The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-14
JUGGLING WITH a DAY.
pu,zIes Onered by Crooked Inter-
national Date Line.
From the Boston Herald.

From the Boston t1eIdlu.
Everv one knows that when it is midday
with ms Il is midnight at every place on
Numerically the opposite side of the
globe. In other words, the difference
between our time and that of place so
situated is exactly twelve hours Bombay
is place so situated-very nearly-with
relation to Boston. The clocks of Bonn
bav and those of Boston indicate the same
hour though in different halves of the day.
Thus when il is a. m. In Bombay At is
3 n m in Boston; a. m. in Bombay, p.
m In Boston, and so on around the dlal'
Just now all eyes are turned upon hong
Kong and Manila, which are situated very
nearly. but not quite half way around the
globe. the distance being reckoned west
ward. The difference In time between
Manila and Boston is eleven hours. When
a Minila clock indicates a. m. the time
with us is D. M, and the same difference
holds Of every hour, of course
To change Manila time to Boston time,
therefore, we must add eleven hours
treating the case as though the Manila
clocks were that much SLOW. Thus, II we
hear that a certain event took place at
Manila at 10 a. M, we can figure out at
once that it was then 9 p. m with us; II the
event is said to have happened at pm,
then 1T must have happened while we were
asleep or should have been asleep, at
o'clock in cur morning.
Thus far the reckoning is easy. But now
comes a very important question, which,
unless it is answered correctly, may put US
in error twenty-four hours as to the time
Of occurrence-how about the day of the
month and week? This matter is not so
simple as it may seem at first sight,for here
again we must make Correction" and
unless we are clear-headed we shall make
mistakes sometimes. In fact, IL makes a
difference, which we must allow for,
whether an event is dated in Manila time
or in that of Hong Kong.
For example, among The cablegrams first
received by US relating TO Commodore De-
weys victory in Manila Bay was one
dated Hong Kong, May ?, announcing,
though prematurely, as 1t proved, the bonn
bardment OF Manila, supposed to be then
taking place The day was then Sunday,
May j, in Manila, but in Hong Kong It
was Monday, though the actual difference
in time between the two places is less than
half an hour. What day was it, then, with
US?
The answer of this question depends up
on the location of the international date
line" The fact is we'll known that there
is somewhere I'm the Pacific ocean a mys-
ferrous line, upon crossing which one must
make a CndHSG III MS IechouAuS u tliic'
If he crosses it from east to west a day
must be dropped If in the other direction,
a day must be repeated This line Is the
1S0th meridian of longitude east or west
of the prime meridian" Of Greenwich. In
other words, ii is tho meridian of longi-
tude which lies half way around the globe
from Greenwich. The days are named DIFF
ferenty on the two sides of this line. When
1t Is Sunday on the east side. 1t is Mon
day on the west side. When it is Monday
on the east side 1t is Tuesday on the west
side, and so on through the week, and
there is, of course, the same difference in
the days of the month the 1st of May, for
instance, on the east side, being the I'd Of
May on the west side, and so on, though
actually it. is one and the same day
The reason for this peculiar state Of
things is that this Is the line at which, by
the common consent Of the commercial ma
tons, the day is considered TO begin. 1t is
not easy TO make perfectly clear in a few
words the necessity for some such arrange
ment; but the mystery may be cleared up
partially in this way:
Suppose a person, starting from Boston
on Sunday, were to travel around the
earth in a westerly direction in some magic
conveyance as rapidly as the esun in its
diurnal course travels or seems 90 travel
in the same direction. He would accom-
psh the journey in twenty-four hours,
and having started on Sunday, he might
be pardoned 81 he supposed it to be Sunday
all the way around-that Is, If he took
no note of time-for the sun would remain
above the horizon Throughout the journey.
Yet when he reached Boston a L the end of
twenty-four hours ii would be Monday
No doubt about that. Clearly, at some
point IN the flying journey he should have
changed his ume-reckoning. He shouc
have said to himself Thus far II has
been Sunday; for the rest Of the trip I
will call the day Monday. Had he done
this he would have come out all right
The 1S0th meridian is an excellent place
for making this change since It lies al
most wholly in the ocean, where a double
named day incommodes nobody.
Were this matter being treated here
merely in general way, no more need be
said But since we are speaking with n
side glance at te Philippine Islands an
important note must be added. Although
the date line lis commonly stated to be
the 180th meridian of longitude, and is
practically so regarded by navigators, act
ually, as IL is laid down on q chart Il
does not follow this meridian, but II takes
long sweep to the west and curves
around the Philippine Islands, bringing
them on its eastern side, notwithstanding
that these islands lie some sixty degrees
OF longitude west of the theoretical date
line. tNt
This exceptional position OF the Philip
pines with reference to this line may have
originated in the circumstance that Ma
gellan discovered them while sailing west
ward, and that the way of reckoning time
there had become established, owing TO
their early settlement, before a date line"
was thought Of: but whatever may be the
reason for it, the exception Is a matter 20
be borne IN mind In dealing with Manila
time. IL is this position OF the date line
which causes an apparent difference Of
twenty-four hours between the time %