Miscellaneous Papos. 99 



this illusion struggle to maintain their proper shapes, with 

 results both fascinating and ridiculous. 



The mirage does not belong to any particular season of the 

 year. On New Year's morning in 1896 the writer stood on the 

 north slope of Hackberry creek in Gove county, and looked over 

 a bluff more than one hundred feet high on the south side of 

 the creek, and saw distinctly a train of cars on the Missouri 

 Pacific railroad fully thirty miles to the south. Not only did 

 the train stand out clear and plain, but above it, with wheels 

 upward and the smoke of the two merging, was another ; and 

 immediately above this one, with wheels against wheels, was 

 the third train. This view lasted for about three minutes in 

 fairly perfect form. There was a coat of sleet and ice on the 

 ground at the time, and as the sun's rays struck the ice they 

 were reflected back into the air, super-heating a layer some 

 distance from the ground, thus the three layers of atmosphere 

 produced the extraordinary view. 



In April of 1891, and again in the morning, I viewed the 

 most extensive mirage I have ever seen. This mirage was of 

 especial clearness and of about seven minutes' duration in all 

 directions, and lingering as long as fifteen minutes in some 

 directions. I saw this mirage from the prairie about half 

 way between Gove City and Grainfield, from a point where 

 ordinarily none of the points to be mentioned were visible. 

 On the Union Pacific railroad I saw Collyer, Quinter, Park, 

 Grainfield, Grinnell and Oakley; to the north of these Hoxie 

 was in view; toward the south I could see Gove City, Tiff'any 

 Rocks, Castle Rock, Orion, Jerome, Shields, and Pendennis. 

 I had the feeling of standing in the bottom of a huge basin and 

 looking outward and upward to where the various places were 

 located. My range of vision was fully thirty miles to the north 

 and about forty miles to the south. Toward the southwest was 

 the only place where the view was not clear, and in this direc- 

 tion the hills of the Smoky Hill river were blurred with haze. 



One of the most beautiful of these phenomena was observed 

 in October of 1892. This, however, was observed at night and 

 ^vas difl'erent. although involving the same principles as the 

 mirage. The moon was nearly full and nearly overhead. 

 Around the moon was a very clear primary halo or ring, and 

 outside a well-defined secondary- ring. There was a second 

 primary ring one edge of which passed through the moon and 



