, a thou sand miles west-northwest of Wollal. The conditions at Wollal were so promising, however, that I was most anxious to send an expedition to that point. In the past 25 Septembers rain had fallen at Wollal only - tice and then in minute quantities; the eclipsed sun would be hiph in the sky; and the duration of totality would be longer than at any other possible observing station five minutes and 19 seconds, ai unusually long eclipse. Last year I suggested to Father Pe got, a well known astronomer In Syd ney, that it would be fine if the gov ernment of Australia should detail a naval vessel to transport the California expedition from Freemantle, on the southwest coast of Australia, to Wollal and return. Pegot presented the case to the government and the decision was favorable. The government went much further, in that it volunteered free railway and sleeping car transportation from Syd ney to Freemantle and return, the camp equipment and the services of 10 officers and men of the Australian navy to maintain the camp . and to assist with the heavy work of moulting and sheltering the instruments, ""en the Crocker expedition reach dney on August 5 it was met by enant Commander Quick, who . iharged with the duty of personal nducting the astronomers all the to Wollal ajid return and of admin arrangements a CtnfiS cough J FTCM throats1- Sven a little helps to free 70a from that cold and eases the coughing. See directions on bottle for relieving congestion, soothing inflamed, scratchy throats. Banish that cold. Now don't risk your health through sheer neglect ask your druggist for DISCOVEKV -a syrup for coughs &colds istering the living Wollal. At the eleventh hour the navy plans were changed. At Freemantle the astronomers and their many tons of instruments were placed on board the Charon, one of the regular steam ers running in eight days to Broome about 200 miles northeast of Wollal Broome, a village of 2,000 Chinese, Japanese and Malays and 400 whites, is the center of the world's most noted pearl fisheries. At Broome there were live expeditions by this tin- , from Cal i:irnia, from Toronto, from Cambridge, England; from Perth, Australia, and from India the transfer to an 80-ton schooner ' was made. A small govern ment steamer towed the schooner to Wollal, where it anchored three miles from shore on the morning of August 30. We went ashore at once to select the exact spot for the observing sta tion. The naval cjntingent brought the 70 tons of equipment by means of ; small lifeboat from the schooner to shallow water near shore, and 40 or 50 blacks carried the packages, from the bunts to dry land. Donkey wagons 27 donkeys to one wagon transported them over the and ridges to camp. Nothing was lost or broken. The work uf preparing the instru ments for the eclipse was very heavy, lasting from sunrise to dark, with man) extensions into the night for se curing star photographs needed in the adjustments and tests of the apparatus. The days were, hot, but the air was very dry and the nights cool. Every one of the. 26 days from August 30 to September 21 was beautifully clear. Notwithstanding the millions of t lie most insistent and insolent flies ever encountered, and no provision for keeping them out of the kitchen, dining tent and living tents, there were no cases ot illness, une locaury was nat urally healthy in the extreme. The soil resenioiea mat in me nea 01 an ancieni lake, and the impalpable dust raised its own crop of difficulties in the living and dark room problems. Eclipse day, the 21st, was the finest day of all the 27 days the astronomers were at Wollal; and so it was also for the eclipse parties in Central and East ern Australia. The only other eclipse station, that of the Greenwich astrono mers 011 Christmas Island, had a cloud ed sky and got no photographs; they had been on the island since early April. Six officers and men of the navy as sisted the eight members of the Lick observatory expedition. All of the Cali fornia instruments worked perfectly and the program went through as plan ned. ..The observatoins were entirely photographic. Efforts to develop the photographs at this station were made on two nights, but given up because of clouds of dust which even moderate "breezes carried in to the tents. While the reloading of the equipment of the schooner was in progress, after the eclipse, a genuine wind storm show ed what the dust and waves could do. A delay of two and a half days ensued. After the wind died down the schooner was run in shore on the high tide near ly as far as it could. When the tide went out the schooner wars high and dry on the beach, the loaded donkey wagons drove alongside and the remain ing three-quarters of the freight was put on board in three hours. A small warship towed the schooner back to Broome, where the expeditions await ed the southbound steamer not tne Charon, which, true to tradition, car ried its passengers only in one direc tion. " The four available days and nights in Broome were devoted to the develop ment of the plates, in an irfiprovlsed dark room and to the beginnings of the accurate measurements of two of them. Before any measures could be complet ed, however, it was necessary to pack up and continue the journey. A hur ried examination of the negatives show ed them to be of great excellence in nearly all cases; the dust at Wollal had injured some of them pictorially, but not in their scientific qualities. Director Campbell's original plans had provided time in Australia for the measure of several of the socalled Ein stein plates, and the deduction of preliminary results, but the changes in the transport plans made by the Aus tralian navy started the expedition north from Freemantle six days earlier md landed it again at Freemantle 13 days later than anticipated. There was nothing lo be clone but pack tho plates up finally at Broome for shipment home with the instru ments1. The glass plates and their packings weigh 000 pounds. The week ly steamer duel to leave Freemantle iwo days after the shipment arrived there failed to run, and in consequence the instruments and plates did not reach Sydney in time to sail home with the astronomers. They are shipped instead via Tahiti, due to arrive early 11 December. The four powerful Einstein cameras designed and constructed especially tor the eclipse used plates 17 inches square and a quarter of an inch thiol of plate glass, weighing seven pounds each. There were 12. of these exposed during the period of total eclipse to ecord the faint stars surrounding the eclipsed sun. The one partially meas ured plate showed S2 such stars. The same number of plates were exposed with the instrument to the same eroup of stars in tho night sky last May and June from thei Island of Tahiti. A comparison of the two series of photographs of the same star. group, one without the sun and the other with the sun in the center of the group, hould show whether the sun influence displaced the star images of September 1 in the manner and extent specified by Einstein. This comparison will re ouire several months of measurement and calculation. The sun's corona was photographed at Wollal with a camera 40 feet in focal lengths, on plates 14x17 inches in ize. Tho negatives are excellent, ecording the details of the corona tructuro with great clearness. The Lick observatory lent a duplicate cam- ra to the Adelaide university and ob ervatory for use in Central Australia. The Adelaide negatives are likewise plendid. Copies of them will be sent to the Lick observatory, and it is hoped that a comparison of tho Wollal and Adelaide photographs will tell us some thing about the changes and motions occurring - in the coronal structure in the 33 minutes which elapsed between the making of the two series. The five spectographs devoted to the photography of the coronal spectrum performed perfectly in the hands of Dr. Moore . It is believed that studies of the photographs, based upon ac curate measures, will add to existing nowledge concerning the chemistry and physics of the corona. The governments, the educational in stitutions and the people of New Zea land and Australia were tremendously interested in the California expedition in its eclipse plans and in astronomy in general. Formal receptions with ad dresses of welcome were tendered by the mayors of all the cities through which it passed, by the universities in four capital cities, by the Royal socie ties of science, by the governor of one of the stateSi etc. Formal luncheons were given by Prime Minister Hughes, Senator Pearce and the cabinet ot the commonwealth government in the parliament house. Melbourne, and by Premier Mitchell his cabinet and the entire legislature of Western Australia in Perth. Gov ernors General Admiral Jellicoe, of New Zealand, and Lord Foster, of Aus tralia, and the governors of three Aus tralian .states arranged to receive Di rector Campbell and his associates. The standards of interest, hospi tality and generosity set up by the gov ernments and the people of Australia have probably never been equalled else where on any similar occasion. EXPORTS ARE IN EXCESS OF IMPORTS Tokio. Dec. 11 Japan's foreign trade during October amounted to 2G7.0S7.000 yen of which exports were 161,481,000 yen and imports 103,606.000 yen, show ing an excess of exports over imports by 53,873,000 yen, according to the finance office. Compared with the trade of the corresponding period last year it shows an increase of 50. 321,000 yen in the exports and a decrease of 24,364,000 yen in the imports. The in crease of the export of s lie contribut ed to this condition. The excess of ex ports trade over import amounting to more than fifty-five million yen :s a record since October 191S. Every pint of brandy a steady drink er takes shortens his life by 11 hours, and the average drink he consumes curtails his earthly sojourn by 25 minutes, according to s-tatistits com piled by scientists of Denmark. RAPA ISLAND OF EASE FOR MALES But Women Not Too Anxious to Wed Men and Be Their Slaves Honolulu, T. H. Deo.,11 Overwhelm ing numerical superiority of females does not necessarily mean that the men are chased i:p hills and down dales by the females who outnumber them. There Is the Island of Rapa, for instance in the Aus tral group in the South Pacific, about which some writer of frenz'ed fiction, in an endeavor to outnumber O'Brien redoubtable Fredrick himself, wove gilt terlng narratives that made all pre vious tales o fthe South Seas evaporate into thin air by comparison. Now comes t- real truth about Rapa from the lips ot J.F. G. Stokes, backed up by Mrs. Stokes, who went with her husband on a two year expodition to the Austral group in the interests of the Bishop Museum ot Honolulu, where Dr. Stokes Is ethnologist. Mr. ' and Mrs. Stokes have just returned to Honolulu. Rapa Is a land of laziness and ease- for the men says Dr. Stokes. The male population is for the most part too lazy to live, and so there are four women to every man. Does the beaut eous Rapa' flapper get out her hatchet when sho wants a beau and go after him with several others of her age, strength and inclinations? She does not! The women of Rapa are not at all anx ious to marry the men of their own race.says Dr. Stokes, as once they are married they become little more than slaves. They have no hold or control over their husbands, who, despite the fact that each has only one official wife, never forget that each of them has three other possible candidates for I The Surety of Purity There arenomiracles in cook" ing. What goes into the food must inevitably come out. Even the baking perfection that results from the use of Royal Baking Powder it no miracle. It is simply the result of ab solute purity entering tho food and emerging again. Royal is made from Cream of Tartar derived from grapes. It Contains No Atom Leaves No Bitter Taste the official wife's position. A double standard prevails In Rapa, too, for If the official wife attempts the same priv ileges that her husband does she Is liable to a severe "beating up," to say the least. The people of Rapa and this prob ably means the women especially are exceedingly hospitable to white men. As a result of the recently published articles about the island and the ideal conditions there several white "beach combers" have taken up headquarters on Rapa, much to the delight of the native women. Needless to remark Rapa is likely to become the South Pa cific beachcombers' new paradise. Although all the agriculture work and preparation of the food is done by the women, Dr. Stokes 8ays that the stories that have been circulated of the actual feeding of the Rapa men by the women are true in only one respect that is, that the women sometimes feed the men, but not three times, at even once a day. It is the custom on festive occasions for the women to play fully put food Into the mouths of the men. The aforementioned frenzied f ic tionlst was on the island on one of these occasions no doubt and sent the news around the world that he had discovered an exclusive heaven-on-earth for men. SELLS LAMB FOR PRICE OF WHOLE TON OF COAL Nevada, Ohio, Dec. 11. James Beam came to town with a commission to buy a ton of hard coal. He brought with him one lamb. He sold the lamb for -sufficient money to pay for a ton of coal and received 1.25 cash in change. The coal cost $15. A Regular Christmas for a Regular Fellow! That Husband or Dad or Brother of Yours He Deserves It. 1 Maybe He Doesn't Seem to Take Much Interest in Christ mas for His Own Sake But Don't Let Him Fool You Into Thinking There Aren't Some Things He Wants. You Can Get a Mighty Good Idea What They Are If You Turn to "Gifts For Him" in the "Christmas Gift Suggestions" Columns in Today's Classified Section. ' I "0 a. This big "Christmassy" Store's doors open wide to the gift buyer, with a presentation of Gift Merchandise, the assembling of which stands as a real achievement. Once more this store's leadership in the supplying of Men's and Boys' Gifts is most pronounced. Immense variety, sure quality, style distinction, better than-elsewhere values these are some of the reasons for making- this big store your store. We emphasise the fact that it's pleasurable for women to shop here you wives and mothers, sisters and sweethearts. HOSIERY In Special Holiday Boxes For Men Wives, Mothers, Sisters and Sweethearts find this store the best place in town to select suitable gifts for men. MARKHAM-ROGERS COMPANY "Bradley" Sweaters For Men and Boys V " 4 J
The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.)
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Dec. 12, 1922, edition 1
20
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