Daily Kennebec Journal

WATERVILLE FOLKS
TO VIEW ECLIPSE
THIS MORNING

At 8.05 o'clock this morning in
Waterville occurs an event of a life
time, an eclipse of the sun, which
though only partial, will
be near
enough complete to plunge the city
into sombre duskiness. It will not
be for an hour and 13 minutes later.
at 9.21 that the eclipse will reach
its darkest point. At the first named
time the moon will come between
the sun and the earth and at 9.21
it will cover 96 per cent of the verti-
cal diameter of the sun. From that
time on the darkness will diminish
and the eclipse will have finished at
10.30 o'clock.

People living in southern Massa-
chusetts and in Rhode Island and
Connecticut will be privileged to see
a total eclipse. Maine being some-
what north of the 200 mile wide
course that the eclipse is to take.

That part of the sun that can be
seen while the eclipse is present will
be in the shape of a huge crescent
with horns pointing downwards
towards the earth. Besides the
strange phenomenon of the sun it
may also be possible to view certain
stars and planets: Venus and Jupiter
being the most likely. These two
planets, if they are visible, will be
seen a little to the right of the sun.

To gaze at the eclipse for any
length of time with the naked eye
would be unwise, as there is danger
of strain. One of the best ways to
view the phenomenon is through
smoked glasses and any one can ob-
tain a pair by holding a piece of
window glass to the flame of a can-
dle. If a telescope is to be used at
any time a piece of smoked glass
should be placed before the eye
first.

The demand for smoked glasses
at local opticians yesterday was
heavy and this points to the fact
that Waterville does not mean to let
the eclipse pass without taking the
best of the opportunities. Business
in the city has generally been cur-
tailed about an hour so that no one
will have to be inside when the great
excitement arrives.