The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-11-24
Standard Time.

The Chicago papers of Sunday, give full
accounts, illustrated by maps, of the
change in the standard time inaugurated
in that city on Sunday noon. The new
time standard has been adopted by the G.
b. Il G., the Chicago & Alton, and c. r.
l. & Pacific railroad and all the roads east
of Chicago, as well as by the Board of
Trade and number OF hotels, business
house. &c. The following is the substance
of the IriJuneS account of the change:
1t may not be generally known that the
railroads Of this country have been con
Quoted Of late years under titty-three diff.
ferent kinds of time, the difference between
the times beng very slight IN some in.
stances, but enough TO make people miss
trains repeatedly, besides causing other IN
convenience.
The fitythree kinds of time were rep
resented on The old railroad maps by an
elaborate system of colors which would
confuse an ordinary observer. Under the
new system there are five divisions of time
on the North American Continent: Inter
colonial, embracing Noya Scotia and New
Brunswick; Eastern, taking the New Eng
land States, New York, Pennsylvania,
and the states south Of Pennsylvania;
Central, including Illinois, OHIO, Indiana,
Missouri, and the states north and south OF
them; Mountain, comprising the roads
west of the Missouri river in the noun
tsins; and Pacific, taking the lines on the
Pacific coast.
The time in which the earth revo!ves up
In1 ,,tA t,,,-
equal parts, termed hours, and for conve-
nience IN measuring distances the distance
around the earth from east to west is divl.
ded into 800 parts, called degrees o! long,
tude. The surface of the earth, therefore,
travels as many degrees IN one hour as
twenty-four hours Is contained times III
800, or fifteen. From this 1t is seen that
there Is a difference of one hour actual
time between each succeeding fifteen de
grees of longitude around the earth faster
going east and slower going west,
The railroad officials of the continent
decided to adopt as their standard OF rcgu.
latlon the time Of the Greenwich Observ-
atOry, London, England, and as the long-
tude in which their roads were situated
was SO many times fifteen degrees west
ward from Greenwich, they made their
standard of time that many hours slower
than Greenwich time Hence the Goth de-
gree OF longitude is four hours slower than
Greenwich time; the 10Th, five hours
slower; the Goth, SIX hours; the l05th,
seven hours and the l20th, eight hours
thus making five different standards be-
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans
These five standards are shown on the map
IN the order Just mentioned, VIZ, lntercoi
onlal Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pa
citic time.
The Goth meridian, on which Central
time is based, is nine minnles slower than
Chicago solar time. The 10Th meridian,
which gives Eastern time, is one hour
faster than Central time, or four minutes
slower than New York city solar time.
Inter-colonlal time. being based upon the
Goth meridian, Is two hours faster than the
Central time, Mountain time, which is
based upen the l0jth meridian, is one hour
slower than Central time. Pacific time,
based upon the 120th meridian, is two
hours slower than Central time.