River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-02-26
The Growing Day.
From the Hartford tct Times.

/
Now begins again to those who note
the characteristics of the Winter day
that stage in the increase of the days
length at which the increase becomes
decidedly perceptible. During this
month the increase in the duration of
| daylight amounts in this latitude to
| forty-nin minutes-or only eleven
minutes short of an hour. 1t seems
good to see the days grow longer. 1t is
an annual experience; but when for OBJ
serving and thinking persons will it
ever lose its interest or its well
come character? Here IN the chill
North, when the sun, although in real
! ity much nearer to us than In Summer
| is nevertheless at such low southern
angle that we lose a great share not
only of its heat, but even of its light,
the signs of its return are naturally well
come, and become subject of more in
terest than they ever can be after we
have once fairly put the harsh reign of
the ice and the shadow securely behind
us and really entered upon the full tide
of the beauty of the Spring. We can
now, shut up here in the chill shadow
of the long Northern Winter, take an
interest in noting, not only the actual
gain in minutes or half hours for the
returning sun, in his triumphal
northward march, but even in
discriminating Alright between the
true or suns time of this meridian and
| the clock or standard time which has
been adopted, and thus in knowing what
the true gain actually is. Next month
will add something more than an hour to
the gain we are making in this.
The chief change, of course, is as yet
in the afternoon. Already the sun sets
nearly twenty minutes later than it did
at its earliest, while the growing twi-
light protracts the day another quarter
Of an hour, so that practically the after
Moons are already more than half an hour
longer than they were month ago. By
;he end of January the increase in the
length of the afternoon alone will be
4 ;hirty-four minutes. The true, or suns
lime is nearly ten minutes faster in this
particular meridian, than the new stand
ard time. If we call the difference ten
minutes, and take this 9Th of January
for an illustration, the sun rises here in
reality at 1927. instead of 7:17. the
standard or clock time, and sets at 80,
instead of A 40. The mornings, too,
now begin to be little earlier-gain-
ing a quarter of an hour by the end of
The month For this part of the day
The standard time will probably be
last enough for the people who don't
relish an early rising from bed in these
chill late mornings.
4 But, no matter what the standard is
the days are growing longer. This is
The interesting and welcome fact to peo
pie who appreciate the change from a
eold, pale, colorless world to world
Of life and warmth and color. To such
who can neither hasten the suns re-
turn nor yet themselves go to meet him
h his own dominions, not even the
dead waste and middle of the night"
IF our Northern Winter can prevent,
out it rather stimulates, the thoughts
bf the sun lands:
Larger consultations burning, mellow moons
and happy skies.
ereadths Of tropic shade and palms in cluster,
knots of Paradise.
Meantime, the upward-coming sun
IN which all beauty and life depend
will already in January have moved 6
degrees northward in his great pendu-
hm sweep, bearing back to us in it's
own due season the full tide and glory
If the Northern Spring and Summer
And our Northern May and June, be it
remembered, are far nearer than any
ropic land ever is to the best earthly
approximation to the rational idea of
Paradise.