Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-02
METER AND KILOGRAM.
The New International Standards OF
Weight and Length.
An INTERESTING OCCASION At THE WHITE HOUSE
TopAY-oPINIxo OF TIE PROTOTYPES ALLOTTED
10 TIE UNITRD STATES BY TIE INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION OF wxiaars AID MEASURES.

An nf1RRsrrNo OCCASION At THE WHITE Hous,
TopAY-oPENNo OF TIE PROTOTYPES AILorrII
10 THE UNITRD STATES BY TIE INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION OF wxiaArs AID MEASURES.
In the cabinet st the White House this after
noon President Harrison officially received an,
opened the national prototypes that we're al
loted TO the United States ct the internationa
convention of weights and measures held 1,
Paris These are . meter and Q kilogrem, AMI
will now be regarded a. the national standard
of weight and length. The formal opening O.
the boxes was attended with quite little cere
mony in the presence Of . large number o.
invited guests prominent In scientific and
official circles. These new standards will be o
great value, a. they are the exact counterpart
OF the official or international prototypes which
are preserved with the utmost care in Paris
There they are preserved in an underground
cave where they are not subject to any changes
OF temperature. The two standards opened to
Gay belong to complete set which has beer
made with the utmost care in Paris and divided
up among the various governments who adopted
the standards At the last general convention.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
The history Of the adoption of an international
standard is . brief one. In 1869 the French
government invited other nations to send dele.
gates TO Paris for the purpose Of forming q
commission Tor the construction Of new meter
as an international standard Of length. The
invitation was generally accepted and our repre-.
sentatives were Profs. Henry and Hilyard In
1873 the international bureau of weights
and measures was established and placed
under the control OF delegates from the
various countries interested. number
OF eminent European physicists and
chemists have been engaged for the last fifteen
Il,
which should come up to all the requirements
imposed by the bureau. The difficulties met
with have all been surmounted and o set OF
standards have been made as nearly perfect al
can be imagined.
HOW THE STANDARDS ARE MADE.
They are made Of an alloy Of nine parts OF
platinum to one Of iridium. They are COM
pietely rust proof and, as they will be kept in a
fre-proof receptacle, apart from all changes OF
temperature, any variations they may suffer
from the true standards will be SO small as to be
lnconcelvable. The meter stick and the kilo-
gram were securely packed and sealed before
leaving the bureau in Paris and have not been
opened until the President today broke the
seals and opened the boxes. He then signed a
statement that he had found the seals intact
and had no reason to believe that the standards
were any but those sent out by the bureau in
Paris Secretaries Blaine and Window also
signed the document, which will be preserved
with the standards. They will be kept in the
building OF the coast and geodetic survey on
Capitol Hill until some permanent place can be
provided for them.
AMONG THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT
at the ceremonies were Secretary Blaine, Sec
rotary Window, Prof. Lonely, Prof. Newcomb,
General Casey, Mr.. E. o. Leech, director of
the mint, 8. r. Emmons, Mr.. Trescott, Prof.
J. b: Hilyard, Or. B. A. Jones, Prof. E. w.
Morly, General A. w. Greedy, Mr. L. A.
Fisher, Mr.. o. II. Prittman, MIR. A. T..
Mosmen, Mr.. Marshall Mcdonald, Capt.
Z. NJ. Thomas, MIR. Chas. A. Schott,
Superintendent Mendenhall of the United
States coast survey and department OF weights
and measures; Representative Cultivate and
several members of the House committee on
coinage, weights and measures Mrs. Mckee
and her guest. Mrs. Fndlay of Baltimore, were
also interested witnesses Of the scene,