WATCHING THE SUN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 296, 7 May 1913, Page 7

WATCHING THE SUN.

IifeIMJr^KPAXCB'/OF'THE-OBSERVAtORY •'"■'TV-ii! -representative''of the New Zea- : Mifd : 'TinVes<>Miss Proctor tdld the ktory of her mission' to"Australia and New Zealand Tmdbehtrrfr.-olr'ih*- science of astronomy. '"My "work," ■ said Miss Proctor, "in endeavoring to arouse enthusiasm in the proposed sohu,observatory in Ne\Vj Zealand lias been rewarded in a most iinex- , pected'- ; way by the. generosity of Mr. Thomas CivArthron,' of Nelson, who has promised to build, 'equip a'nd endow a " solar physic's 1 observatory at or near Nelson. TlnsTpbsei'vatory will .comjplcte '.f,thg.',elia'in of solar observatories round J. the' world'. '■ '].""About' eighteen months ago," > con■''Wriirclt' Miss Prd||'6r.;' fgiVflobcrt Ball.. Professor' of 'AstronbriYy at Cambridge Univcrsity,~was invited to Australasia to kfcture, on - .behalf of m fund forj the • of a' solar'j r p i feervatovy in this,'part' of thfe'w.6fld : ,' but he'was im-.-able,to'accept the invitation partly owiiig (o.li.is.'ajivaijced.age-aiid partly owing to his,-duties as Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge.:. Sir' Robert Bali suggest- ' ed'that I .sb.Qjj.id_ come in liis place. I , ,iNe>v,jYprk-ip.April, 14,t0 visit the Yerkes ; Observatory at .Wisconsin, United States went;ito,.Southern Calif or- : riiaitdstfe thelobflervatory at MonntWiliniiferder. that I, might become thoroughly—acquainted with their work. I' then' visited Australia, and came to New Zealand in December last in order to find out whether the people here were interested' in the project. I was encouraged to return to this country after a visit which I paid to the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory in Southern India. ' T returned to New Zealand in the latter part of March, and delivered my first lecture at Invercargill. "In. the course of my tour I visited Nelson, and there I was introduced to Mr. Thomas Cawthron, who told me tlisit, he ha.<j always been interested in astronomy from the"' time he heard my father lecture in Nelson some thirtytwo years ago; that he had read an .irl.icle ivliicli.. j had written in a New I Zealand paper, and that be would. J'.he to know, more about Thy mission. So I told him about the work tit tVie other observatories, and why it Was so necesk sary, in the interest's of science, that " such an observatoi'V sliould be estabhsb- ' ed here. . AtteV. I had finished speaking to hinij ho said to me: 'I am glad to ' have iliet you, Miss Proctor, and have learned about,this work. That will ciißt'h the bargain.' He then asked me What the estimated cost would be, and [ replied about £10,000; and, to my great surprise, he at once agreed to build, equip and endow a solar observa- \' tory. as confirmed in the letter read ' by the Hon. Mr. Rhodes. "I would like to say that it is due to I"" the effects of the astronomical branch e of the Philosophical Society in WclJinge ton that my tour has proved a success, y I have been specially pleased at the interest shown in my lectures by school teachers and school children. "I would like to suggest this in .conit elusion, that this solar observatory in y- New Zealand should he named the s, elusion, that this solar observatory in n i the Yerkes Observatory was named after "' Charles T. Yerkes, and the Lick Observae" tory was given the name of its founder, s > James Link." S, —-========!=== y