TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



403 



need. You will learn that in any commu- 

 nity perhaps only one person in a thousand 

 has ever looked through a telescope, that 

 many people are craving a glimpse of the 

 worlds in distant space. In no city in the 

 country, except perhaps in Pittsburgh, 

 can you find half a dozen boys or girls 

 who have ever seen the inspiring planet, 

 Saturn, or the wonderful Nebula of 

 Orion. 



Astronomy has suffered much at the 

 hands of its friends, but judging from the 

 rapidly increasing circulation of such 

 publications as "The Monthly Evening 

 Sky Map" and The Guide to Nature^ 

 the science in popular estimation is com- 

 ing into her own. As you put astronomy 

 second in your list of educational philan- 

 thropy, I should feel almost sure that you 

 hail from Pittsburgh, although I might 

 not know the fact. Out there astronomy 

 seems to be in the air- Recently the 

 Allegheny Obesrvatory was established 

 by popular subscription at a cost of more 

 than $300,000, and that too within a very 

 few weeks after Mr. John A. Brashear 

 started the subscription paper. The 

 largest gift, as I recall it was $62,500- 

 with others smaller, but including a large 

 number of what may be called really pop- 

 ular contributions at $5.00 each- A 

 curious anomaly, isn't it, my dear Mr. 

 Carnegie, that in a city with an atmos- 

 phere proverbially smoky, there should be 

 so emphatic a manifestation of popular 

 desire to study the heavens? No other 

 place in the United States equals Pitts- 

 burgh in this particular ; in no other 

 place, I believe, has there been so great 

 a manifestation' of popular interest. We 

 in the East seem to be so commercialized 

 that such questions as have come to me 

 during the establishing of our Sound 

 Beach Observatory seem quite in accord 

 with what is in the popular thought- 



"How will it help young folks to earn 

 a living?" 



"There is nothing practical in it." 

 "You will develop only idle stargazers." 



I am glad, Mr- Carnegie, to know that 

 you are coming to Connecticut to live. 

 We need you here. I think you will be 

 the only wealthy man in the state or, in- 

 deed, in all New England, for that 

 matter, who would put second in a list 

 of public philanthropy the establishing of 

 a public astronomical observatory. Some 

 of our wealthy men. judging from my 

 year's experience while soliciting con- 

 tributions for the Sound Beach Astron- 



omical Observatory, would not fail to 

 leave astronomy out of the list- Alle- 

 gheny and Pittsburgh raised $300,000 

 within a few weeks- 1 have raised $1,300 

 at an expense of an enormous amount of 

 time, advertising. letter writing and per- 

 sistent begging, working almost continu- 

 ously for one year, and at the summing 

 up I find that the gifts came all the way 

 from Maine to California, but with less 

 than half, or about $533.85, from the 

 State of Connecticut. 



The question is often asked, "Why has 

 no great observatory ever been estab- 

 lished in the eastern United States?" 

 Let such seekers after knowledge make 

 the attempt to establish even a small ob- 

 servatory, and they will understand why- 

 We need more astronomical interest here 

 in the East. 



Come over into Macedonia, Mr. Car- 

 negie, and help us. 



Beauty for the Star Gazers. 

 But let us turn from the sublime to 

 dwell awhile on the aesthetic nature of 

 the celestial vault. We fee! a certain 

 intrinsic loneliness while beholding 

 these peerless jewels, of a distinctly in- 

 dividual character. I doubt if the sen- 

 timents of the lover of lake, mountain, 

 or floral beauty are equal to those of 

 the ardent star gazer. To one acquain- 

 ted w^ith the geography of the heavens, 

 the first magnitude stars and the more 

 impressive constellations assume the 

 role of old friends What a sense of 

 security and comradeship it must give 

 the sturdy arctic explorer when his 

 way across the frozen wastes is bright- 

 ened by the familiar rays of Vega or 

 Capella ! It is akin to the light that 

 guided Leander when he swam the 

 Hellespont. — Henry Handy McHenry 

 in "Popular Astronomy." 



Arcturus — Rising. 

 Again Arcturus beams! — his gleaming light 

 Burns brilliantly amidst the star-lit night, 

 Like harbinger in yonder eastern sky 



He rises to proclaim that spring is nigh: 

 When winter's snow still lies on hill and 

 vale, 

 And winds of March first wander down 

 the dale, 

 Ere crocus blooms or falls mild April's rain, 

 Like beacon bright Arcturus beams again. 

 — Charles Nevers Holmes. 

 Newton, Mass. 



41 Arlington St. 



— Popular Astronomy 



