Mrs. Todd gives the following account of the final arrangements, and of how they began to work when the moment for action arrived:—“From San Francisco every California observer was within easy telegraphic reach, and the wire thus extended by direct circuit to each eclipse station in turn. From the editorial rooms of the _Herald_ Professor Todd was in immediate communication with any observers whom he chose to call. As previously intimated, arrangements had been made with the Harvard astronomers at Willows to receive their message first and with the utmost despatch, in order to test the feasibility of outstripping the Moon. Shortly before 5 o’clock in the afternoon despatches began to come in. Of course a slight delay was unavoidable, as the observers at the various stations were some rods distant from the local telegraph offices, and it would take a few minutes after the eclipse was over to prepare the suitable message from the cypher code. On the astronomer’s table in the _Herald_ office were a large map and a chronometer. The latter indicated exact Greenwich time, and the former showed the correct position of the Moon’s shadow at the beginning of every minute by the chronometer. In this way it was possible to follow readily the precise phase of the eclipse at every station. About the rooms and accessible for immediate use were arranged the cypher codes pertaining to the several stations and other papers necessary in preparing the reports for the press. Everything being, as was supposed, in working order, New York about a quarter of an hour before totality commenced inquired of Willows the state of the weather. The answer was that the sky was getting dark, and that there were no clouds anywhere near the Sun. At that time the Moon’s shadow was travelling across the open waters of the Pacific. It rapidly rushed along; totality came and went at Willows; a two minutes’ glimpse of the Corona was had, and the Corona swept rapidly eastwards. After a brief interval Professor Pickering sent off from Willows a telegram which began—“_Alaska_, _China_, _Corsica_,” and then the connection failed. The break was located somewhere between California and Utah, and more than half an hour elapsed ere the circuit was re-established, and the rest of the message received. The remainder of the thrilling incidents of that eventful day cannot possibly be better told than in Mrs. Todd’s crisp and striking language[111]:—