Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-11-17
NEW STANDARD TINS.

The adoption of the new standard CT time,
to go into fleet at noon on Sunday, the 18th
instant, will, if the arrangements are com.
pleted for Sacramento city by that time &C.
cording to official programme, connect all
railway and local public clocks electrically
with Washington, which will, we presume,
give the II o'clock time signal for California
at precisely eight hours from the moment
noon will be signslled from Greenwich to
Washington. Meanwhile Washington will
have received the Greenwich signal five hours
before it was actually due at the fifth stand
ard, or 75', which the Naval Observatory
at Washington agrees to adopt as their
mean standard, instead of their actual time
for longitude of Oh. Sm u rs. equivalent
to IT 8 Is west of Greenwich. Washing
ton time will therefore be SIN. Il. rs. faster
than heretofore, while Sacramento or San
Francisco time. and in fact the whole Pacific
coast, including the State of Nevada with
Carson City, as nearly on the eighth stand.
ard. or 1902 west longitude from Greenwich,
will be precisely three hours slower than
Washington or Philadelphia new time.
The question is, On what is So
called San Francisco time now based ?
Is it from the exact longitude of the
railway offices on Fourth and Townsend
streets, or from the Signal Service office,
wherever that may be. or from the Coast
Survey office, Washington Square, or from
Professor DsvidsOn's observatory, Clay
street hill The latter is 122a % IL west, or
81. 9m. AZ. 1885. in time from Greenwich,
which in future will be called Sa. exactly, or
a change of 9n. ~ 1888. in time. Washing
ton Square or Townsend street would of
course give different results, and the Signal
Office, as l drew attenG ton 10 your paper
last December, still adheres to the obsolete
time and longitude of the coast survey
of 1854, or 100 % 10. which is equiva-
lent to Sn. On. 45s. 1t is true that the
difference from Professor DavidsOn's observ-
atory, on Clay street, is only 267 seconds
of time, or about q seconds in time but
which of these have Ghe railway chief cthcss
on Fourth street adopted, or have they estab-
lished their own time hitherto? Then, again
Sacramento time by the almanacs is calle1 4
minutes faster than San Francisco. OF course
that is an error, and the Signal Service, which
calls our longitude 12l' 81, is also an error,
and therefore any time based upon it is in
error. Probably the true longitude of the
State Capital dome Is 12I' 49, "A, as l az
certained last December in making up some
figures that the State Engineer gave me- and
| then found our correct time to be Sh. 5m.
6.493s. later than Greenwich. If that had
been adopted ss l endesvored to get it by the
Legislature, all we should now have to do
would be TO set our watches 5n. 5657. faster
than heretofoEe, and we would have the pre-
else time for 1902 longitude, which is to be
our STANDARD, while if we take Am. from the
San Francisco Signal Service time We shall
have 5m. 45s., and be really Ills. short of
our proper time. If l recollec5 right MIR.
Wachhorst has assumed Sacramento time at
3m. 40,. faster than San Francisco time, al
though make it 3m. 46 24s. between Pro-
fessor Davidson's observatory and the State
Capitol dome. If 3m. 40s. difference is what
is what is usually adopted, not minutes,
then taking Professor Davidsou's observatory
as the base for San Francisco time makes
our Greenwich time So. On. 2 1855, or 6n.
2 rs. required TO add TO our time on Sunday
for our 1902 or eighth standard. My
computation of 3n. 46 245. dit
fereEce between Professor Davidson's
and the State Capitol dome agrees with the
5m. SCI j. l compute that we should have to
add to our watches, if we had had Sacra-
mento correct time heretofore. Whatever the
difference is from 5m. 565s will be the differ
ence of error in our former assumed time, so
that if, by the new time, chronometers or
watches are found On. 27s. slow, when the
signal is given for II noon, it will show that
for the due allowance for distance between
our railway offices and the State Capitol
essterly, and the difference between Pro-
fessor Davidson's observatory aud San Fran.
cisco railway off ses or other base of time in
use there, In round numbers, our Postoffice
will undoubtedly close at about minutes be-
fore our old JPN And the afternoon trains
will all start actually about six minutes before
old hours. A. F. GODDARD.
Sacramento, November 14sh.
p. S.-Since writing my foregoing remarks
upon the actual changes in Sacramento tine,
when the new standard time goes into effect
which was understood 20 be Sunday next,
at noon, November 1Ssh-I hear that a
Washington telegram states, upon the au-
thority Of the Attorney General, TO the effect
that Washington has no official authority to
order the change TO standard time until Con-
gress has met and sanctioned it. If however,
the railways intend to have everything in
readiness for the change by tbs 18Th, noon,
as announced long since, they will probably
complete the electrical arrangements with
the observatory near Philadelphia, which is
so close to the 75' or fifth standard, or even
the Harvard observatory, with Canada and
Greenwich, Great Britain, so that no delay
need necessarily occur. A. +. q.