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Page 24 text:
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24 THE L. C. 1. TATLER V g Two days we spent drilling, during which time we were shown the most gen- erous hospitality by the French people oi Actonvale. The town has a population of about 2000 and a liberal estimate would set the number who speak English fluently at two or three -dozen. The Mayor him- self cannot say a word of English. We were entertained at an informal meeting 'by the Chamber of Commerce on Monday evening and received complimentary tic- kets for the next evening to ia lecture by a French priest on the subject of astron- omy in general and the eclipse in par- ticular. in French. It was most interest- ing!! After about two hours we all had delightful headaches and the phrases L'eclipse Totale and 'le phenomena extraordenairen were buzzing in all direc- tions. The eventful day arrived. We arose to find the sky filled with big white clouds but felt sure that the heat of the sun would soon dispel them and were over- joyed to see the sky become comparatively clear later in the morning. Several of us went down into the town for a game of tennis. The French are enthusiastic ten- nis players. When we had finished our game, however, we found that heavy dark clouds were rolling up here and there and in half an hour not a clear spot was seen. Imagine, if you can. our feel- ings as we ate om' dinner. After all our preparation and time spent we were about to be disappointed. and we thoughft of all those at Magog to the south of us who had come from Englandn Japan, Europe and some from the United States. Of course, we did not give up hope and went ahead with final preparations. First contact we did not see, but when the time came we knew it must be on. At about 15127 on we caught a glimpse of the sun through a slight rift as the clouds parted and we were able to ob- tain photographs of the partial. But still the great clouds covered the sky. It was one chance in a thousand that we might see the totality in the same way. Far off to the west we saw a little hole in the clouds which seemed to be coming our way, but the chances were pretty slim for it to strike us right. Gradually. however, it seemed to grow and at about ten minutes before totality what was our joy to have the whole sky opened for us to see. By this time the light had taken on the most weird air. A sheet which we had spread to observe the shadow bands on was a most peculiar gray colour. Every one had a deathly look. Each instrument was given its last tuning up. At about four minutes before totality a sharp cool breeze sprang up from the north. Everything was getting more weir looking. Every one wlas speaking in Whispers and expe1'iencing a queer sense of awe. The light was fast fading and Mercury and Venus broke into view. The crescent of the sun was disappearing, now only a thin line just a few seconds be- fcre totality one of the most peculiar phenomena appearedg the shadow band. These are long pencils of shadow about an inch in breadth and three or foiu' inches apart which shimmer over the earth's surface at about five feet a second. They are one of the few unexplained phenomena. Just as the last line of the crescent was about to go, it suddenly broke up into sho-rt dots of light around the on-creep- ing moon's edge. These are known as Baileys Beads. since they were first seen by Bailey and resemble a string of beads. I got a fine view of them through the telescope. Then the shadows of totality, speeding on at a 1000 miles an hour, passed over us and totality was on. Mr. Wingham shouted Go, and Mrs. Marsh started counting the seconds. Everything which we had prepared started to move. The pearly corona burst into view like a mag- nificent halo around the moon's dark edge. Through the telescope I saw several little prominences stick up. They were very small but of a beautiful rose-pink colour. H For 71 seconds everyone Worked like mad. Then we looked at the greatest sight of all astronomical phenomena. For 19 seconds we looked, when, to our amaze- ment, there was a flash of light and total- ity was over at 90 seconds. Astronomers had predicted 102 seconds. Something else in the erraticalnes of the moon in its orbit to be explained. The great event was over and we had seen it! The effect was stupendous. Mem- bers of the party, strong men, said they would have cried if Dr. Marsh had not relieved the tension by shouting 'Three cheers for the Chamber of Commerce of Actonvale ! Our first impulse was to talk, and more than one of us were about to recount our observations to our neighbour but were rapidly hushed when we recalled our rules. Every one was to sift down alone immediately and w1'ite all his observations. Then we could discuss without fear of getting things muddled up. I turned in my report on everything that I had seen. I was disappolinrted in not having noted any magnetic changes but the other phenomena I had seen per- fectly. I had the privilege of being one in I venture to say a dozen or fewer peo- ple who actually saw totality through a. telescope. The sky had been opened up for us
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Page 25 text:
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THE L. C. I. TATLER 25 ten minutes before totalityg we had had perfect visibility and two minutes after the sky was completely closed again and we did not get another glimpse from then till the end. Of course -as soon as we were through, we started packing our instruments and by night-fall we were a go-od hundred miles on the way home. The party was broken up. Each went to his own home to resume his daxily routine and think about the great event, except Dr. Marsh who went home ito work. Reports had rto be compiled, data sorted out and recorded. The picture turned out to perfection and to Dr. Marsh's great surprise he had obtained a different corona 'by his blue filter. What this means We do not know and probably will not know for many months or even years: just another little problem to fbe solved. It may mean lit- tle, it may mean an mimportant contribu- tion to science. We can only wait and Watch while others work towards the ear-fleeting goal of ultimate knowledge which may we never reach. lk QF 1' Illustrated London News was look- ing for records of the eclipse to publish. Among others they secured copies of the pictures taken by the Hamilton party. All their records they sent to Greenwich Observatory to be checked, and received in return the startling reply that the rec- ords obtained by the little party at Acton- ville, Quebec, were the only perfect ones secured. 'PETTY LARCENYU R. Horner Have you ever puzzled the fact that the world is full of fakers, or to use a more modern term, phonies g and, what is even more remarkable,thatavery large majority of these fakers Cone could be almost perfectly safe in putting it at 99 percent.D are successfully ca.rrying out their business on a very profitable basis. As in all trades, there are those of greater success and those who do not do so well, depending, I suppose, upon their adapt- ability and perseverence to their profes- sion. Some ,fakers are successful, too, in hoodwinking the public in such a fashion that they are never recognized in the true light of fthe businessg others make no protence to disguise their real com- mercial aspirations. If there is such a. thing as professional integrity among them, I believe that the laltter type is the more commendable. He may be found at our Fall Fairs-that smooth-talking gen- tleman of the Midway who operates his various games of chance. It may be the Wheel of Fortune or The Lucky Spot g he may be inside a tent with the old 'Crown and Anchor or the Three Card Monte, but no maatter what the game, the odds to him are about a hundred to one and the people fall for it year in and year out. Another illustration a little antiquated, is the 'Medicine Dootorf' who with the assistance of some would-be musician or other attraction, proceeds to sell some worthless cure-all to the very simple public at a very worthwhile price to himself. The other kind of faker, the one first-mentioned, could be called the Mogul of the trade. He may be found on the stock-market, in politics and in almost any position where he finds it pos- sible to masquerade in the robes of appar- ent honesty. This may seem a very pec- uliar introduction to the subject of Petty La1'ceny but it will be seen that the faker has his place in the discussion. Petty Larceny is the term applied to a certain type of crime punishable 'by law, and under this heading people who com- mit thefts of little consequence are dealt with. In the words of those who should know Petty Larceny is small-time pick- in's. We may conclude, then, that our subject title is the term applied to the procedure of getting something for noth- ing. If this is the case. and I can't see any argument against it, it would appear that there are two kinds fo Petty Lar- 'cenyvdthe one so commlon in our Courts of Justce and the other to whose consid- eration I devote this essay. They are not so far remote in a general sense but it is not often that their relaionshilp is recognized. Through our recent, more scientific manner of studying 'humanity it has be- come known that when a human-being is given life into this world there are various l ittle peculiarities which seem to attach themselves to that particular individual at once. It would seem, according to our psychologists, that instincts and urges, and so forth, are born with us, and whe- ther this is true or not it remains for others to say. However, there seems to be one charactersitic of mankind that begins at the cradle, or not long after, and which no normal human-being escapes. I-t is the desire we all have to obtain something tor nothing. In some it adjusts itself more strongly than in others but we all suffer from it-that is, all of us, with one exception. The faker is that exception. He capitalizes on that weakness and lhis well-known success is good assurance that the weakness is no small one. May I call this weakness Petty Larceny' ftyfpe When an individual stops at a faker's stand in a Midway, he is, or should naturally suspicious, but he is interested. The faker is 'offering him something for nothing and because this individual suf-
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