The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-04-02

A dispatch from Tacoma, WASH, puD-
lished in the Journal on Tuesday COM
mented on what was supposed to be the
remarkable fact that Easter Sunday on
the Pacific coast fell on March 20, in
stead of. as throughout the rest of the
world, on April s. The dispatch said the
only persons cognizant of the fact were
local astronomers and mathematicians,
adding:
They find that the first full moon after the
spring equinox put In an appearance off this
coast shortly after 10 o'clock Saturday night
and 1t is a fact that the first Sunday after
the first full moon after the spring equinox
is Easter Sunday the world over. But in
stance of the kind since the beginning of the
Christian era, only this part of the Pacific
advance of the rest of the world. When the
moon filled Saturday night, reckoning by Pa
cific coast time, ii was already Sunday in
New York and London. Consequently, for the
East and the remainder of the world, except
ing the Pacific coast, the first Sunday after
the first full moon after the spring equinox
will not arrive until next Sunday
If this is intended to imply anything
peculiar IN the movements of the moon
on the Pacific coast this year it is, of
course, erroneous. and If 1t merely re-
lates to the difference of time between
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts the same
thing has happened frequently. The
difference of actual time between New
York and San Francisco is three hours,
and the difference Of standard time is
very nearly the same, standard time be-
ing four minutes slower than actual at
New York and ten minutes faster at San
Francisco. When 1t is noon in New York
by Eastern time 1t is o'clock a. m. by
central time, 10 O'Clock a. m. by noun
tain time and 9 o'clock a. m. by Pacific
time. Thus it must always happen that,
according to local time, there is differ
ence of three hours between the occur
renee of an event simultaneously in New
York and San Francisco. But in this case
the same rule would apply to the GEN.
trail and mountain divisions of the coun-
try, in each of which the full moon oc-
CURED before midnight on the 18th inst.
whereas in the Eastern division it oc-
Cured after midnight. In other words,
If March 30 was Easter Sunday on the
Pacific coast it was equally SO in all
parts of the United States west Of about
the longitude of Detroit.
But the real explanation of the sup
posed phenomenon lies in the fact that
there IS no phenomenon about 1t. In
other words, it's supposed existence is
due to misunderstanding or misappli-
cation of the Gregorian/ rule for ascer-
tanning Easter. 1t is true that Easter is
the first Sunday after the first full moon
following the vernal equinox, but Pope
Gregory in his famous calendar calcu-
lated the Pascal full moon as being on
the fourteenth day of the calendar moon
at the time of the vernal equinox. There
fore, even If the moon did full on the
evening of Saturday. March %. the fol-
lowing Sunday would not be Easter be-
cause Saturday was not the fourteenth
day Of the calendar moon. Finally, it
must be remembered that Easter is an
institution of the Catholic Church, not
of astronomy. and while Catholic coun-
ellis and Popes may not always have
been thoroughly versed in science. they
have generally known what they were
about when they undertook to fix church
feasts and holidays. There is no trouble
about Easter. 1t comes for the whole
world on April 5.