The Hawaiian gazette., 1871-12-06
The Twenty.NInth of FEBRUARY.


Dear reader, were you born on the 29th Of Feb
ruary: Most likely you were not. Indeed. il l
were betting man-which / am happy to say L
am not, and which hope that you are not, re-
commend you not to become excuse me the
long parenthesis, but it contains advice too good
to be omitted / say, were betting man, |
should not mird betting each Of the readers Of
this magazine a thousand to one, all round, in
five pound notes, that he or she were mol born on
the 29th of February. 1 should make very
good thing Of the transaction if everybody paid
up. since | should receive el460 for every el000
that paid How do know this? Because
there are 36j days in an ordinary year, three of
which years come together, and then comes leap
year with 800 days. Well, set to work to do
little sum in simple addition, after the following
fashion: Ordinary year, 800 days; ordinary year,
365 days; ordinary year, 800 days; leap year, Soc
days; total, l4Gl days. Then see that out of
this period of four years there being l46l days on
any one Of which it is possible for the readers
birthday to have fallen, there is one day by which
he could win, while should have all the rest on
my side and a fraction MORE for those born in the
year 1900. The principle is a very simple one,
bat it is very sure. and it is the same principle
as that on which all keepers of gambling tables
60, whether they spin trumpery piece Of paste
board for nuts III a fair or twirl an ivory ball at
roulette table in giIded saloon. They always
have certain per centage Of chances on their
own side beyond what they allow to the other
side, and therefore they are sure to win in the
long run. Now, after this little exercitation on
the philosophy of gambling, let US return to our
10Th Of February which gave occasion TO it,
What is the use of the 29th of February at all
Why should not all our years be 365 days long?
Well, | know of no reason except the stubborn
fact that they are not. We do not make the
year any more than We make the day and night.
The earth makes the year by travelling around
the sun, and it does not complete its journey in
any precise number Of days. 1t takes 365 days,
hours As minutes, 40 seconds and seven-tenths
Of o second TO complete its work. This comes
so very near 365 days and quarter, 1t only miss
es it by II minutes, 10 seconds and three-tenths
of a second that We take the year to be 800 days
and q quarter long. But then it would be very
awkward to begin the year 1869 as the clock
strikes twelve for the first of january then to
begin 1870 as it strikes six o'clock in the morn
ing to commence the year 1871 at twelve o'clock
at noon and the year 1872 at six o'clock in the
evening, which would bring the beginning Of
of the year 1873 to the second Of January,
and SO on; everything growing more and more
crooked as the years roll relentlessly on. We
therefore very wisely adapt our calculations
TO fit 10 with what the sun and earth do, as they
will not arrange their proceedings to fit in with
our calculations. We let the odd fractions of
day run on until they have completed whole one
and then we stick that day on bodily at the end |
proud at helping his big brothers out of the mess
into which they had got, and setting things right
again for them with the sun, which is far too i'm
portant a person to be offended with impunity. /
But even thus, February does not set things quite
right; like great many people who try to set
things strait, he goes too far and makes the year
a few minutes too long IN consequence of which
he has been required by Act Of Parliament
"a Geo II. c. 23) to give up his right
70 his twenty-ninth birthday in the years
ISOO 1900, 1900, and every other hundredth
year which cannot be divided by 400 without
And this modification of the general
'ule brings the almanac year so nearly to the real
gear, that it would take some thousands of years
before you could fnd out the difference and
hen, if the world lasts so long, we may safely
cave our posterity to set matters straight for
hemseIves.-Poople's Magazine.