MAGNIFICENT GIFT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1739, 2 May 1913, Page 6

MAGNIFICENT GIFT.

TO BUILD AN OBSERVATORY. MISS PROCTOR'S SCHEME. NELSON RESIDENT OFFERS £12,000, At the conclusion of a lecture given by Miss .Mary Proctor last evening in lli'e (.oncerl Chamber an important announceMieiil was made by tho Hon. I(. It. Rhodes, .who presidcu at the lecture. Tho announcement was that -Mr. T. Cawthron, of Xelsjn, had promised to donate a sum of lrom .UU.CIIO to ,i'IJ,(JU(J to build, equip, and endow a solar physics observatory, to Ik; established ill Nelson province. This will mean that Miss Proctor wilt attain the object for which she visited New Zealand, which was to raiso funds l'or tho establishment of a solar physics observatory in Australia or iu Now Zealand, to link up the observatories in India and California, and so to make it possible to observe the sun continuously. At present there aro about 170 degrees through which it cannot be observed at all, and the observations made therefore lack continuity, and aro less valuable for the purposes of research. The study of tho sun, and especially of the spots occasionally visible on its disc, is considered by astronomers to be of extreme importance, in that it is supposed that magnetic storms on the sun have some relation to magnetic .storms oil earth. If this theory should bo established, and it wero also possible to observe the sun continuously, astronomers believe that it would be possiblo to predict tho occurrence of storms on earth with a great deal more certainty than at present. Miss l'roctor has been in New Zealand with the object of raising funds for tho proposed observatory, and in order to do so, and also to interest pcoplo in her project, she has delivered popular lectures in most of tho principal towns in the Dominion, devoting part of the proceeds to tho fund for 'the building of the observatory. Her mission has been entirely successful.

The Hon. I!. H. Rhodes said lie esteemed it a privilege to mako the announcement, which, ho was sure, would bo welcomed, for it seemed that Miss Proctor had achieved her object. Ailobservatory would now bo established, and it was to Mr. Thomas Cnwthron, of Nelson, that they wero indebted for it. -Mr. CaVthron's interest in astronomy was aroused by tho lectures delivered in New Zealand by Mr. H. A. Proctor some 32 years ago. Last December ho read an article written by Miss Proctor referring to tho need for a solar physics observatory in this part of the world, and on April U, when Miss Proctor,was in Nelsni to deliver a lecture sho was interviewed by Mr. Cawthron, who intimated to her that lie would be prepared to assist her in her scheme in a very substantial way. Since then MiSs.Proctdr had received a letter from Mr. Cawthron, dated April 20, at Nelson, confirming the promise in (lie following terms:—

"I am also glad to find that you clearly understood my promise, which 1 hereby confirm—to build, equip, and endow a solar physics observatory in tho vicinity of this sunny city of Nelson, at a cost of about ten to twelve thousand pounds, as estimated by yourself and Mr. Giibbs. Tho further development of tho matter will, I imagine, now await the reply of Sir Robert Ball, of Cambridge (England) University to the letter written just after you wero here to that gentleman by Mr. Gibbs, president of our kelson Institute." The reading of tho letter was received with cordial applause by tho audience. Dr. Hector, president of tho AVellington Astronomical Society, said that they owed a very great debt of gratitude to Miss Pnclor. As citizens of New Zealand they wero indebted to her not only for a series of delightful entertainments, but for her efforts to help New Zealand to accept a place of honour and distinction in tho scientific world. When sho was in Wellington in December last sho established a fund, by a generous donation of half tho proceeds of her lectures, to establish an observatory. However satisfactory these donations wero they were now overshadowed by this magnificent gift by Mr. Cawthron. Ho congratulated Miss Proctor on tho result of her efforts.

He moved that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded to Miss Proctor, and the motion was received and carried with acclamation.

At the instance of Mr. A. C. Gifford cheers wero given for Mr. Cawthron and for Miss Proctor.

Miss Proctor's lecture needs littlo description, if indeed it were capable of such. It was similar to others she has given iii' the inimitable charm and freshness with which it was delivered, for Miss Prbctor can make astronomy, tlio oldest of all sciences, as interesting as some now and very wonderful fairy tale. Last night the more listener without any special knowledge of his own could not but be absorbed by Miss Proctor's references to the immensity of space, and to the sketchy story she told of the growth of our planet—Earth. She spoke of the long: almost infinite time' when (ho Earth was in such stato that 110 life was possible upon it, and of the time of deatli which would eventually come when again life could not exist upon it; she spoke of the time when the world was formless, unsliapen, and lifeless, of the time when wastes of water were its only -surface, of the time when the oceans had subsided and the land was covered with tropicalt vegetation; of the ice age when Hie polar caps slid down and enveloped the earth in ice, of the ago following, the springtime of the earth, the age of genesis, and of the time when there would be no water and no life. This was only 0110-short passage of Miss Proctor's lecture, and all tho rest of it was equally absorbing, and both educative and entertaining.