River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-04-24
What SPOT on Earth first mas Rew Years Day?

by BERNARD GILMAN.

by BERNARD GILMAN.
If in Berlin, the New Year of 1884
began on Tuesday, Jan. LIST, at IL
o'clock, midnight, then the time at
Philadelphia, at the same moment
was 6 p. M, Dec. 81, 1883, and ut San
Francisco only 3 p. m. of the last nam
ed date. But vending our way to-
ward the east, to Asia, we find that at
the same time that Berlin has the in
itiatory moment of the New Year,
the time at Calcutta is o'clock Il. m,
Jan. LIST, 1884, at Sidney in Australia
9 a. III, and at New Zealand, | | a. IN.
If we were TO direct our imagination
farther and farther around the globe
in an easterly, also westerly direction
it will finally arrive at one and the
same spot on the globe, and now comes
the puzzle in regard to the date and
the day of the week.
The circumstance which located a
spot, an island in the Pacific Ocean,
for reckoning the dates and week days.
resulted simply from the fact that
some Of the European inhabitants OF
said island, who took our almanac
with them, arrived from the east and
some from the west. The Portuguese
and Hollanders went by way of the
Cape of Good Hope, and thence in an
easterly direction; while the Span
| iards sailed through the Straits of
Magellan, and of course in a westerly
direction; and so when they came to
| be neighbors, the latter Lad to reckon
one day less in their almanac than the
| former. For example Macao on the
Chinese coast, and Manila on the
Philippine Islands, are only = degrees
apart, or scarcely . hour of time; but
| the inhabitants of the former, being
| Portuguese, reckon one date more
than the Spaniards in Manila.
Father AlphonZo Sanctius, being ig-
| nOrant of this fact, at one time went
| from Manila TO Macao, at which lat
ter place he arrived on the I'd OF May,
according to his reckoning, but was
greatly astonished to find that it was
already the Sd Of May, with the IL
habitants of Macao.
The Sandwich Is., Friendly Is, So
ciety Is., Caroline Is. and the Marianas
and Philippines all have America s
weekday, and date. On the other hand,
| Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand,
and the Datch islands in Malaysia have
| the European weekday and date,
since the latter were discovered and
| settled from the west, and the former
from the east.
The division may be more clearly
| understood from chart upon which
the line, separating the places that
have different dates, is located. West
ward from this irregular and crooked
| line one day more must be reckoned
than eastward from the same line. In
consequence of this crooked line 1t
| may happen that places which are
near each other on the globe may
have entirely different dates and
weekdays. For example; when the
time on the East Cape of New Zea-
land is clock a. M, Tuesday, Jan.
/. 1884, the time at Manila, at the
same moment, is 1915 p. M, Sunday,
Dec. 30, 1883. These two places ex-
hibit one of the greatest extremes in
the difference of time for being so
near each other on the globe.
Now the question, which spot on
the globe has first New Years, is cas-
fly answered: 1t is New Zealand.
The eastward lying island Chatam,
belonging to New Zealand, claims the
honor of being the one spot on earth
where the midnight hour, which ush-
ers in the New Year, first has its
| awakening.