i40 



FOREST ANID S'tHEAM. 



THE CRUISE OF THE SHENANDOAH C. C. 



AS DETAILED BT THE COMMODORE. 

 PART VII. 



""DUT how came you to stop at this honse up on the hU] here, 

 -IJ Oomm- dort?" asked Geor^ti. as he lazily filled his pipe for 



the second time. 

 "Well, it Wiis Inte on S=iturday fiveniiig, and I was pushing on, 



hoping.to rerioh AlMSsanuftoii before darK, as—" 

 ' Ma-sanutton! Why, that's eight or ten miles from here!" he 



exclaimed. 



"iea, I know that now, but I didn't know it thpn. I ])a.d had a 

 tedious and difficult portage around the Nfwport Dam. The men 

 were all In the harvest, Held and tlio mil] was closed, and there 

 was no one at hand to help me around the dam, and I seemed 

 fated to Btop there nil uieht. I felt that I must on, for I knew 

 there was some mail for me ar, Mn^sanut'on that, I was very anx- 

 ious to get; 1^0 Irj sheer despair I dragg' d my cnnoe ashore above 

 the mill and unpacktd tier, and carried all my plunder ai'ound not 

 only the dam but the mill also, and then picked up my empty 

 canoe by one e'^d and draerged it amund al=o." 



"<'reac Scott!" cued Lacy, ' that was a tedious job." 



"Yes, that is one of toe beauties of cruising alone. You'll never 

 catch me out slone on another cruise, if I never cruise again. 

 You have no idea at the trouble I experiencefl at every mill dam. 

 Inever succeeded in getiingr past one without a detention of oiie 

 or two hours. Up at Sbaner-'s Dam, for instance, I had to walk 

 nearly half a mile across a plowed field to ask a couple of young 

 men wlio were plowing on the other side to come and help me 

 and—" 



"Did they comt V" 



"O, yes, willingly." 



"But couldn't you have jumped this Newport Dam, Commo- 

 dore?" ast' d George. "We certainly came over it easily enough 

 last uiaht." 



"Yes, I could have jumped it at the same place we did last night, 

 and as easil.N ; but my Imle adventure at the T?ivet B ink Dam 

 fwmch I havii f old yon of) was quite fresh and green in my mem- 

 ory, OS it hnd only occurrtd i wo or three days befon ; and I was 

 not jumpii g any oiore njill dams just then, no matter how harm- 

 less and T'nocenf they lnoked, 



"Well, I got a drink at, the spring at Newport, and I ought to 

 have gone into camp there for the night, as it was fully 6 o'clock; 

 but I was anxious to gel tbese letters at Massanutton, and 1 felt 

 certain I could not be far from there; in fact, I was expecting to 

 see the place at every turn of the river. So I repacked my canoe, 

 launched and got aboard, and pushed on." 



"Yes, and you might easily have paddled right along by it and 

 never have noticed it," sa d George. 



"Why, how so?" osked L^cy. 



"Well, another one of ihe things I learned on this cruise was 

 that a Virginia posi-o1?iee very frecxuently makes a much bigger 

 show on the map than it does in reality.'' I continued. "There 

 aie but two or three houses at Massanutton and you would no 

 more take it for a village than this p. ace up on the hill back of us, 

 which is, indeed, all that is left of quite a little village that once 

 stood here." 



"Why where is the rest of it? what became of it?" asked Lacy. 



"Washed out in the great flood of '70," I replied. 



"Well, as I rounded the bend below Newp. rt and began the 

 descent of tlie Columbian Falls a most terrifio thunder storm, 

 which had been rumbling aiound behind me all day, threatened 

 soon to come to a foeus in my immediftte vicinity, and I began to 

 think that I could ijot i-eaeh iVIassanutton that evening and that 

 it was time to camp. I noticed that beautifnl turfy snot on the 

 right bank under the trees about half way down the fall«, wnere 

 we stopped and got a drink and at once decided to camp there; 

 but fitsi I wanted a bucket of water, and as I failed to notice the 

 spring right there to my band I looked around for a house and at 

 once caught sight of that old redd isi -brown frame house perched 

 way up there on the mountain spur on the left bank, across the 

 river from mv camping place. 



"I thought I would hiive time to make the house, get my water, 

 return across the rivtr and get my canoe out. and tent up before 

 the storm caught me, sol caught up my bucket and scuttled off 

 up th" htil tor the house, first covering the cockpit of my canoe 

 with the apron, weighting it down with stones, to be on the safe 

 side. I found that I was mistaken, however, for I had barely 

 reached the house before I was overtaken by one of the most sub- 

 lime thunderstorms up tbcre among the mouutaintops that a man 

 ever witnessed. The rain fell in sheets and the hail rattled like 

 musketry on the roof and porches of the old houses, while the 

 lightning shot around iu blinding flashes and the thunder hurled 

 forth peal af'er po'l of the suidimi^st grandeur in startling suc- 

 cession, each peal rolling and reverberating around among the 

 neighboring mountain peaks in a grandly impressive way, the 

 last echoes of one hardly dying away before being succeeded by 

 another. I teil you it was grand and my hair seemed to stand on 

 end and my flesh to fairly creep with awe. The residents of the 

 house were ot the mountaineer type and the place was rough and 

 untnviiing, and beyoud giving me shelter from ttie storm freely 

 enough ihty offered me no further hospitality, although I could 

 plainly see tb.at i iieir !:uppc-r was growing cold in an adjoining 

 room while they were evidently only awaiting my departure 

 before eating it. 



"I asked how f nr it was to Massanutton and was told it was only 

 about eight or ten miles, and that I could easily make it that 

 night, as there was "good drawin' water' all the wav." 



"Just fancy rui.ning the Snenandoah after dark!" said George. 



"I should saveo, esptcially on 'good drawin' water!" said Lacy. 



"Yes; well, just .ib soon as the storm passed over, and the heavy 

 black clond-masses wett skurrying down the sky toward the 

 horizon, and while the last echoes of the thunder peals were still 

 rumbling and tumbling around among the mountain tons, and 

 the rain drops « ere itill falling from tlie leaves of the t rees, I put 

 out again in ihetnsc gathering twilight, wiibout fcrouiling myself 

 to fill mv bucket with water, for I decided not to camp as every- 

 thing wa's so bopplessly drenched and wet, but to drop on down 

 the river and stop at the first reputable looking farmiiouse I saw 

 and a'=k a nigbt'n lodging. By the time I had waded down to my 

 canoe througti the tail grass, weeds and hushes, thorougrdy satu- 

 rated, of course, wita the rain, I was completely wet through 

 from the wais' down, and by the time I tad run the half mile of 

 big waves at the lower end of the falls there. I was nearly as wet 

 from the wai.st up; and you may imagine how glad 1 was to get 

 sight ot that big, lint-looking honse of Mr. Russell's np on the 

 bluff There, and you may be sure tha.t I did not hesitate to stop. 



' I certainly lo iked like a shipwrecked mariner as I told my story 

 to the people of the house, and my request was readily and kindly 

 granted, and an excellent cold supper given me, as their own 

 supper had been < ver for a couple of hours. After my supper 

 young Mr. Russell went with me to the river, and we carried my 

 canoe np the hank and hid lor the night among a thick growth 

 of weeds a little distance b^ck from ttie river. 



"I got some dry clothes from my rubber navy bag and put them 

 on, and went to bed in a comfortalile and well-furnished room, 

 thoroughly tired out and fully resolved to abandon the cruise as 

 soon a? I reached Massinutioa." 



"I5id vou do so?" asked La^-y. 



"1 certainly did," vra^ my reply. "I had myself and canoe car- 

 ried over to the railroad station at Luray in a spring wagon, and 

 there our troubh s were at an end." 



We found Long's dam, a few miles below, to the meanest, ugliest 

 and generally worst place (o portage we had encountered during 

 the entire cruise. It was ' uilt of a i onglomeration of brush, logs, 

 and stones, and the cheiiaitrcde f rise presented on the down stream 

 Bide was truly tormidaijle. At the present stage of the river the 

 water that aid not pass through the mill race found its way 

 through the d«m, and tne entire crest was above water. We were 

 quite at a loss bow to get the canoes over without having the can- 

 vas skin ripped clear off their hulls by the ugly, jugged mass of 

 stubs, sticks and limb,>; and the only alternative to our usual 

 method of simply sliding th" canoes over the crest of the dam was 

 to make a long carry up a stetp, high bank and clear around the 

 mill. 



While walking along the crest of the dam in search of a passa- 

 ble pl-ce 10 slide the canoes over, George im autiously stepped on 

 a rotten limb, which broke under him. and threw him headlong 

 down the face of the dam. It was a fearful fall, and as he lay 

 there perfecily motionless on his head and shoulders for a few 

 seconds befoie attempting to rise, Lncy and I were greatly alarmed 

 and hasten- d to his assistance, fully expecting to flud a broken 

 limb or some other terrinle injurv,and we were all greatly re- 

 lieved vyhtn he regained the crest of the dum. to find that with the 

 exception of a few scratches he had escaped without injury. 



We finally found a place near one enfi ot the dam where we suc- 

 ceeded, after some irouole, in working the canoes over without 

 damage, and we were soon over and afloat again in the swift water 

 below the dam, and the cruise was resumed. 



"Oommodore, bert's where we saw th^t pretty e'rl last cruise, 

 when we stotped to get a drink of water," said George, as we ap- 

 proached a small white house some two or tl'ree miles below, 

 located pretty weil up the slope of a high bank with a straggling 

 orchard In front of it, the ground underneath the trees being 

 pretty well covered with apples, 



'*i aajl Let's atop and get a drinb! I'm falply euffariaa iat 

 waterFsald Laoy, with great eameetQets. 



"All right," I replied, laughing, as we rounded to at the beach, 

 in front ol the house. 



We walked up the winding path under the trees, and made our 

 way around one end of the house— i^ne hoys keeping a sharp look- 

 out on the doors and wiu'tows meanwhile— to a spring house, 

 where we found an enormous wooden pump with a great iron 

 handle, looking ample and capacious enough to supply water to a 

 small village. 



The boys saw no signs of any girl, pretty or otherwise, but our 

 appro ca aroused a swarm of about twenty rough-looking men 

 and hoys who were lounging ar^'und the back porch and yard, 

 apparently in from some kind nf harvest or other farm work, and 

 tney gathered around us m a cur'ous group, the natural intere=it 

 created by the appearanco of strangers at an isolated country 

 house or haml-^-t being heiehtened by our pecuUar canoeing cos- 

 tumes, and The unwonted manner of our approach by the river— 

 a.nd followed us down to our canoes with great interest. We were 

 kindly invited to take all the apples we wanted from the abund- 

 ance scattered under the trees as we passed down the hUl, an in« 

 vitation we were not at all backward in availing ourselves of. 



The graceful, shapely ctnvas greatly excited their wonder and 

 interest, and many and curious were the, comments made upon 

 them as we emb^-rked and pushea oft from the shore, the univer- 

 sal expression of opinion, hovvever, being as invariably met with 

 alorg the rivt r, that they "Didn't want to take no chances in 

 them dad hlnmpd little things." 



"There she is," said George in a low tone as we swung out into 

 the current and turned our bows down stream. A fair face ap- 

 peared at an upper window, and tlie smirks and smiles of the boys 

 in what they were pleased to consider their most killing attempts, 

 were rewarded with a derisive little laueh for an instant betore 

 we were swept out of sight of the house behind the thick growth 

 of trees that lined the banks. 



In a very short time we rounded another bend to the left, and 

 entered another reach of the river, and beheld the m'i,ssive live- 

 clot bed walls of '"The Fort" mountain lowering s^quarrly across 

 the vista, the light, fleecy clouds v\reathi'"|5 around its rocky sum- 

 mit, and in the foreground the crumbling, moss-grown, vine- 

 covered piers of the old white bouse b' idge— he bridge itself long 

 since gone— with the ferry cable suspended over ^ hem, appeared 

 in view; and in a few minute- more we had landed at Massanut'on 

 or White House Ferry, and were enjoying our midday lunch of 

 biscuit, cheese, potted ham, hard-boiled eggs, ging< r snaps and 

 figs, washed down with the usual pint cup of lemonade apiece, 

 under the spreading branches of the great elm tree by the White 

 House gate. 



The White House, a two-story stone mansion of the olden times, 

 stuccoed and painted white, standing as it does right on the high 

 bank, is a familiar landmark on the river, and is well-known to 

 all boatmen and frequenters of the river, as well as to wheelmen 

 and tourists by the road, for at this terry the road leading from 

 the gi'eat "Valley Pike" to the Caverns of Luiay emerges from 

 the wild passes of the Massanutton Mountains and crosses the 

 river. 



George and I were rememl^ered at Massanutton. At the "White 

 House we found our portly friend, Mr Brubaker, comfortably 

 seated in his door yard under the grateful shade of the trees, with 

 a fan in his hand and a pitcher of ice water beforfi him, reading 

 his newspaper just as we hnd left him two years before, and the 

 Postmaster, apparently undisturbed by the recent political revo- 

 lution at Washington, handed me my mail without troubling me 

 for my name, quite as though I belonged there. 



Lacy and I had a very pleasant three-mile walk over a pictur- 

 esque country road, winding around np hill and down dale, 

 through woodland, field and meadow, affording the most beauti- 

 ful, varied and imposing mountain scenery, to the Caverns of 

 Luray, where wo spent a couple of hours exploring their marve 1- 

 ously wonderful subterranean recesses; and returning reached 

 our camp again a littlo after sunset. 



"Well, fellows, I've spread your blankets all out for you to air 

 and dry out while you were gone," said George, with the conscious 

 air of one having performed a meritorious action, and falling 

 baek to re eive our tlianks. 



"Yes, that's all right," said I. "But you ought to have stretched 

 a point and taken them in again before the sun left them, and not 

 left them out until dark; they're full of dew now." 



"Great Scoti ! mine are nerfectly damp!" cried Lacy in dismav, 

 as he gathered his in an armful off the fence and dumped ihein 

 into bis canoe. 



"Certainly they are," I replied. "And the rest of them are no 

 belter!" 



"Well I declare! I never thought of that," saidGeorge in a crest- 

 fallen tone, as he gathered in hia own damp blankets, and we all 

 prepared to make the best of a bad matter. 



"Well, you'll think of it next time," said Lacy. 



"1 will indeed," he replied. 



We found that George had devoted the leisure time afforded by 

 our afternoon's absence to improving his knowledge, of the man- 

 ners and customs of rural society as exemploded in the conduct 

 and conversation of the pretty girls of t he vicinitv. 



In the course of bis laudable re.' earches lie had discovered a 

 really exr client parlor organ in one of the few houses of ttie little 

 hamlet, and we spent the evening in a little impromptu concert, 

 which seemed to be greatlv enjoy ed by the villagers, who thronged 

 the rooms and gathered around the open doors and windows until 

 well along in the evening before we could slip away for a quiet 

 smoke arotmd our little blaze of a camp-fire before turning in for 

 the night. 



A BIG CANOE REGATTA. 



THE Marine and Field and the ManhaHan Athletic clubs 

 jointly will hold their annual canoe regatta on , Tune 20, in 

 Gravesend Bay, off (ha grounds of the former clab. Tlie events 

 and the order in which they will be called, weather permitting, 

 are as follows: 



Moniivg.—l. Unclassified sailing race, 3 miles. 2. Tandem pad- 

 dling, 1 mile straightaway, 3. Senior sailing, Marine and Field, 

 3 miles. 



A.fteimoon.—i- Marine and Field Gluh cup race, ii4 miles. 5. 

 Manhattan Athletic challenge trophy, 7!^ miles. 6. Consolation, 

 i]4 mile". 



t he fir'it race will be called at 9;H0 A, M , the others following in 

 the order nami'd. These races will he op n to all members of re- 

 cognized canoe clubs or of 'he A. C. A., except No. 2 and N". 5, 

 which are tor the championships of Nev\' York f^ay and adjacent 

 waters and are open only to canoeists living within a radius of 2.5 

 miles of New York. Entries will be accepted up to and inc luding 

 the day of the ra.ces, but the committini request that they be 

 handed in as much earlier as possible. All races will be governed 

 by the A. C. A. except the unclassifi-d, wbioh «in be sailed under 

 ttie rules of the Coiinthian Navy. Rai e No. i is for the Marine 

 and Field Club cup. which must be vvon t-.^ice in succession to be- 

 come the property of the winner. Races N'l. 3 and 5 are for the 

 local championships of these waters. Ttie prizes are perputnal 

 challenge trophies and the holders are subj 'ct to challenge once 

 during each canoeing year (May 1 to Nov. j ) on 30 days not'ce. 

 Such cha lenge to be given through the Mannattan Arhlei ic Club 

 and the races are to be sailed or paddled on waters designated hy 

 the M. A. C. All entries and correspondence must he addressed 

 to W. S. Elliott, Cnairman ot Commi tee, 



Ifi l Frankl in street, N. Y. 



GALT C. C— The annual meeting of the Gall G. C. was held on 

 April 3 with thirty-four members present. The annual reports 

 wnich were very satisfactory to the members were read and 

 adopted. The canumdore congratulated the club on the succes-s 

 of tne two regattas held on the home waters, and the success of 

 the club representatives at foreign regarias, several wins baying 

 been placed to their credit at Toronto. Monirenl an i Branif..rd, 

 while at the general A. O. A. meet at Jessup's Neck. L'uig Island, 

 the single championship together with the tandem and club fours 

 and several minor events were a''fled to the list of victories. The 

 following officers were elected: Com., T. A. Stepher; R^ar-Ootn., 

 J. H. McGregor; Tr'-as.. G. M G'bb.=; Sec'y, J. N. Mc l< ecdrick; 

 Committee, Wm. J. MiHican, C. Trumbull. H. Sneyd. There are 

 nospecfs of a very active sea-on during 1891. Twenty new mem- 

 liers were proposed. Tbe exe utive co'iimittee were ins'rucied 

 to provide three challenge cups. Arrangements were made for a 

 club cruise on the Grand Rive". Tne l iub house wh'oh will ac- 

 commodate forty canoes will likely require enlart;ement during 

 the present season. If Lake Coamphun is a "cruiser's paradise" 

 for open canoes, the club will probably send a delegation to the 

 general meet. 



ANOTHER WAR CANOE.— The St. Lawrence River Skiff, 

 Canoe and Steam Launch Co.. of Clayton, ^. Y., have received an 

 order from the Orange C. C for a 30tt.x50in. Ko-Ko-Ko-Ho war 

 canoe. This company has now orders forfnurof these immense 

 canoes for delivry this spring. This will be the first war canoe 

 on the Passaic R ver. 



WINTER QUARTERS.— Mr. Stephens was not present on 

 Friday evening bemg uusy with a very fully deveJrped case of 

 grippe. Com. Howard amused the audience by an account of his 

 recent trip to South America. 



JANTHE 0. C— A very succeasful concert we-s given toy the 

 lanthe 0, 0. on April 4, at Newark, a feature of the evening being 

 the Book Harmontcon, 



Modd Yachts and Boats. Their design, making and sailing, with 

 designs and, uoorhiing drawings. Postpaid, $2. 



Yachtsmen who do not see what they want under this heading 

 will please lookunder the hatches of 'he Oanoc, peep into the 

 Kennel, squint down the barrel of the Rifl-e, open the Fish Car and 

 Game Bag, inquire of the Sporbsman Tourist, a,n6. if their yearn- 

 ings are still unsatisfied, push their esplorallpnalato the jSJdXtOT^f 

 and Adixrti»tng Departments. 



FIXTURES* 



APRIL. 



26. Corinthian, Opening Cruise. Si,n Francisco. 



MAY. 



2. San Francisco, Opening,Sau- 80. Corinthian, Annual, San 



sail to. Franoiaro. 



3. San Francisco, Squad- Sail. .30. Eastern, Handicap, Marble- 

 23. fian Francisco, Fish Cruise. head. 



28-Hl Portland, Cruise. 80. Brooklyn, Opening, Graves- 



80. Cor. Mos. Fleet, Larchmont. end Bay. 



30. Rochester, Open, Sodus Bay. 30-31. San Francisco, Cruise, 



Mare Island. 



.ruNE. 



8. Hudson River, Ann.,N. Y. 20. Brooklyn, Spring, Gravesend 

 11. Rochester, Review,Charlotte Bay. 



11. Portland, Annual. 20 Corinthian. Marblehead, 



12. Mona'iquot, Opening, Wey- Sweep and Clnb,Marbleh'd 



mouth. 20-21. San Francisco, Cruise, 



13. Massachusetts, Spring, Dor- Martinez. 



Chester, 23. Pavonia, Annual, New York, 



13. Lynn, Lynn. 25. Pvochester, Club, Charlotte. 



13. Ouincy. 37. Hull, All Classes. 



13. Savin Hill, First Cham. 37. Dorchester, Club. Dorchester 



15. Phila... Ann., Del. River. 27. Lynn, Lynn. 

 17. Hull. Under 2irt. 27. Quincy, First Championship 



17. Massachusetts, Ann ,Nahant 87. Cor. Navy, L. I. Squad, New 

 17. Eastern, Sweeps., Marbleh'd Rochelle. 



17. Beverly, 1st Sweep, Mon, Bob 27. Ravin Hill, Fleet Capt's Cups 



18. Roch. , Ladies' Day.Charlotte 27. Beverly, 2d Sweep,Marbleh'd 

 20. Cor. Mos. Fleet, Larchmont. 29. Eastern, Ann., Marblehead. 

 30. Hull Corinthian, 1st Cham. 20. Massachusetts, Ladies' Race, 



Dorchester Bay. 



\.Copyri{iht, t>V Forest and Stream Pub. Co., 1891.'] 

 THE NIGHT SKY FROM THE DECK OF A 

 YACHT AND HOW TO SEE IT. 



IConduded from Page SSO.I 



E EVOLVING the planisphere now two hours we have the sky 

 a« it wi nid appear at 11 o'clock June 10 or at 9 o'clock July 

 10. About midway between the zenith and the horizon will be 

 seen a small diamond-shaped constellation called Delphiuus, pop- 

 ularly known as Job's Coffin. Almost directly overhead between 

 Vega and Arctnrus is the Northern Crown, the Corona Borealis, 

 while the red first magnitude star Antares Alpha Scorpii is about 

 on the meridian. Antares is one of the stars of which the lunar 

 distance is tabulated in the Nautical Almanac, and it is, there- 

 fore, important for sailors to be able to find him. It 's named after 

 the planet Mars, Ares, which it clos-ly resembles and near which 

 it is often found. According to some astronomers it belongs to 

 the class of expiring suns, hut our spice will hardly permit more 

 than a mere reference to the fact, which, by the way, is not undis- 

 puted. 



Tne constellation Scorp-'s is often mistaken on account of its 

 bow of stars for the one which follows it, Sagittarius, tbe 

 Archer, which of course being called i^e Archer, has nobowinlt. 

 Tnere is, however, a. figure here, commonly known as the Milk 

 Dipper, which is quite corspicuous. This asteroid in Scorpio is 

 popularly kn"wa as the Kite, and it certainly does nut require 

 much of an effort of the imagination to detect the resemblance. 



Two hours later we have the sky as it would apnoar on Aua. 10. 

 The great Square of Pegasus has now risen. A line drawn from 

 Polaris through Beta of Cassiopea wdll easily direct the eye to so 

 prominent an object. This magnificent curve of five bright stars 

 will also aid in finding it. Two hours later we have the sky as it 

 would appear on Sept. 10 at 9 o'clock. You will notice that Altair 

 has passed the meridian but still pnin's to Vega; that "Boots" is 

 on the po nt of seitmg, and that tbe Northern Crown, between 

 him and Vega, is iu a fine, position for observation. Following the 

 line of Alpha and Beta Pegasi, we come to the first magnitude 

 star, Fomalhaut, low down in the S.fc). horizon. It passes the 

 meridian at about midnight Sept. 1, and is often used for latitude. 

 We have now arrived at Oct. 10, The constellation of Taurus has 

 risen. The Pleiades are well up. It was here Id Ihe Pleiades that 

 Madler located h's celebrated Central Sun, around wh'ch all of 

 the stars were supposed to revolve. But as this idea has been en- 

 tirely abandoned by modern astronomers, its position is only 

 interesting as associated with a theory once generally accepted, 

 and in connection with one of the most beautiful clusters in the 

 heavens. 



Below the Pleiades we see the great V, with Aldebaran— Jack's 

 standby- at one of the ex'remities. A line drawn from Vega 

 through the North Star will direct the eye to Capella, Alpha 

 Aurigce. 



A sort of cross bearing for CapeFa can be got by a line through 

 Alpha and Delta m the Great Bear. 



You will nonce that the Great Bear and Cassiopea Auriga and 

 Vega are somewhat symmetrically spaced around the Polar Star. 

 So the posiuon of one nai urallv gu'des the eye to the other. 



Tais star. Beta Aurigro, has recently created much interest in 

 the astronomical world, for it wi<s last year discovered by I'rof. 

 Pickering, of H.arvard CoHege, that in »bcir photographs certain 

 Im-sin Us spectrum were shown sometimes double and sometimes 

 single, and that this doubling appeared at regular interval^, which 

 could be accurately pred'cted. Tne explanation is that Beta 

 Aurigf3B is a binary star, ba-^ingits components loo close to be 

 separated visually; and from these slight data thev have acl,ually 

 been able to weigh, measure the orbit, and compute the period of 

 these two sues, while, to the largest telescopes, the star still re- 

 mains a single point of light. A similar discovery had previously 

 been made in regard ro Zeta Urtfe Majoris. Mr. Lockyer has now 

 announced a like dnublmg of the lines m fe spectrum of Vega. 

 This last discovery is, however, siiil more than in aoubt. 



Two bouts later, or at 9 o'clock 00 JMov. 10, this will be the posi- 

 tion of the pky, and the most beautiful constellation m ihe heavens 

 will be on tbe eastern horizon I never see the constellation of 

 Orion aft' r its long absence from the sumujcr st< y. without a feel- 

 ing that it is the return of an obi and d' ar friend. As first seen 

 in the east, it is directly belovy Al 'euaran and the Pleiades. 



Aline, from the Pole Star through Capella. is an easy guide, 

 but 10 find the constellatinn few directions are necessary. Once 

 fairly aViove the horizon, it so dominates the surrounding sky that 

 tbe eye is arrested by its marked individuality and splendor. Let 

 us pass to Dec. 10 snd get a better view of it. No map can give 

 any idea of its m-illiancy. The figure now sho jfu on the screen, 

 v/hen actually seen in the sky, sefms to stand alone, while on its 

 left a superb curve of first and second magnitude stars, Capella, 

 Beta, Aurigae, Castor and Pollux, Proeyon and Sirius form an 

 appropriate framework to tbe picture. This curve, like almost all 

 otber star figures, is sometimes hard to trate at fir- 1, hue once 

 found It becomes very conspicuous, and it .".ontains so many im- 

 parl ant stars that it will well repay the trouble of tracing it out, 

 especially as it directs us to Sirius, the most important star in the 

 nortnern heavens. It lias been < omputed thai the light of Sinus 

 is more riian 40 limes that of our Sum, and that this light is over 

 8yea)'siu reaciiiug ua. As Sirius as wellasall of the vast suns 

 have minute companions, tbe question naturally arises, are any 

 of them similar to 1 ur planets, shining by reflected light? 



Tbe answer seems tu be that while it is pussible that other stars 

 may have their families of planets, it is certain that none of them 

 could be seen with our telescopes. From the nearest of the stars, 

 Alpha Centauri, our Sun would be a small first magnitude star, 

 and Jupiter, whose volume is 1,80*!) times that of the Earth, would 

 be of the 21st magnitude, which would be b'-rely visible with a 

 glass ?lft. in diameter. That of the Lick telescope is 3ft. Re- 

 luming to the constellation of Orion the lowest aiaris Rieel. 

 This IS Betelauese, the name of wbich 'ran^lated is the armpit of 

 the central o"e. undoubiediy so called because the figure is cen- 

 trally dl\nded by fhe Equator. 



If we revolve the planisphere two hours more you will ses that 

 we have hurriedly glanced at the entire sky, for the constella- 

 tion of Leo, containing Regulus, which was on the western 

 horizon when we started Is now just appearing in the east. 



Now a word about the planets. Tbelr motions appear to an 

 observer from the Earth so erratic that they well deserve their 

 same of wanderers. Viewed from the outside of the system ihelr 



