Evening star., 1896-07-04
WHEN THE CENTURY ENDS.

ContrOversfcs as to the Date of the
Twentieth Century.
From the New York Herald
Does the twentieth century begin on jan
uary 1. 1900. on January 1, 1901? This
Question agitated great mary people some
time ago. and 1t seems to he agitatine
some now.
And, as Is the case with every question IL
has advocates on each side. Those who
hold that the twentieth century will dawn
on January 1. 1900. reason that this is so
because the first year Of our era began on
January 1. 100. Another argument is that
the first century began On January 1 of the
year Q. and the second on January 1 OF the
year 100. just as a child is said to be I'm its
first year before 1t has reached the anni-
versary Of its birth, when 1t enters its sec
ono year This logic is applied to the twen-
uetn century question, and these who us..
1900. -
They argue further that December 81. 30.
was the last day in our first era, and COM
p!eted the frst century, and that, there
1ore: January 1. 100. marked the opening
OF the second century. Any child win tell
you: .hey say; that persons twentieth
year begins when his nineteenth birthday
is attained. So they conclude. the TWEEN
tieth century begins In the year 1900.
, rms reasoning Is worked out on various
ihes, put the conclusion is hardly correct
Much better arguments quite conclusive in
their nature. are advanced by those who
hold that the twentieth century will begin
on January !. 1901. The weight of logic
seems 10 De In their favor. and here are
scme OF the points they make:
A favorite argument advanced by tbosa
VINO hold that the twentieth century will
begin on January 1. 1901. is that a certain
entirely completed: therefore. thai the
twentieth century will not be ushered in
CLtii the nineteenth has rounded Off a fulI
lO years. and that will not be until mid
ton these advocates point to the definition
OF the word century" as given in nnost
dictionaries. where 1t is defined as a period
OF io years. reckoned from any given point
or GATE. SO. they argue that, as the CEN
tury began with the year 1, 1t ended with
the year 100. and the second century bega n
with the year lOl. Suppose. it has been ar
gued. man starts to put 100 potatoes in
barrel: II he adds another hundred to
them. the first potato Of that hundred will
be the 1O1st potato. Following out this
reasoning. it is held that the twentieth CEN
tury will not begin till the year 1900 is
fully completed.
When you write December 81. 1896, saws
one on the 1901 side. you mean the year
i iS96 VIII be completed on December 81.
1896. and that on the following day the
year 1897 will begin. When you say De-
cember 81. 1896. you do not mean 1895 years
plus the days up to December 81 Of the
next year. but December 81 of the year
1896 Hence. they say. in rounding of their
argument. December 81. 1900, will be the
19OOth year Of the Christian era, and the
last day Of the nineteenth century. 40 the
1901. l.
As a way out Of the difficulty, conserya-
tive people suggest 1t would be well to as
certain how the ancients regarded the
question. and to do as they did. II at the
beginning. they say. the ancients wrote
January !. year I, then we, when we write
January !. 1900. mean that the rNOth year
has Just begun. and We must wait twelve
months before we can write 1901. But 1t is
not easy to ascertain what the ancients did
In the Chronological line In the year 1: so
Tar as known they left no data as to their
method Of computing time.