This telescope was intended
for the Observatory of Mississippi; but the Civil War prevented
its being removed to the South; and the telescope was sold to the
Astronomical Society of Chicago and mounted in the Observatory of
that city.
And now comes in the rivalry of Mr. Cooke of York, or rather of
his patron, Mr. Newall of Gateshead. At the Great Exhibition of
London, in 1862, two large circular blocks of glass, about two
inches thick and twenty-six inches in diameter, were shown by the
manufacturers, Messrs. Chance of Birmingham. These discs were
found to be of perfect quality, and suitable for object-glasses
of the best kind. At the close of the Exhibition, they were
purchased by Mr. Newall, and transferred to the workshops of
Messrs. Cooke and Sons at York. To grind and polish and mount
these discs was found a work of great labour and difficulty. Mr.
Lockyer says, "such an achievement marks an epoch in telescopic
astronomy, and the skill of Mr. Cooke and the munificence of Mr.
Newall will long be remembered."
When finished, the object-glass had an aperture of nearly
twenty-five inches, and was of much greater power than the
eighteen-inch Chicago instrument. The length of the tube was
about thirty-two feet. The cast-iron pillar supporting the whole
was nineteen feet in height from the ground, and the weight of
the whole instrument was about six tons.
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