American Eclipse
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139 “I have a sick boy at home”: Lockyer to Newcomb, June 18 [1878] [SNP Box 30].
139 “Since my last note to you”: Lockyer to Newcomb, July 3 [1878] [SNP Box 30].
139 “The military furnish my party”: Newcomb to Lockyer, July 15, 1878 [SNP Box 4; also at SJNL].
140 He had recently chided Henry Draper: J. N. Lockyer (1878c:86). For more on Draper’s supposed discovery, see Plotkin (1977).
140 “Sky colours impossible”: Nature 18 (445), May 9, 1878, p. 31.
140 “And Lockyer, and Lockyer”: Cortie (1921:241). Other variants of this poem were also in circulation. Times (London), May 9, 1878, p. 5: “Of the solar corona/ He says, ‘I’m the owner,’/ And sneers at the moon as far rockier.” Armstrong (1928:871): “There was a young astronomer called Lockyer,/ Who each year grew cockier and cockier,/ Till he thought he was owner of the solar corona,/ Did this young astronomer Lockyer.” Bain (1940:142): “Than Mr. Lockyer/ Nothing can be cockier,/ He talks of the corona/ As if he were the owner.”
140 “Lockyer sometimes forgets”: Macfarlane (1916:101). For more on Lockyer, see Meadows (2008).
141 “for whose scientific attainments”: New-York Tribune, July 19, 1878, p. 2.
141 Lockyer sent a dispatch to Newcomb: Noted in Newcomb’s 1878 eclipse expedition notebook on July 23 [SNP Box 2].
141 Lockyer crossed into Wyoming in a Pullman car: Ryan (1879:26).
141 “[S]ome of us will meet you at Rawlins”: Newcomb to Lockyer, July 24 [1878] [SNP Box 57].
141 “There was quite a party”: “Diary of Mrs. Simon Newcomb on first trip to Europe,” p. 4 [SNP Box 2].
141 checked in at the Railroad Hotel: For a list of names on the hotel’s guest register as of July 25, 1878, see “SOL IN THE SHADE. Fred Hess Gives an Account of His Expedition,” unidentified clipping presumed to be from Webster County Gazette and Messenger (Fort Dodge), Aug. 16, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 8].
141 borrowed from Michigan State Normal School: Watson in USNO (1880:117). The telescope remains today in the possession of Eastern Michigan University.
142 “[She] is in every thought devoted”: Cincinnati Commercial, Aug. 16, 1878, Supplement, p. 1.
142 “[H]is treatment of his wife”: Young to George Comstock, Aug. 22, 1887 [GADRUWM Series 7/4/2 Box 4].
142 the Taj Mahal by moonlight: Watson’s “Journal of voyage &c,” Jan. 19 to March 27, 1875, entry for March 25, p. 69 [JCWP Box 1].
142 the Great Pyramid of Giza: Watson’s diary of 1875 to Egypt and Arabia, entry for April 18, pp. 13–15 [JCWP Box 1].
142 climbing Mt. Vesuvius: Annette Watson to “My dear little sister,” Aug. 5, 1875 [JCWP Box 1].
142 riding gondolas: Annette Watson to “Dear Sister Pussie,” Aug. 25, 1875 [JCWP Box 1].
142 “I do enjoy traveling & sightseeing”: Annette Watson to “Dear Parents,” May 10, 1875 [JCWP Box 1].
142 “J. C. is so nervous & almost sick”: Annette Watson to “Dear Parents,” Feb. 11, 1875 [JCWP Box 1].
142 “He has just told me”: Annette Watson, undated fragment of letter [JCWP Box 1].
142 Daniel Hector Talbot, a prosperous land broker: Stephens (1944:20–26); Morning Oregonian (Portland), Sept. 3, 1878, p. 3; Iowa City Daily Press, Feb. 5, 1912, p. 8; Talbot to Edison, Oct. 14, 1878 [TAED D7802ZZEX].
142 W. Fraser Rae, a British journalist: New-York Tribune, Aug. 13, 1878, p. 4 and p. 5 [TAED MBSB10819b].
143 “At a little after midnight arrived”: R. C. Lehmann’s travel diary, entry for July 26, 1878 [LFP Box 132, Folder 2]. Years later, Lehmann’s experience in Wyoming influenced his literary work. In a fictionalized account of English university life, he described a Cambridge don who was noted for “having discovered a new planet during a recent eclipse of the sun” [Lehmann (1897:57)].
143 J. B. Silvis was a former saloonkeeper: Swackhamer (1994).
143 “[He] meanders up and down”: Papillion Times (Nebraska), reprinted in Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin, Feb. 1875, p. 53.
144 THE ECLIPSE STATION AT RAWLINS, WYOMING TERRITORY: Identification of individuals based on Sioux City Journal, Feb. 8, 1914, p. 7, which labels the fourth man from the left “Edison’s friend, Bloomfield,” yet there is no record in the Edison Papers of a Bloomfield among the inventor’s associates. The same article identifies the fifth man from the left as “Prof. S. Hess, Fort Dodge, Ia.” This is presumably F. Hess, who wrote about J. B. Silvis taking the group photograph in “SOL IN THE SHADE. Fred Hess Gives an Account of His Expedition,” unidentified clipping presumed to be from Webster County Gazette and Messenger (Fort Dodge), Aug. 16, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 8]. Galbraith (1922) provides different names for some individuals in the photograph—and his identifications have been copied by several later writers—but Galbraith is a notably unreliable source. (See epilogue.) The photograph was taken by J. B. Silvis on Saturday, July 27, 1878, according to The Standard (London), Aug. 16, 1878, p. 2.
144 “He was the worst dressed man”: Salt Lake Daily Tribune, Aug. 14, 1878, p. 1.
145 invited the people of Rawlins to look through their telescopes: “SOL IN THE SHADE. Fred Hess Gives an Account of His Expedition,” unidentified clipping presumed to be from Webster County Gazette and Messenger (Fort Dodge), Aug. 16, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 8]; Rawlins Republican-Bulletin, Union Pacific Old Timers Edition, May 2, 1939, p. 42.
145 could spot the moons of Jupiter: Nature 18 (460), Aug. 22, 1878, p. 431.
145 “[The scientists] never tired”: Laramie Daily Sentinel, July 30, 1878, p. 4.
145 “[Draper’s] great reputation rests”: R. C. Lehmann’s travel diary, entry for July 28, 1878 [LFP Box 132, Folder 2].
145 they all reminisced, boasting: New York Herald, July 29, 1878, p. 5 [TAED MBSB10799X].
145 Lockyer recalled his last eclipse, in India: J. N. Lockyer (1874:332–55).
146 in Peking for the transit of Venus: Watson’s report on the transit of Venus is in Newcomb (1881:103–13).
146 the sun represented the emperor: Lu and Li (2013).
146 Emperor Tongzhi fell sick, diagnosed with smallpox: Chang (2013:97–110).
146 only by good luck and strategy: Upon his immediate return from China, Watson downplayed any personal risk [Michigan Argus (Ann Arbor), Oct. 29, 1875, p. 3]. In later retellings by Watson and others, the story was embellished, presumably to heighten the drama [Sun (New York), April 22, 1881, p. 1].
146 “This being the first planet”: Watson in Newcomb (1881:108). See also Watson to Joseph Henry, May 28, 1877 [SIA Record Unit 26, vol. 166, pp. 528–29]. Charles Young recalled Juewa’s discovery in a letter to George Comstock, Aug. 22, 1887 [GADRUWM Series 7/4/2 Box 4].
147 He hired a Rawlins carpenter: Watson (1878a:230); USNO (1880:117–18); Nature 18 (461), Aug. 29, 1878, p. 462.
147 “The approach of any person”: New York Herald, July 29, 1878, p. 5 [TAED MBSB10799X]. Other details of Edison’s tasimeter setup are in Edison (1879), Barker (1879).
148 “It’s strange,” Edison mumbled: Fox (1879:451–52). In this account, written months after the test, Fox misstated that it took place on the “night previous to the eclipse.” Fox’s earlier article in The New York Herald, July 29, 1878, p. 5 [TAED MBSB10799X], as well as Edison (1879) and other sources, reported that it occurred on Saturday, July 27.
148 “One of the many points of interest”: Nature 18 (459), Aug. 15, 1878, pp. 401–2.
CHAPTER 13: OLD PROBABILITIES
150 “Rain?—oh, no, it doesn’t ‘rain’ in Colorado this year”: Colorado Miner (Georgetown), July 27, 1878, p. 3.
150 a lifelong fear of lightning: Kendall (1896:16); Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, Aug. 12, 1893, p. 6.
150 almost swamped the tents: C. G. Rockwood’s solar eclipse record book, 1878, entry for “Monday 22nd” [ASDR Box 7, Folder 8].
150 “which is precisely what every one who has faith”: Denver Daily Times, July 29, 1878, p. 1.
151 “hovered over our fair city”: Weeks (18
78:260).
151 “Probable northeast to southwest winds”: Fenno (1878:137).
151 “so that neither Moon nor Stars”: Labaree (1961:464).
152 information was posted at the Smithsonian: Maury (1871:401); Monthly Weather Review, June 1898, pp. 263–64.
152 sought a new peacetime role: C. Abbe (1895:234). See more in Whitnah (1961), Raines (1996).
153 “giving the presence, the course”: Barnes et al. (1870:4).
153 “[W]hen mother had taken me on her lap”: “What I remember about my friends and myself,” by Cleveland Abbe, p. 6 [CAP-LOC Box 29]. For more on Abbe’s early life and later career, see Humphreys (1919), T. Abbe (1955).
154 postgraduate fellow in Russia: Reingold (1963), Reingold (1964). For more on Pulkovo Observatory, where Abbe worked, see Werrett (2010).
154 a search that proved an exasperating struggle: Hetherington (1976).
154 “It was physical-, mental-”: Abbe to Newcomb, March 17, 1867 [SNP Box 14].
154 “I am determined to show the autocrat”: Mitchel (1887:53).
154 marveled at the 1806 total solar eclipse: C. F. Adams (1874:442–43).
154 “lighthouses of the skies”: Bemis (1956:503).
154 one of the Greek columns was tipping over: Cincinnati Commercial, May 4, 1869, p. 4; Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio (1944:44).
155 the area’s worsening air pollution: C. Abbe (1869).
155 beginning in September 1869, he offered the service: C. Abbe (1871).
155 “Old Probabilities,” or “Old Probs”: C. Abbe (1916:207).
155 It had once been home to James Monroe: M. B. Morris (1918).
155 “toys which excite the envy”: Chicago Daily Tribune, June 14, 1873, p. 5.
155 messages were condensed using a cipher: USASC (1877:351, 349, 342).
156 an average of one hour and forty minutes: USASC (1877:137).
156 stuck in a military hierarchy: T. Abbe (1955:185), Greely (1916:703).
156 “anything relating in the remotest degree”: Abbe to Barker (draft), Jan. 27, 1876 [CAP-LOC Box 7]. The final letter is in GFBP Box 1, Folder 19.
157 long walks and croquet: T. Abbe (1955:106).
157 rigid and domineering: Daily Critic (Washington, D.C.), Feb. 7, 1880, p. 1 [AJMP Reel 3]; Popular Science Monthly, Jan. 1881, p. 409.
157 it should conduct basic research: Reingold (1964:146)
157 Myer evinced little interest in theoretical studies: Humphreys (1919:480), Whitnah (1961:38–42).
157 usurped his nickname: Evidence of Abbe’s resentment that his boss had assumed his nickname can be found in Abbe’s archived files [CAP-LOC Box 31]. On Aug. 31, 1880—one week after General Myer’s death—The National Republican (Washington, D.C.) reported: “The popular impression that ‘Old Probabilities’ died at Buffalo a few days since is an erroneous one.” The article went on to explain that the genuine “Old Probabilities” had come to the Signal Service from Cincinnati “in the person of Professor Cleveland Abbe.” Abbe clipped and saved this news item, and he may well have been the reporter’s source of information.
157 “Somehow I always feel better”: Cleveland Abbe to Fanny Abbe, Aug. 25, 1874 [CAP-LOC Box 7].
157 “I shall be greatly obliged”: Rodgers to Myer, Feb. 4, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 4, vol. 3, p. 541].
158 The Signal Service issued these figures: C. Abbe (1881:14–17). A list of recipients can be found in WB NC-3, Entry 12, vol. 2, p. 338.
158 “The totality had passed away”: Cincinnati Daily Gazette, Aug. 14, 1869, p. 2. For more on Abbe’s eclipse expedition, see Cincinnati Commercial, Aug. 14, 1869, p. 5; Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, Aug. 14, 1869, p. 8; C. Abbe (1872). Abbe’s 1869 diary, in which he recorded details of the journey, is in CAP-LOC Box 1.
158 “[O]ur party was one of the very few”: Myer in Sands (1870:193–96).
159 highest-altitude weather station on the planet: USASC (1889:vii). See also Smith (1993).
159 hoped to go to Pikes Peak himself: As late as two weeks before the eclipse, Myer was still not sure if he would go. On July 16, 1878, he wrote a letter to Norman Lockyer (for the Englishman to receive when he arrived in New York) extending an invitation to observe together in Colorado: “I think of going myself and I beg to offer you the hospitality of the Peak. . . . Your going would make my doing so almost a certainty.” [SJNL]
159 large holes in the bedspreads and carpeting: Dall (1881:53).
159 “This morning the sky is everywhere”: Cleveland Abbe to Fanny Abbe, July 21, 1878 [CAP-LOC Box 8]. Transcribed in T. Abbe (1955:218).
160 “I am very glad to hear from you”: Langley to Abbe, Nov. 5, 1868 [CAP-LOC Box 4].
160 “It’s first-rate;—your going”: Langley to Abbe, June 17, 1878 [CAP-LOC Box 8].
160 “[General Myer] takes pleasure in offering”: H. H. C. Dunwoody to Langley, June 13, 1878 [WB NC-3, Entry 6, vol. 13, p. 471]. Also in C. Abbe (1881:26), with minor differences in wording.
160 “there was no room for [either of] us”: From Langley’s official eclipse report in USNO (1880:203–10). He also described his activities on Pikes Peak in Langley (1891:50–59) and in Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, Aug. 13, 1878, p. 1. Abbe’s official report is in C. Abbe (1881:42–56). These sources provided most details for the remainder of this chapter.
161 passed waterfalls and crags and snowfields: Descriptions of the trail to the summit are in The Chicago Times, Aug. 3, 1878, p. 2; Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 9, 1878, p. 8.
162 “was more than usually unpropitious”: C. Abbe (1881:24).
162 “Cold rain all this afternoon”: These telegrams are in WB NC-3, Entry 7, Box 342, Items 1171, 1176, 1184, 1197. Transcriptions are in C. Abbe (1881:30), with minor differences in wording.
163 “the bluest party of astronomers”: Chicago Times, Aug. 3, 1878, p. 2.
163 “I lay awake the second night”: Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, Aug. 13, 1878, p. 1.
163 “[W]e felt constant and severe headache”: USNO (1880:206).
163 condition known today as high-altitude cerebral edema: Hackett and Roach (2004).
164 “otherwise known as ‘Old Probabilities’ ”: Denver Daily Times, July 29, 1878, p. 4.
CHAPTER 14: FAVORED MORTALS
167 “[I]t will probably be”: Daily Graphic (New York), July 29, 1878, p. 2 (vol. 17, p. 186).
167 “in a manner never before possible”: New York Herald, July 29, 1878, p. 4.
167 THIS AFTERNOON’S ECLIPSE: Sun (New York), July 29, 1878, p. 1.
167 “Professors Newcombe and Harkness”: Philadelphia Inquirer, July 29, 1878, p. 2.
168 “First, the establishment”: Chicago Times, July 29, 1878, p. 5.
168 “Should this body be discovered”: Washington Post, July 29, 1878, p. 1.
168 “accident, the coming of disasters”: Boston Daily Globe, July 29, 1878, p. 1.
169 “I could not help sitting down”: Schuster (1932:89).
169 “[N]ot a cloud was to be seen”: From Trouvelot’s official eclipse report in USNO (1880:75–94), which provides a detailed account of activities at Creston.
169 “Everything promised well”: From Harkness’s official eclipse report in USNO (1880:29–73), which is another important source of information on the day at Creston. See also New York Herald, July 30, 1878, p. 3 [OBSERVATIONS OF THE NAVAL OBSERVATORY PARTY IN WYOMING . . .], presumably written by Harkness.
169 Down the tracks in Rawlins: Most details of the events at Rawlins come from Edwin Marshall Fox’s account in The New York Herald, July 30, 1878, p. 3. Also see Fox (1879:452).
169 “with the force of a hurricane.”: Standard (London), Aug. 16, 1878, p. 2.
169 James Craig Watson and Norman Lockyer: Details of their activities can be found in several published accounts: Watson’s official report in USNO (1880:117–24); Lockyer’s unsigned article in The Daily News (London), Aug. 20, 1878, pp. 5–6 [also in Nature 18 (460), Aug. 22, 1878, pp. 430–32; the writer’s identit
y is revealed by the New-York Tribune, Aug. 31, 1878, p. 3]; and Lockyer’s signed account in Nature 18 (461), Aug. 29, 1878, pp. 457–62. Fred Hess, in Rawlins on eclipse day, wrote that “Prof. Watson and Mr. Lockyer left for Separation in order to gain about nine seconds of time, for observation of the total phase” [“SOL IN THE SHADE. Fred Hess Gives an Account of His Expedition,” unidentified clipping presumed to be from Webster County Gazette and Messenger (Fort Dodge), Aug. 16, 1878, in USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 8].
170 Joining them were several volunteers: R. C. Lehmann wrote in his travel diary on July 29, 1878 [LFP Box 132, Folder 2]: “At 7:30 Lockyer, Professor & Mrs. Watson, Silvis the U.P.R.R. photographer, a young fellow called Talbot, Close and myself started after a hurried breakfast in the photographic car which was attached to a freight train.”
170 at six o’clock, he wrote: “Not a cloud”: Chicago Times, Aug. 3, 1878, p. 2.
170 during the recent blue glass craze: Azure glass found a new purpose across the country. Chicago Daily Tribune, July 20, 1878, p. 12: “Those who were victims of the blue-glass mania may find useful employment for that material at last.” Chicago Times, July 30, 1878, p. 1: “[B]lue glass has been discovered to be the one thing above all others to look at a solar eclipse through.” Cedar Rapids Weekly Times, Aug. 1, 1878, p. 3: “Persons who had invested in blue glass had an opportunity to reap the first benefits from their purchases.”
170 old stovepipe hats: Republican Daily Journal and Daily Kansas Tribune (Lawrence), Aug. 4, 1878, p. 2.
171 “Here’s your eclipse glasses”: Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver), July 30, 1878, p. 4.
171 hill on the edge of the city: Details of Maria Mitchell’s activities are from Kendall (1896:226–32) [original in MMM Reel 4, Item 33]. Mitchell’s viewing location was a tract known as McCullough’s Addition. See Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver), July 30, 1878, p. 4; Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver), July 3, p. 4.
171 the same telescope she had used: Albertson (1913:9).
171 St. Joseph’s Home: Fishell (1999:45), W. C. Jones and K. Forrest (1973:215).
172 The city appeared to be on holiday: The day’s events were detailed in The Denver Daily Tribune, July 30, 1878, p. 4; Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver), July 30, 1878, p. 4.