The Butler weekly times., 1889-11-13
LENGTH OF A DAY,
Interesting Studies Made BY . Well.
knowa Man of Science

Know" Man of Science.
| Prot. F. H. Bailey makes the state
ment in the Boston journal of Educa
tion that the day contains exactly
forty-eight hours, and that the week
though seven times as long as the
day for any one locality. is. upon the
earth as whole. only four times a.
long. I'VE readily perceive" he says,
"that the natural day travels around
the earth with the sun and never ends,
it being day or daytime continually on
tho half OF the earth toward the sun
and night on the opposite half. The
date. or almanac day. travels the same
way and with the same speed and if il
had no place for beginning or ending
it would always be the same date.
1--WE will commence with the begin.
ming of the first day of the year. 1t is
the moment OF noon December 81 on
the meridian of Greenwich, forenoon
over the western hemisphere and after
noon over the eastern. The mean sun
is exactly in the south. and at that
moment, the first day OF the new year
is born. Where? Not at Greenwich.
The civic day begins at midnight, and
it is midnight on the 1S0th meridian at
that moment. and there New Years
day begins. AS the sun travels west
ward from Greenwich across the At
lantic and America NewYear's marches
westward across the Pacific and Asia,
conquering the earth at the rate Of
one twenty-fourth part every hour.
BY the time the sun reaches the Mis-
sissippi valley it is evening of the last
day OF the year in England, but Janu-
ary l hold sway over one-fourth of the
earth-that lying between the Goth
meridian east of Greenwich and the
180th.
six hours later. when the sun has
Travelled half way around the earth
and is over the 1SOth meridian, New
Years has reached Greenwich and
sways one-half the earth In another
six hours the bells of the Mississippi
valley are ringing in the new wear,
but 1t has been on earth eighteen
hours. And in six more the sun is
again over the meridian of Greenwich,
and New Years exists for a single mo-
ment over the entire earth. But
Mother Earth does not stop her waltz
ing. nor old Sol his westward Journey.
and the I'd day of January puts in his
where the 1st did TWENTY
our hours before, and immediately
commences chasing his elder brother
around the earth at the rate of moro
han one thousand miles an hour, the
'hase continuing for exactly twenty
our hours. during which the portion
VI the earth under the sway of Janu-
'ry l is continually decreasing and
hat OF the I'd increasing.
"Another method of presenting the
anne facts may be considered better.
Think OF the days past and future as
hreads each wound upon its own |
pool and of sufficient length to reach.
Vhen unwound. around the earth at |
he equator. The spools are kept at |
he lSOth meridian-those bearing |
'ast dates have been used. future dates
waiting their time, and always two
n use at once. When it is noon at
'reenwich Oh the 3lst of December the
pool bearing that date is empty ana |
is thread girdles the earth Beside
+. rotating about the same axis (the
oOth meridian). is the spool dated
anuary L; and at that moment some
over capable of travelling 1000 miles
n hour seizes the end of the thread
nd flies westward; the thread un-
'inds. The other spool rotates at the
anne velocity, but is winding up the
hread OF December 81, dragging it
round the earth, the free end keep
1g exactly even with the advancing
nd OF January 1. Each thread is ex-
city twenty-four hours unwindine
nd the same winding up again, and
ne portion of the earth lying north
nd south OF the unwound part of
ach thread bears it's date, conse-
uently each date exists upon the
arth for forty-eight hours, or little
Iore than two complete rotations of
lie earth upon its axis. 1t is evident
lat the thread of any day has been |
nWlnding seventeen hours when it
the seventy-fifth meridian west
Greenwich. that it is twenty-four
ours dragging itself across the line. ,
Id that it will be seven hours longer
sfore it is entirely wound upon it's
'ool and the date is past for the en-