The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-14
TWBNTY-FOUR O'CLOCK.
The :" Universal Day" Time Reform Making
Rapid HSadWaY.

When the hour zone system. commonly
known as the Standard Time reckoning,
was adopted in this country it was proposed
that the Universal Day" in which the
hours are numbered from one to twenty
four ccnSecutively should be adopted at the
same time. There was much discussion at
the time, and this discussion has been re-
newed by those who see that the system
which divides the globe iato twenty-four
zones or hours was left incomplete by re-
tanning the old system of twelve-h hour clocks.
The Washington Conference recommended
the universal day" (the worlds standard
unit OF time) which the representatives of all
nations present determined should be sub
divided into a single series Of hours num-
bered from zero to twenty-fOur.
The old custom of counting the dav by
halves has no more to recommend it than
dividing the months into halves, each half
number in reverse order. a custom which
prevailed in Europe before the fifteenth
century. But the division of the day into
two sets Of twelve hours similarly named
has positive disadvantages. In these days
OF railways the possibility of error is In
creased by 1t, and this is no light cOnsdeTa-
ton. In the printing Of timetables and in
giving and receiving train orders a mspTint
or mlSapprehenslon of single letter may
cause a mistake or mishap. The twenty
lOuA nun uVbdttbn ltInOftS All uOuUl ana
assures safety. The change from the old
custom is easily effected and without
danger. Experience has established that
timepieces now in use can readily be
adapted to the new notation by inscribing
on their dials the afternoon hours inside the
circle indicating those of the morning.
The new notation is now in use on all the
railways within the Indian Empire and n
CHINA. 1t has been widely employed in
Canada for four or five years, where it gives
Increased satisfaction. According to a re-
port submitted at the last annual meeting
of the American Society OF Civil Engineers,
there is every prospect of the change being
made on all the railways of North
America at an early day. The same re-
port points out that while at the beginning
of 1899 the ;wenty-fOur- hour notation was
in use on less than 1000 miles of railway,
before the year closed it was permantly
adopted on more than 10000 miles. A bill
has been proposed for presentation to the
Canadian Parliament which is TO legaliZe
the reforms in time-reckOniDg, which have
been adopted throughout the Dominion.
The British Government has forwarded
10 the Colonial Governments tile recon-
mendati0nS Of the highest scientific au-
thorites in its service with regard to the
adoption OF both the hour zone system and
Of the twenty-fOur hour notation for
railway timetables Almost the last
speech delivered in the German Reichs-
tag by General Won Moltke was in adyO-
cacy of the reform. He recognized the i'm
portance of progress in the method of time
reckoning. Engineer Sandford Fleming
has this comment to make on this new time
notation in the Engineering Magazine:
1.-THE rapidity with which advantageous
changes are carried in the Unites States
would seem to indicate that here is a field
Offering unusual opportunities for the
speedy introduction of proper methods of
time reckoning. Indeed. all the
conditions seem to be ready and waiting for
the men Of activity, earnesiness and influ-
ence who will take the movement in hand
and carry it forward to success. Jewellers
Review