The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-05
VERY FAST TRAVELLING.
The News OF the. Hanging Of Deeming
In Aastr ALA O utran the Sun.

In Australia Outran tho Sun.
New York Sun.
An interesting instance of the magic of
the telegraph. an illustration of the way
it can annihilate space, outrun the sun
and perform mystifying jugglery with
old Times hour glass and with the
calendar, and an object lesson in every
day science, are afforded in connection
with the execution of the sentence of Muir
derer Deeming in Australia on Monday
Deeming was hanged at 1901 a. m. and
the news and details of the execution
were read at the early breakfast table,
and even before daybreak that day.
The news was in San Francisco soon after
5 o'clock Sunday evening, having been
sent by way of Montreal. The telegraph
beat the sun by almost a whole day.
The message had to travel the course
traversed by the sun, too, and did not
make the gain by cutting across lots or
doubling back and stealing lap. With a
cable under the Pacific the message
might have doubled on the suns track
and gained g day in minute or
so. kilograms from Australia must take
the westward or sunward course, and
make the full circular tour. The message
left Melbourne, on the far side of Aus
tralia, very soon after 10 o'clock Mon
day morning, travelled about 1900
miles, was retransmitted thirteen
times through as many different stations
and different lengths of cable, reached
New York at $50 p. m. Sunday,
and was in the !Sua Office before 8
O'Clock. The difference in time be-
tween New York and Melbourne is four
teen hours and forty minutes, so that when
Deeming was on the galiows it was 7:30
Sunday evening in New York, and the
remarkably quick time of less than an
hour and half.
This was the route. the message passing
from one cable and one set Of instruments
to another at each station: From
Melbourne across the Australian
continent by land line to Port Darwin,
thence 10 Banioewangie, in Java; 10
Singapore. to Madras, across India to
Bombay, under the Indian ocean to Alden,
in Arabia, under the Red Sea TO Suez,
along the Suez canal TO Alexandria, under
the Mediterranean to Malta, Malta to
Marseilles, across France and under
! the channel to London, thence to
! Canso, Nova Scotia, and then down the
| coast, via Coney island and the Brooklyn
| bridge, to Broad street, New York.
| The time occupied by cable mes
| sage in reaching any distant
| point is taken up by the number OF trans
| missions, the actual electrical transmits
! sion through any one cable being instan-
| taneous. Taking that into consideration,
| the news travelled remarkably fast.
| 1t might seem from the foregoing that
by travelling around and around the
earth one might have the same
day and date for an indefinite pc
| riod, provided be kept pace with the sun.
| But the day must end somewhere. and
end very abruptly, and the point where
! the old day dies and the new one Is born
is out in the Pacific ocean, about mid
! way between San Francisco and Goko-
hama, and running due north and
south. That line of demarcation in
the calendar runs through Boring sea. cuts
across and among the Fiji islands. and
/ Just scrapes the end of New Zealand, but
! ior convenience sake, and not TO have
! IL sunday midday on one side of the
street and Monday noon on the other in
some islands of the Pacific, the line has
| Deen crooked so that it does not cut an Y
! Island. As the earth turns before the
sun, midday of Sunday would advance
around the world until II struck that
! line, when it must perforce change OF
/ every day would ne Sunday. The change
! Is really made at midnight. 1t may re-
cure little thought 10 straighten out the
SUBJECT bat Il viii come straight event
! ualLy.