Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-23
RAroad Time.

A 81. Louis MAJ WHO processes 10 carry
"railroad time''must have five watches
about him; ortlainsgoing out of that
city are run according to five different
standards of tine. A Buffalo man who
should make tie sabe claim could get
along with fou' watches, and so could a
Cincinnati, ar Indianapolis, a Kansas
City, or an Onahy man. Three watches
would be a slfftient outfit for a New
London, Memphis, Louisville, or Au-
gusta, (Ga,) nah, who should profess
to carry the riload time of the place.
If some enthusiast should attempt to,
carry the rairhd time of the country
he would hfvl to struggle under the
weight of fifyfve time-pieces; for there
are fifty-tveshndards of time in use by
the railroads.
The stan.ah adopted by a railroad is
usually thu lotal time of some important
point along Ifs line. There is n ex-
ception- rdd which, in answer to a
request fr Information, reports that its
standard of time is sthe Superinten-
dents watch" A man going West
through Buffalo by one of the routes
from nat city learns from the time
table nat the train with which he hopes
to connect leaves Buffalo six minutes
befor he is due there, and when he ar
rivesin that city he learns by compare
son # standards of time that he has half
an lour to wait for the outgoing train.
A nan with Jefferson City time in his
pocket and bound for the Pacific coast
would carry railroad time till he reached
El Paso, but there he would have to
{urn his watch back a couple of hours,
b order to carry railroad time when the
tain started on. Going from St. Paul
Award the Pacific, he would have to set
Is watch back fifteen minutes at Fargo,
dain at Bismarck, again at Glendive,
ahin at Billings, and several other
thes before he reached the coast, if the
rid were built clear through.
/. IF these differences of time are puz-
;zAg and sometimes annoying to travel
ed, they are far more puzzling and an
nfing to the men who have to make up
til time tables for railroads and arrange
tim so that trains on different roads
SILL make connections. In the General
The Convention of railroad men, held
irthis city in the fall of 1881, the ques-
tin of greatly reducing the number of
stndards of time in use on the roads,
4estion which had already been dis
cssed a good deal-was referred to the
Secretary of the Convention, Mr., w. F.
Alien of this city. In a Convention held
iySt. Louis on April II last MI. Allen
Ride his report, submitting a plan
Vhich met with the approval of the Con-
Vntion so far that it instructed him to
and copies of the report and accom-
hnying maps to all General Managers
nd Superintendent and to endeavor to
scure their acquiscence in the adoption
4 the plan. At the Southern Railway
Mme Convention in this city a few days
20 the plan of Nj. Allen was unanim-
snsly adopted, and the opinion was ex-
lressed that the new arrangement would
Undoubtedly go into efectin the coming
hll.
Mr.. Aliens plan makes five standards
bf railway time for the entire railroad
system of the United States and the east
|ern British provinces. The difference
gof time between standards is one hour;
thus, when it is noon in the Provincial
division it is II o'clock in the Eastern, 10
o'clock in the Central, 9 o'clock in the
Mountain, and 8 o'clock in the Pacific.
The time of the Eastern division varies
hut 4 minutes from New York city time.
The greatest difference between the local
tine and the proposed railway standard
tine at any important point is about 81
minutes. The lines separating the five
divisions are as nearly north and south
lins as regard for the ACCESSIBILITY OF
chlnging time at terminal points will
permit. The Provincial standard is to
go7ern the running of roads in Canada
east of Quebec and the other British
provinces; the Eastern roads in the New
ENGLAND and Middle States, Virginia,
West Virginia, and North and South
Carolina; the Central roads in the other
southern Atlantic and Gulf States and
the Western States to a line drawn from
nor5h to southwest of the Missouri River;
theMountain roads between the western
boundary of the Central and a line touch.
ngMissoula, Salt Lake, and Fort Yuma,
and the Pacific, all roads to the west O.
tina, line. Each time division extends
from the northern to the southern limit
of the railway system of the country,
". Y. San.