Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-23
THE NEW TIME STANDARD
ALIENS SYSTEM ADOPTED BIZ
THE RAILWAY CONVENTIONS.

tiOn-M al Or Sheilman : EApiahdiiOh VI
1t.
The Southern Railway Time ConVen-
ton was held at No. 46 Bond street, New
York, on the 18th instant, with X. K.
Bridges. the President of the Wilmington
and Weldon, and the Wilmington, Colum-
bia and Augusta Railroads, in the chair.
Thirty-four roads were represented, the
Central Railroad of Georgia being repre-
scented by Major W. f. Shellman, the
General Traffic Manager, and the Charles
ton and Savannah and the savannah,
Florida and Western Railways by Colonel
II. ;. Haines, the General Manager.
The object Of the convention was to con-
slider the proposed new standard system
of time devised by Mr.. W. f. Allen, Sec
tarv of the General and Southern Railway
Time Conventions. which met in st. Louis
April IL, 1888, and in New York city
April Is. 1883. The general principles
governing the plan being:
First. That the same standard should
govern as many roads as possible.
Second. That the standard should not
extend over so large an area OF territory
as to cause standard time to differ by
more than about thirty minutes from local
time.
Third. That each standard should vary
from the adjacent standards not Oflocal
time) bv the most readily calculated
difference. that of an even hour.
Fourth. That changes from one stand
ard to another should be made at we'll
known points of departure.
Fifth. That these changes should be
made at the termini of roads, where
changes now occur, except on the trans
continental lines and in a few other un-
avoidable cases. where they can be made
at the ends of divisions.
Sixth. That the seventy meridian
west from Greenwich, being most pre-
cisely the central meridian for the system
of roads now using standards based upon
the time of Eastern cities, and the nlnetl-
eth meridian being equally central for the
roads now running by the time OF West
eru cities the time of those meridians
should be adopted for the territory which
includes nearly 30 per cent. of the whole
railway system. The hour merdians
east and west of those above named are
equally well adapted as central meridians
for the roads in the section OF country adj
jacent thereto.
Seventh. That by the adoption of this
system all necessity for trdRStdting rail-
road time into tocdt time will be avoided,
it being fact that such translatiOns are
not now made at any city where all roads
run by the same standard.
Eighth. That the ''hard-scrabble" Sys-
TEN now in use, with its fifty or more diff
ferent standards of local time intersecting
and interlacmg each other, is an aooml-
nation and Il nuisance which cannot be
too soon remedied.
By direction of the convention, which
met in April, Mr.. Allen. the Secretary,
addressed circular to the different roads
asking for information respecting the
standards of time by which the trains
were being run. One road reported that
the standard by which its trains were run
was ''the superintendents watch" The
response was suggestive, and the replies
received from other roads demonstrated
that the sy. tenn of standards was based
upon pretty much of a similar foundation.
Hence a map was prepared of the princi-
pal roads, showing, by means of cOlored
lines. the various standards that were in
use, which showed the exact nature of
the evil to be remedied. There was con-
siderable controversy between the friends
of the several plans that were proposed
whether Washington or Greenwich time
should be the point of departure or uni
! versal standard. Greenwich time is the
| standard for all vessels upon the high
! seas, and it was argued that any attempt
| to adopt universal standard of time
which does not in some way refer to or
| bear positive relation to Greenwich time
would fail in attaining the best results.
Those who suggested Washington were
! in measure influenced by considerations
of national pride, but the practical Obiec-
ton to using the meridian of Washington
| is that it is too far east of the geographic
cal or business centre of the country for
adoption as Il single standard for the
whole country, and if used as the basis
| for standards with hour differences, the
dividing lines are found at inconVe-
nient or impracticable points. To meet
| the practical requirements of the rail-
/ WAYS il was aScertalned that the same
| standards should be used by the lines
4 within districts as extended as possible
| without causing the standard time
| to vary from local time by any difference
/ which has not already stood the test Of
practical experience. Local time is mere
/ ~ mean arrived at by calculation and
| adopted for convenience. Astronomical
! time does not agree with local time, but
varies from it. more or less. day by day
and hour by hour. Travelling at the rate
! of 30 miles an hour, due east or west, we
must change our watches four minutes
every hOur. if we propose to keep exact
! local time. For all ordinary business
/ transactions one standard of time may be
/ as good as another, provided all agree to
use it, but when one city or government
| adopted one standard and other standards
/
| confusion of standards, perpleXing to
travellers and those who were engaged in
| the running of trains. Hence, the grouping
| of standards was suggested. Early as
/ the eth of October, 1881, a letter addressed
/ by OrmOnd Stone, Chairman of the Com
mittee on Standard Time of the American
| Association for the Advancement OF Sci
ence, was read to the General Time Con-
| Veution held in New York city October
! wrote tkfln
portance of uniformity in standards of
| time throughout the country is daily be-
coming more and more apparent. Com
mittees on the subject have already been
appointed by the American Neurological
| Society, the American Society of Civil
Engineers. and by the American AssOcia-
| ton for the Advancement of Science.
The letter requested the Time Convention
to appoint a committee to consider the
question in conjunction with committees
already appointed.
! The Committee on Standard Time of
the American Meteorological Society
also addressed letter to that con-
vention, in which it was stated
that since the report of that society
was made, recommending system OF
standards one hour apart, there had been
shown disposition to adopt the ninetieth
meridian as standard for the whole
country.
At the subsequent meetings of the Rail
way Time Conventions it was, however,
! argued that with single standard for the
whole country there would be were the
1 standard meridian centrally located) a
| difference of two hours from local time at
| the eastern and western eXtremities, but
| that if it were decided to have system OF
| standards which shall differ by exactly
one hour, the greatest discrepancy be-
tween local and standard time can be but
about thirty minutes, a variation which
would be without detriment or incOnve-
! nience to anyone.
Therefore, in the construction, so to
speak, of the new standards of time, the
extreme eastern and western sections
were temporarily discarded and the inter-
mediate territory was divided into two
sections with two divisions of time.
The meridian ofthe eastern section is the
| seventv-fifth. 1t passes north and south
through Philadelphia, and about sixty
miles east of Ottawa, Canada, and gives
the time standard for the section of coun-
try that extends from the eastern
boundary of Maine to Detroit, Mich, and
/ Bristol. Tenn; but the railroads in Ohio,
/ in PENNSYLVANIA, west of Pittsburg and
! ali i'm Georgia will, for the convenience of
oneration be included in the western sec
/ tion. the central meridian of which
| is the ninetieth and passes North
and South through New Orleans, and
! Memphis and few miles east of st.
! Louis, The section of territory included
| within the States of Florida, Georgia, Ten
nessee. Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Wis
! I,n1i In n