Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1894-11-17
The Wetrie System
A Highly Instructive and Interesting Lecture by
Dr. james Il. Tolmoge.

and mensures Of the Fotty.slIth Con.
gfpss:-"Inefc IA no subject in which
the general business interests OF Oh
countries ma well Bs pfogfeee IN science
in all its departments are more deeply
involved than in this, hence 10 u a
subjtct which has occupied the
attention Of the most ab,ifusr
thinkers aud the beat law-givers In
nll ages aud In al lands and climts.
rhs eslablisnmrut Of the system Of
WCighta aud measures belongs NOS
merely 10 the domain u meUhAu.
cal science, tut enters ns well Into the
higher science VI melaphysicr, aud the
generalization q history" Even
scm.civilzej peoples recognize tue
need Of some standard Of measurement,
and the higher tue CIVILIZATION tue
more general l. he use OF the adopted
standard. The world calls today for
an International etnuuafr; unit Of
measurement com on tn all nations
uaviug mutual relations Of Coumefcr
aud other dealings. Prot Barnard
writes, "NJ cause a nee che earliest or.
eHn 2 itiru n civilized society has COZ.
tfibu,ed more Largely TO ombafras busi'
ness transactions among men, cspeci-
lily by interfering with the facility Of
comm rcial Exchanges tuiwetn diiicf.
ont countries OF between different
/ rrIvincCs, cities, or even iudividus !
p, Citzsns Of tho t-mu country, tusn tue
J enJitss diversity Il ius.tumeutalities
employed l1F tne purpose of detefmiu.
| ing the quantities VI exchaugcablu
| c9mm0iitics."
Lutuscj siior some Of the sources
% our present unite. In tho ycsr ll20
! King Henry uecfsrd that tins Bfitn
eli or yard should bc TIE length Of bic
own royal aim. a sttnuafi rod, puf-
porting g. b. Of the exact length Of The
kiug's arm, was do ruaittu IN the eK-
chsqutL 10 VS. broken, however, ami
was 10 clumsily repaired that lie &C
cufncy csuiu not DO trusted. In 1865,
during the reign Of Henry III o.
England, grabs VI wheat became tn
uasis OF nrhHufcm ~, and IN 1924
hero Issued from Edward III Tue
solemn dacrse th1t barley corns should
substitute wheat grams, and tn royal
word went iofth that ".hfee barley
cOtns, r1und and uty, shall mako NJ
inch, anu twelve lncnCl u foot" In
1860 n copy OF tho ancient yard was
ptepaTri fyf tue Enghsh government,
Rnu was known ~ "Bifdia yard stuck"
thi5 WIS destroyed IL che great l.oudOn
fire VI 1854 At last the BRUSH autho.
tiles auOpttd a standard irYm the mOst
reliable copies Of Bifd's elict; anu oi
lhi. copy of a copy another copy was
male Tor the use VI the United
States c1aat survey. This yafd Is,
how ever now known TO be .Oll iucn
longer than the British impuriu yard,
type Of when 10 nov kept Ia LInuon
tower. IL IL copies VI this scale which
are furnished win sets " weighth 10
tho state governors by our common
government.
Long age the Ffouch adopted the
length OF the foot OF Louis XIV no tue
standard length, but this proving VA
Iofishable ~ tue arm Of the English
kiug, tho people Of France set about
devising more satisfactory standard
AZ will DO afterwards described. Their
fifst proposition was 10 make the length
VI n pendulum vibrating ~ COMBS nj sea
level In latitude 45o N, n STANDARD OI
msasutomeHt, anu IN the determine.
ton Of this unit tue French asked theil
British nelghbjfs " co.ol efAIv, but tue
latter refused.
ut WI lNNAAAiNa AhNAAhhN W WV lhNh
Of simple ami rational system oil
weights and me.tutos were expert
onctd aud deplorsd by the early iAth'
ers OF our nation. The Articles o.
Confederation provided, anu the Con
situation Of our country aiterward con
tirmed tho pr5viuiou, that C0ngfesi
should hold supreme power IN pre- sent
ing systems Of wsights, measures, AM
| the uuits OF coinage.
Washington In his frat message tS
! C0ngrcs. recommended early attention
10 the. suuJrot Of prlyiding a uniiotu
| syse vi weights and measures; aul
IN later communicable he repeated
the tevOmmun aIiIn, using thes,
words. "a uniformity In the weight
aui measures OF the country 10 AmOnl
the important objects submitted TO yol
~ the Coz s,itutiUn, aud n IL can b,
! derived from uiaudsr1. nj once la
yafisu q anu uuiycrsal, mus, be no le-l
| honorable 20 tho public councils thar
conducive TO the puOic convenience.
successors to the Presidential chat