On August 9, 1896, a solar eclipse occurred; it was the first to attract an expedition from the British Astronomical Association. According to the editorial Darkening of the Sun., published in the Toronto Globe, August 3, 1896:
...This eclipse is important in that it is a total one, not an annular, and it is expected that much will be added to our knowledge of the sun....Weather conditions prevented good results from the BAA expedition, but a smaller expedition to Novaya Zemlya was more successful.
Although this eclipse will not at all be visible in Canada, in fact not at all in America except in Alaska, there are many Canadians and Americans who will witness the phenomenon, because the line of totality passes across a region easily accessible to summer tourists. The path of total eclipse begins at sunrise in the North Atlantic Ocean, passes across the northern part of Norway and over the island of Nova Zembia, thence diagonally across Siberia and the Japanese island of Yezo, ending at sunset in the Pacific Ocean.
Most popular of the places of observation are points on the northeast coast of Norway...More favorable stations for observation are in the interior of Siberia, but these are practically inaccessible to observers. Excellent results are expected from the parties stationed in Japan, for the conditions there are good.
During the two minutes of totality the principal stars will become visible to the unassisted vision. The sun will be in the constellation Leo (the Lion), and the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury are close together in the same region of the sky...
Should the photographs of the corona turn out as successfully as everyone hopes and desires light will be thrown on various points of solar physics. Especially may the larger pictures give a further knowledge of the solar currents, "lines of force" or whatever they are that determine the peculiar structure of solar appendages. How the distribution of coronal material differs in various latitudes on the sun should also be revealed, and an investigation of the connection between the coronal prominences and sun-spots may be possible. Another point on which the photographs will shed light is the law of decrease in the intensity of the corona is passing outward. If success crowns the efforts being made all along the line then there will be a possibility of determining if the corona changes form in the interval of about 90 minutes which occurs between those observations taken in Norway and those secured in Japan. Previous experience does not favor the idea of such rapid changes.
According to an anonymous article published in the Winnipeg Daily Tribune, August 8, 1896:
...According to astrologers, the eclipse is likely to be followed by disasters in the orient, owing to the fact that it occurs in the conjunction of the evil planet Mars, Herschel and Saturn, and of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury. The line of totality of the eclipse begins in the North Sea, crosses the northern part of Norway and Lapland, the island of Novaya Zemlya, Siberia, and the Japanese island of Yezo, and ends in the midst of the Pacific ocean. Under the general rulings of astrology, these, taking into consideration the square and opposition of the place of the eclipse, to-morrow's event will primarily affect China, Japan, Eastern Siberia, Corea, Egypt, Armenia, Western Russia, the country tributary to the Danube, Scandinavia in its northeastern section, Venezuela, Guiana and Brazil, Newfoundland, Labrador, New England, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Alaska. Only Japan, China and Russia, however, are, according to the astrologers, to experience disaster, and this is not to be immediate, but some time in the next six months...It did come as a surprise to this blogger that a major disaster did occur not long after the eclipse. On August 31, 1896, the Rikuu earthquake, of magnitude 7.2, struck on the border between the prefectures of Akita and Iwate (39.5 degrees North latitude, 140.7 degrees East longitude), killing 209 people (209 in Akita), injuring 779, and resulting in 5,792 completely destroyed houses, 3,045 partially destroyed houses, and 9,899 landslides.
Of course, even if astrologers make a prediction that turns out to be accurate, astrology is a pagan practice that should be avoided and rejected:
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: Deuteronomy 13:1-3a
Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. Jeremiah 10:2
