Herbert A. Howe 1900 Diary, 1900

Professor Howe's diary for 1900 recounts his brief weather and astronomical observations, administrative and teaching activities at the University of Denver, entertainment of visitors to the Chamberlin Observatory, participation in events in University Park and elsewhere in Denver, Colorado as well as his family and religious life. With the return of the newly selected Chancellor, Henry Augustus Buchtel, former pastor of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church in Denver, Dean Howe no longer had to double as Acting Chancellor. Special events mentioned for the year include: the Howes hosting a reception for Hubert and Katherine Porter Shattuck on January 24; Chancellor Buchtel's formal inauguration on March 5; the intense efforts on March 6 to rescue the Howes' cat, which had been chased up a telegraph pole by the butcher's dog; the common loss of electric power in University Park after midnight, which interfered with the Observatory's instruments; basements flooded twice in April; on May 28 there was a solar eclipse, on June 28 a severe thunderstorm downed several electric poles in University Park; the Howes' fourth son, Ernest was born on July 4; at Halloween, the neighborhood children were entertained with home parties and games in an attempt to distract them from mischief; on December 7, a great fireball was observed, leading Howe on a statewide campaign to collect reports in an attempt to locate the meteorite's impact site.