The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-10-04
THE YEAR 1900.
According to the Gregorian Gal.
endar Win Not Be q Leap Year.
Next Year VIII BE tho Only Chance IL
Eight Years FOR the Girls to Scoop
In = Husband-some His
tOric Data. -.

tOr1c Data. 81
Women must make the best use of
their time possible in the enjoyment Of
the especial privileges accorded to them
during the leap year Of 1896, inasmuch
as they will lack another opportunity
until 1904, eight years later. The
maiden OF II can hardly hest
taaere- reason Of her youthfulness; she
W.T.. ~ % before she can again
y ssIp. JAMS privileges and do the WOO
ing. The expectant spinster must mass
every effort for next years struggle;
eight years more would render her
hopelessly passe, says the New York
Herald. Indeed, the prospect is sad
from the feminine point of view, unless
n coming century ushers in the active
reality of women's alleged rights; in
such a case it will be sad, even sadder,
for a Centuries are so long that
men and women forget that the regula-
ton OF u calendar requires every
hundredth year-although Invisible by
four-not to be a leap year. It was
also settled years ago, when the final
changes in the calendar were made.
The primeval system Of reckoning
time was based on~the moons changes,
as is shown in u word month" BY
the ruling of the moon months were
reckoned with either 20 or 80 DAYS.
Soon the rotation of the season wa
made to serve as a standard. It soon
appeared, however; that the two sys-
tens did not fully agree It was then
that it was found necessary to invent
some means of adjustment. One Of the
earliest means devised was that in use
among the Egyptians. By their ar
rangement the year was made up of the
seasons, and included 365 days each. In
order to fill out the lack arising from
this system of months FIVE supplement-
airy days were added at the end of the
year.
The Jews reckoned their year as COM
posed of 12lunar months OF % and 80
days alternately, and the discrepancy
which resulted was relieved by the oc-
casional introduction of a 18th month.
The Syrians, M~acedonians and
kindred peoples generally followed
the Jewish method. In pursuing this
reckoning 2 years in a cycle of
nineteen have this i~nterealary month.
and the number of days in any year
varies from 353 to 1856.
The ancient Greeks made their wear
to consist of 10 really lunar months,
but Scion in 495 made a law for the
Athenians that the months should
comprise 20 and 80 days, with the adj
dition of an intercalary period oc-
casionally. Afterward 3 times in 8
years a month of 80 days was added, by
which means the average length of
each year was made to be 3644 days.
Ancient Rome had but 10 months in
the year, but in the time of it's kings
the lunar year was introduced, number
ing 355 DAYS in the IL months, an oc-
casional i~ntercalary month beng
employed to make the necessary addi-
TONS. The Roman system of comput-
ing time, however, was beset with
many difficulties, and the gross ig-
ran of the priests caused them to
commit innumerable blunders in their
reckoning, until chronology was hope
lessly confused. Julius Caesar, in the
year 46 B. c., devised the calendar
which bears his name. In his system
the year had 1865 days, save every
4th, which had 366, making the aver
age about 1864. Exactly reckoned,
the year was made up of 365 days, S
hours, 48 minutes and SO seconds, or
II minutes and 10 seconds less than
SRSN ConSs,. no " o1c0 <ho- o,,cnn1%
number of days to the months, and his
calendar as a whole was so excellent
and it's errors were so slight that it
was generally adopted. Until the year
1882 A. D. oachange wa made in it,
but by that time the II minutes and 10
seconds of error in each year had grown
to 10 complete days.
AS a result, the time of Easter was
shifted from its true place, and all the
movable feasts of the church, which
are reckoned from it, were thrown out
oa, the proper order. To remedy the
re Aultant annoyances Pope Gregory
XIII. ordered that October S. 1882,
should be reckoned as October Is, 1882.
To guard against a recurrence of the
t-oubae Pope Gregory also decreed that
every hissAredth year should not be a
lesss.&r;, save every four ~hundredth,
btS exception beginning only at
1000 AsI.p. The excellence of Gregory's
compgs ftion shows that the total dis
crepan,JS by his calendar would mount
to no more than one day in 5000
years.
Italy, Spain and Portugal unhesi-
tatingly followed the pope's direction.
France made the change in the same