The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-11-24
east Of Greenwich, tight ii the middle :, Of
the Pacific Ocean. Go on; With your

"Thanks to common schools and the
electric telegraph most landsmen now un-
derstand that difference in longitude
makes difference in the time of the day;
that a message going westward arrives at
its destination before its apparent hour OF
starting or, as Pat would say, it d rache
St. Louis before we STINT in from New
York. Orreries have taught the young
sters that, as the earth turns toward the
sun, at the point which is full-faced to
that luminary it is high noon, while at
one-quarter of the earth's circumference
toward the westit is just sunrise. This
difference Of time is, at the equator, just
four minutes for each degree of longitude
equal to six hours $3.50 minutes) for
the ninety degrees, or quarter circumfer.
ence, above noted. This at St. Louis,
it is sixty minutes earlier than with us,
or eleven clock when it is twelve here.
and ship circumnavigating the globe 60
ing westwardly thus gains on apparent
time Flaps over on to the next day. four
minutes for each Of the 800 degrees of
Wrestling, or twenty-four hours for the en-
tire circuit of earth. In other words, 20.
ing west, and keeping her record of days
from the day of the week on which she
starts, on arriving back at her port on
what to her is Monday she finds that it
is Tuesday on shore, and she must jump
from Monday to Wednesday to set herself
right. Making the circuit castwardly,
the case is reversed, and arriving from
the west it is Tuesday on her log, while
tomorrow is Tuesday to the boarding
officer. The ship then doubles Tuesday
and squares her record.
"But most seamen correct this seeming
error on passing the halfway point ; /. e.,
on reaching the l80th degree west or east
of their governing meridian, a day is
dropped or repeated, and the ship arrives
without being in next week or last week,
when she should be in this. Landsmen's
ignorance Of these facts has caused some
amusing scenes on steamers on the Pac.
ific. Some twenty years ago the New
Orleans, the first passenger steamer that
ever crossed the Pacific Ocean, was on
her way from San Francisco to Sydney
with load of gold-hunters, including
some Pike county men, whose nautical
education was limited. The pursuer had
posted his usual daily bulletin oflatitude,
longitude and distance run since the pre-
vious noon always an interesting episode
in the history of a day on long voyage
dated, we'll say Monday, the 10th.
The mert day it stood Wednesday, the
18th, the l80th degree having been pass.
ed meanwhile, and the intervening day
duly dropped. The apparent blunder
caught the eye of the eager readers at
! once.
'Halloo, purscr, what's this You've
made a mistake; you've dated this
Wednesday,
"'Yes, sir; that's all right
'All right9 Why, yesterday was Mon
day here's your bulletin up yet
Eyes, sir. That's right, too
Right, too! Where in thunder's
Tuesday 2
Knocked out 2
"'Oh, come, now,' said Pike, on the
lookout for sailors tricks on green hands.
Who ever heard of knocking day out of
the week?'
''Bets were finally made, to be settled
at Sydney; and when the pilot boarded
them the papers showed the purser to be
Australia, while Pike was day behind
in his almanac. On the return trip from
Sydney to Panama, on reaching the
l8Oth degree, bulletins were posted Sun.
day, the 5th, and the next day the same
Here was another fuss the John Bulls
on board we're especially disguised.
'''All 'umbag! Two Sundays! The
Captains very clever man, no doubt,
but that won't do, you know. No Yam.
kec tricks on US ?!
''The Captain insisted, with the intima.
ton that that was the time when his
notes fell due, and he was ready to meet
them. So, you see, honest Jack has a
real time in his mind, and means what
he says when he promises to pay his
debts if presented when two Sundays
came together -
"Well,' said Mrs. P, "the middle OF
the Pacific Ocean is good place to go in.
to liquidation. ''-Harper's Weekly.