The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-03-07
HOURS AND RELATIVES,
Varied Expression ON Common Topic
Hours. Days and Seasons -Nomcn-
claturc study.

ED1ToR STAR: Sitting OIL the
lanai Of THE Royal Hawaiian
Hotel" a few evenings since, en-
gagged in that idly drifting chat
which a delightful climate, boon
companions, and the easy recollect-
ions of a good dinner, are wont to
engender, were Hawaiian, an
American, an Englishman, a Jap
anese, a German and a Russian.
In one of the many buildings and
windings OF the most charming
mixture of ideas afforded by this
informal gathering Of representa-
tives from so many corners of the
world, someone wondered-"Why
the day began at noon with the
sailor and at midnight with the
landsman."
The gentleman from St. Peters
burg remarked that this was not so
strange as that the Russians held
their Christmas festivities three
days after the rest of the world had
ushered in the New Year. This
moved the gentleman from New
FORK to say: "There is no way in
which the keeping of time can be
regulated so that any nation i'll
the circuit of the globe can agree
with any other nation as to the
hour OF the day, the day of the
week, the day Of the month, or the
precise year or century. Suppose
that one could start from New
York city on Monday, the goth
day of December, 1895, at IL
o'clock noon and travel around
with the sun, from East to West,
keeping the sun always at the
zenith, and should arrive in New
York city at IL o'clock noon on
Tuesday, January Tst, 1896, where,
i'll his journey, would he reach the
point at which Monday ended and
Tuesday commenced"
The Japanese gentleman said that
there was point somewhere in the
Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and
Japan, where one would loose or
gain day, according as he was going
east or west, because it was quite
certain that the day begins earlier
i'll Yokohama than it does in New
York City.
"Das list namoegiith," said the
gentleman from Berlin, "the day
has no commencement and no end
ing; according to the plan of the
universe, the day goes on forever,
only some portions of the earth's
surface are sometimes i'll the
shadow and sometimes in the
sun. "
This moved the gentleman from
Honolulu to say that the divisions
Of time were for the most part
arbitrary and senseless; and that
he hoped the time would come
when I3 o'clock would designate
the same time The world around.
THE names of the days of the
week, y said he, "are derived from
heather deities, but they have the
merit Of being universally used"
At this the gentleman from
London, who had only smoked and
listened up to this time, driftcd il
with-"Yes, our Saxon ancestors
like most other warlike nations
were great idolators, but the deities
which they most particularly
adOr-d were seven i'll number, anC
to these the days of the week were
= respectively consecrated The Sun
: hence Sunday; the Moon, repre-
scented as female idol, from which
we have Monday; Tuisco, the Coz
from whom all Saxons sprung, CAV
US Tuesday; Wooden, who was con
sidered the father Of all Gods, CAV
!, , us Wednesday: Thor, Thursday
was the God of fruitful seasons
Friga; Friday, was the Goddess {
love; and Scatter, Saturday, wa
. the God of the waters. TO sue
. deities, our foreiathers not onl
i, paid divine honors, but even sacr
, feed human beings"
| do not know who it was tina
S said: Twelve o'clock, and all
S WE'LL" anyway, the conversatio
hoated into an eddy and was los
for we all agreed that it was lat
, time.
u +
X HannI,,1,, IT Morr1, - ,Hnl