Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-04-26
RAI1wAy TIME STANDARDS.
4 system by Which Annoysnces win
be Avoided.


be Avoided.
Fifty-siX standards of time are now
employed by the various railroads of the
country in preparing their schedules of
running time. These are arbitrarily fixed
upon the time of some railroad centre or
terminal point. In making up tables for
through trains where from two to a half
dozen different standards are employed,
this causes much confusion and annoy
ance. To rid themselves of this annoy
ance is problem that has long been con-
sidered by railroad men, and though in
Vulnerable plans have been suggested
in the past, none offered the needed re-
lief. Recently Mr.. w. +. Allen, Of this
city, Secretary of the General Time
Convention, and of the Southern Railway
Time Convention devised a plan which was
first made public at the meeting of the Ma
tional Time Convention at st. Louis last
week, W edneSday. His plan seems to OBJ
yiate all the difficulties which have been
met with heretofore, and offers the needed
remedy. By il he makes five standards
of time, known respectively as Provincial,
Eastern, Central. Mountain and Pacific.
Between each of these there is difference
of Just one hour. That is, when it is l.
O'Clock noon in the eastern, or seventy
fifth meridian time, tour minutes slower
than New York city time, ii is O'Clock
p. m. in the provincial section, or in Hall
fax, Nova Scotia, St. Stephens, New
Brunswick, or the city Of Quebec; II a. m.
in the central section, or Chicago, st.
Louis, Louisville, New Orleans, and other
cities in those sections; III a. m. IN the
mountain section. or Denver, Salt Lake
City, ETC., and 8 a. IN. in all points west OF
the Rocky Mountains, or the Pacific di-
vision.
The meridian time for the United States
is based from east to west upon the time
at the seventy fifth, ninetieth, one hum
bred and fifth, and one hundred and twen-
tieth meridIans, respectively. The terri
tory included in the plan is subdivided so
that the provincial standard governs
road in the Dominion of Canada east of
Quebec and the other British provinces.
The Eastern stardard governs roads in the
New England and Middle States, West
Virginia, Virginia. North Carolina and
South Carolina. The Central standard
governs roads in the remainder of the
Southern Atlantic and Gulf States, and
the Western States to line drawn from
North to South, west of the Missouri
river, and crossing it only to touch termi-
nal points of roads.
At the meeting of the General Time
Convention in st. Louis on April IL, where
railroad managers representing 10000
miles of road in operation in the North
ern and Western States were present, the
standards were unanimously adopted.
The Southern Railway Time Convention,
at its meeting in this city yesterday, also
unanimously adopted these standards,
the resolution Of adoption being as fol-
lows:
ResOlred, That this convention recon-
mends the adoption of the following as the
future standards for the use Of the rail-
way lines of the country:
l. That all roads now using Boston,
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore.
Toronto, Hamilton, or Washington time
as standard, based upon meridians east
of those points, or adjacent thereto, shall
be governed by the seventy-fifth meridian
or Eastern time -four minutes slower than
New York time.
II. That all roads now using Columbus,
Savannah, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Louis
vile, Indianapolis, Chicago, Jefferson
City, st. Paul or Kansas City time, or
standards based upon meridians adjacent
thereto, shall be run by the ninetieth me-
ridian time, to be called central time, one
hour slower than eastern time and nine
minutes slower than Chicago time, Note
This includes roads run by Macon.
Rome, Nashville, Selma Mobile, st. Louis,
Joseph, Galveston, Houston, and Omaha
time, IN addition to those named above;
also. lhe Union Pacific to North Platte and
Wallace, the Burlington and Missouri
River TO about CulbertsOn. the Atchi-
son, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to
Coolidge, the Texas Pacific to TOyah, and
the Galveston, Harrisburg and San AntO-
Mo to Del Rio.
III. That all changes from one hour
standard TO another shall be made at the
termini of roads or at the ends OF divis-
ions,
The standards will not be adopted until
the fall in order that plenty of time may
be given for the preparation of schedules
and the least possible annoyance met with
by not having to prepare schedules for the
summer business. The standards have
yet to be officially adopted by the mana
gers Of the various railroads of the cOun-
try,
After deciding to continue the through
schedules On all Southern and Southwest
ern roads as they are at present, and that
where changes in local time tables are to
be changed the changes be made on May
13th.-Netg York Times.