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12 THE MARINE RECORD. FEBRUARY I, Ig00. | #2. Chicago Nautical Schoo! 1513 Masonic Temple, CHICAGO. W. J. WILSON, (Late Lieutenant U. S. Navy), Principal. ‘A A full and complete course of instruction in Jake and ocean navigation. Also special _ branches taught those desiring to qualify _ themselves for better positions in the marine service. $200 in prizes (Great Lakes Regis- ter) awarded annually to students. ‘Students taught by correspondence. Students may begin at any time. Send for circular. 5S OF POPULAR NOTES ON THE HEAVENS IN FEBRUARY. (Communicated. ) Fate je The evening sky for February is the most brilliant of all the year, for at that time the most conspicuous winter con- stellations are passing the meridian, and hence are at the height of their beauty. Orion, Canis Major and Minor, Taurus, the Gemini and Auriga, with their array of first magnitude stars are included in the brilliant display referred to above. _ Unfortunately, clouds frequently obscure their beauty, _and when the sky is clear the temperature is generally too low to be conducive to the study of the stars, though they ~ have a sparkle at such times not found when the mercury is . higher in the tube. : ae Toward the east, leo may now once more be found. His * distinguishing characteristics are the well-known Sickle with the first magnitude Regulus, and a right-angled triangle - whose brightest star is Denebola. Leo appears to better ad- vantage later in the season, when some of the more brilliant constellations have passed from view. Vegain Lyra may _ still be seen in the early evening toward the north-west, but Altair in Aquila is too near the western horizon to be easily seen. _ Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus may still be found toward the west early in the evening. The standard of the _ large cross that forms the outline of the constellations is now Be almost perpendicular to the horizon. Little 61 Cygni, our sun’s : “nearest neighbor among the stars, visible in this latitude, is now favorably situated for observing, either with a telescope or by unaided vision. It is a little below the fifth magnitude and may be found at the upper left-hand section of the cross. ; Seen through a telescope it isa beautiful little double star, whose components are of about equal magnitude; and their combined mass is less than that of our sun. | Our sun’s nearest neighbor among the stars is Alpha Cen- tauri, a first-magnitude star of the Ceutaur, in the southern hemisphere, This is also a binary of almost equal compo- nts, but much larger than those of 61 Cygni. The distance of this nearest star is so vast that when ex- ssed in miles, it conveys no meaning. So astronomers n one year, therefore, light will travel 63,200 times the dis- tance of the earth from the sun. - From Alpha Centauri, light requires four years to make the urney, hence the distance that separates us from our near- est neighbor among the stars is 252,800 times our distance from the sun. Twice that distance or 8 light years sepa- rates us from 61 Cygni. _ Sirius, the brightest star in all the heavens, is thought to our next nearest neighbor, within a distance of 8. 3 light rears, 2 Procyon of Canis Minor is placed at the distance of 12.3 sht years. Vega in Lyra at 20 light years. Aldebaran in faurus at 27, Capella in Auriga at 29, Regulus in Leo at 32, ind Polaris, the North Star, at 47 light years. _ Dr. Young, of Princeton, says: ‘‘That the naked eye stars ¢ probably for the most part within 200 or 300 light years, id that many of the remote stars must be thousands, or ten thousands of light years away.”’ Pintsch Gas Lighted Buoys. Adopted by the English, German, French, Russian, Italian, and United States Light-House Departments for channel Capt. Samuel W. Gould, and harbor lighting. Over 800 gas buoys and 265 MARCY AVE., CLEVELAND. gas beacons in service. Pd Burn Gives instructions in Ocean Continuously Navigation and prepares. d a candidates for the examina- ee ee tions for Master and Pilots Controlled by Mercury passes superior conjunction behind the sun Feb- ruary 2nd, and will become evening star, but his angular dis- tance from the sun will be so small that he will not be visi- ble during this month. ‘Venus will continue to increase in brilliancy and beauty as she still increases her angular dis- tance from the sun and diminishes her distance from the earth. Sheis now the brightest star in the evening sky. When seen through a telescope she presents all the phases of the moon except when she, the moon, is at the full. Mars is slowly emerging from behind the sun, and is classed as morning star, but he is still lost in the rays of the sun. Jupiter is in Scorpio almost ten degrees directly north of Antares in Scorpio. He is favorably situated for observ- ing through the telescope, but for the unseasonable hour, from four to five in the morning, and the general low tem- perature. Saturn is in Sagittarius and may easily be recognized toward the southeast just before dawn, as the brightest star in that part of the heavens. Certainly every one rejoices in the increasing daylight in the evening. At the beginning of February the gain was 46 minutes in the evening, and that will be increased to one hour and 18 minutes at itsclose. The daylightin the morn- ing now comes fifteen minutes earlier than it did and this will be increased to forty minutes at the close of the month. January 29th, a spot brought into view by rotation was observed advanced about one day’s journey on the sun’s disk. Its greatest dimension is about 25,000 miles. The spots last observed previous to this one disappeared December 7th, the longest period of freedom from spots that the sun’s disk has ever known in the experience of the writer. Toledo, O. ° D. SATTERTHWAITE. a a ee OBITUARY. (Capt. WILLIAM REED. ) Captain William Reed, one of the best known mariners on the chain of lakes, died last week at the residence of hisson, Thomas, in Toledo, with whom he has made his home for several years past. Capt. Reed was born in Port Dalhousie, Ont., August 29, 1835. He began sailing at the age of 14, with Capt. Alexander Muir. He afterward sailed the schooner James Colmar, when he was but 20 years old. For seven years he was in the employ of the Wabash line. He owned the schooner Sea Gull and sailed her, and the Hattie Wells and other schooners. Capt. Reed settled in Toledo in 1871, and has resided there since that time. He was a man of sterling integrity, and he held the respect of all who knew him. Some time ago, while on the Cherry street bridge, Capt. Reed was stricken with paralysis, which led to his death. He leaves a son, Mr. Thomas W. Reed, purchasing agent for the Wabash Lake line, and sister, Mrs. Charles Thorpe. He has three brothers, Richard and Captains John and Thomas Reed. John and Thomas attended the funeral, the former from Port Dalhousie, Ont., and the latter from St. Catharines, Ont. (C. R. JonEs. ) Mr. Charles R. Jones, vessel broker and marine insurance agent, died at Lakeside hospital on Monday morning of pneumonia, after a few days sickness. Mr. Jones had suffered from a cold for a week or more, but up to Thursday he was able to attend to his business and was at his office for the last time on that day. Mr. Jones was a sou of the late Capt. J. M. Jones, who died at Detroit a few years ago, and who was one of the nights without atten- tion, and can be seen a distance of six miles, Licenses, before the Local Steamboat Inspectors. #% — TAKE — Wade Park or Payne Ave. Car. THE SAFETY CAR HEATING AND LIGHTING Co, 160 Broadway, New York City. pioneer shipbuilders on the lakes. Capt. Jones built a number of vessels in the ’60 s at Cleveland and Lorain and was very well known by the old line vesselmen. The late Mr. C. R. Jones was born in Detroit about thirty- three years ago. Hewas in the United States navy for a number of years, and although a very young man he had traveled considerably. He settled in Cleveland several years ago and started in the vessel brokerage business, in which he was very successful. Mr. Jones managed the steamer Aragon, which is being operated on the Atlantic coast, and the steamers Argo, A. G. Lindsay, Rhoda Emily, W. L. Wetmore and M. C. Neff, and the schooners Charles Wall and Brunette, and he had an interest in most of the vessels named. Mr. Jones was a big hearted fellow and he made friends wherever he went. The funeral took place from the residence of his sister, Mrs. D. J. Kaplin, No. 84 Edgewood place, on Wednesday afternoon, and was numerously attended by marine men. —_—$—$—$—$—$— $$ <<< aaa a NOTICE TO MARINERS. DOMINION OF CANADA—ONTARIO. IMPROVEMENT IN PINE TREE HARBOUR RANGE LIGHTS. —The private range lights established in 1895, at Pine Tree Harbor, on the Lake Huron shore of the County of Bruce, Ontario, have been improved by the substitution of enclosed towers for the masts previously used. The towers are square wooden buildings and are painted white with red tops. The front range building is 28 feet, the back one 34 feet, high from base to vane. The lights are fixed white, catoptric, the outer one elevated 26 feet, the back one 32 feet, above the level of the lake, They should be visible 1o miles in the line of range. The front tower is built on a rock on the Northeast side of the harbor, opposite the saw mill; the back one stands on shore 350 feet N. EK. 1% N. from the front one. Masters approaching the harbor are warned that the lights in one, bearing N. E. % N., lead over a shoal with 14 feet water upon it, and that local knowledge is needed to enter with more water. There isa depth of 12 feet. at the wharf. but the harbor is so small that a vessel drawing 9 feet has difficulty in turning. F. GoURDEAU, Deputy’ Minister of Marine and Fisheries. Department of Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada, 16th January, 1900. Ag- All bearings, unless otherwise notei, are magnetic and are given from seaward, miles are nautical miles, heights are above high water, and all depths are at mean low water. Pilots, masters or others interested are earnestly requested to send information of dangers, changesin aids to navigation, notices of new shoals or channels, errors in publications, or any other facts affect- ing the navigation of Canadian waters to the Chief Engineer, Depart- ment of Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada. Commander C. C. Todd, U. S. N., Hydrographer, Bureau of Equipment, Washington, D. C., has sent out the following Notice. St. Marys River+Hay Lake—Amendment to U. S. Engineers’ chart.—Referring to U. S. Engineer’s chart No. 84, St. Marys river No. 2, edition of 1898, the course plotted thereon between Frechette Point and Middle Hay Lake ran- ges should read N. W. 3 N. instead of N. W. 34 W. ““NEGROES are sometimes very original in their dealings with white men,” said the foreman of a North Memphis iron foundry. ‘‘A couple of negroes were unloading pig iron for me the other day, and as it comes in pretty good-sized chunks one chunk is a heavy load. One of the negroes came toa chunk which was twice the usual size, being two chunks that had run together. He stopped work the minute he caught sight of it. ‘What are you stopping for?’ I yelled. ‘Pick it up!’ ‘Boss, I doan mine onloadin’ pig iron,’ said he, ‘but when it comes to hog iron, I quits.’ ”