The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1885-02-04
Tveutv-tour O'clock.

A new method of measuring time will |
be adopted at the Greenwich Observatory !
on and after january LIST. The day of
twenty-four hours will be reckoned from
midnight. The hours will no longer be
divided, as now, into twelve, but will be
counted on to twentyfour A number of
clocks and watches have already appeared
with faces adapted to the new method of
counting. But more than this would be
required. The hour hands of watches
must be made to traverse the twenty-four
sections instead of twelve But this mea-
surement l O'Clock p. NJ. would become
g o'clock, and SO on. The change about
to be made at Greenwich is an official one,
that being Government observatory.
The proposed change is already encoun-
tering some opposition. The change,
however, will be greatly expedited by the
watch and clock makers, who will intro
duce the new dial faces extensively, if for
no better reason than that it would make
business in their line brisk. The twenty
four hours on the dial will probably not
become popular. 0ldfashioned people
will find It hard to conform to the new
usage. There will be little use for "P. NJ"
and "a. NJ" when the new dials are
adopted. The London Times devotes a
leader to the change about to be made at
Greenwich. That journal does not take
kindly to the innovation:
II it were proposed to alter watches
more extensively, to paint upon. the dial
the twenty-four hours in one circle as the
twelve are painted at present, it would be
necessary to provide the hour hand with
an altered wheel, so that its complete re
volution should occupy twentyfom hours
intead of twelve; and to do this would in
volve an extensive reconstruction and re
arrangement of the works There is every
probability that new watches will, to a
large extent, be made in this way; but
even for them we question whether the
change would de desirable, or really con
duciTe to utility. Next to being an &C.
crrate timekeeper, watch can have nc
greater merit than easy legibilty, so that
il can be consulted by dim light or by a
person with defective vision; and nothing
is so conducive to this particular kind Of
excellence as white dial, with bold and
we'll separated figures. and with strongly
marked hands. In an ordinary watch, as
now constructed, the total space taken NJ
by the figures on the dial is not much les
than the aggregate of the interspaces; anC
il twenty-four sets of figures had to b.
PAINTED instead Of twelve, there woult
scarcely be any interspaces at all. Evel
the large dials of the observatory clock a
Greenwich look uncomfortably crowded
and in a watch divided in the same name
the circle would be practically unbroken
The love of novelty will be sure to pre-
duce some demand for such watches; but
il we are not greatly mistaken, the balanc
OF comfort and advantage will, befor
long, be found to be on the side of keeI
ing TO the existing arrangement.
The new method of counting woul
also involve change in the striking
gear of clocks. II is bad enough to hay
twelves strokes of the clock, but whe
these 90 on from twenty to twenty7tv
the clsngor would be unbearable. FC
scientific purposes there are undoubtedl
some advantages in counting time accord
ing to the new method adopted at ii
Greenwich Observatory. Young blood
might find it announcement to be out lat
when the small hours are no longer noteC
and Ia O'Clock is substituted for tw
o'clock. It is not likely that systei
which works well enough in all matte
Of business, will be made to give way to
system which, while better for scientlt
purposes, would work confusion and
attended with great additional expenl
in altering time pieces. The world W
still get along with day divided IN
two sections of twelve hours each.-S.
Bulletin