Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-02-06
HOW TIME WAS TOLD,
VARIOUS exPEDlENTS EMPLOYED BE-
FORE THE DAYS OF CLOCKS.

Tho Clopsydra of the Time of the Second
sardanaralns-Tho Sundial Gifted with
Lasting Qualitics-The Hourelass and
Other Methods of Telling Time.
r ci, X in our sense of the word
;,i..,, t' i," zen for we are not sure ms
20 Via t.o,i.j they wcro which in s72
the Fenctians invented. of which they sent
a specimen to Constnntinoplc) one made
In 1874 for Charles V of Franco. 1t was
u very blg one. weighing several hundred
"cl2ht ana mad" by l. converted Arab,
named Henry dc Vic, and those who are
curious may find full details in Fruiss,rt.
1hls clock was put up in the round tower
OF the ~Ialncc, and for months vast crowds
assembled to watch tho novclty's action
ana details. 1t is not with this. however.
or any of the succeeding efforts of clock
makers that we arc concerned, but ut IL far
anterior date with the contriynncrs Ivy
which men measured time and supplied in
some degree tho place of the clock. And
BACK to rrtnotcSt ages must we go.
The water clock, otherwise the clcpSy-
ara, seems, unless the Psychologists find
something fresh in that land of inccssant
discoveries from tho most far mists of
tlrno, to have been the first scientific effort
at noting tho hours. \ good many Ecu,lc
talk glibly about the clcpsydra who neither
Know Its precise construction nor the ma
tlOn who have tho credit of constructing
IT, mat belongs to the ASSyrian, and us
lar back lis at least over I, 500 wears ago
the clepsydra was used in Ninevch under
tho sway of tho second SarduEnpnlus. 1t
was n brass vessel of cylindrical shane.
holding several gallons of water, which
could only emerge through ono tiny hole
III the siue. Thus the triGkling of tho fluid
~ Il, @n~ . =. -,
water was ennptiesl about half II dozen
times per diem. In Ninevch there was one
at tho palace, and one in each principal
district. These were all filled by signal
from Il Waterman on u tower at tho mo
lncnt of sunrise, and each had an attend
ant, whose business was to refill the
clepsyura as soon rs 1t was emptiud, tho
TACT being announced Icy cricrs, much as
In tho last century tho Waterman droysily
shouted the hours at night throughout the
streets of London Some five centuries
later an anonymous genius made u great
improvement by inserting toothed wheels,
which revolving turned two hands on u
dial in clock fashion. thus showing the
progress OF the time, which from ono fill
ing to cmptying averaged 2lI hours. In
this shape tho clepsydra, which was then
chiefly procurablc in Egypt, became intro
duced to various other nations, including
Rome, where it fiourished with various
splendid embellishments until the end of
the empire.
Tho sundinl stands next in tho order of
time to the clcpsydra. 1t was invented at
Alexandria some five centuries and a half
Is. Z. Unlike the water clock, it flourishcd
through nl the centuries, even unto our
own days, where it fifty adorns many a
stately or simple old world garden and
E1nnDfh SHpf11- lptv,, rn- e
greater constant use In other chimes thar
those Of our ~"brumous" isle, from the far
larger amount Of sunshine these enjoyed.
but some Tine and famous sunuia!s have
long existed within the ronlm, and the in
scriptions have not been their least charm
of tho past.
During the dark ages tho clepsydra
seems to havo vanished with the Roman
empire. Its ~rcintroduCtion into Europe is
Que to that hero Of cur young days, the
Caliph Haroun-al-R aschid. the famous 20
tentate of Bngdad having sent in tho year
s07 u splendid specimen to Chnrlemagne.
But just about or a little before this time
Franco had hit on another mode of mark
ing time by the invention of tho hour
glass, destined to as long an existence as
the sundinl. Indeed, properly mndc, this
was n valuable and accurate timepiecc,
provided it was regularly turned.
We need not do more than aliudc to the
habit after tho reformation, and especial
ly in Scotland, of preachers measuring
their discourscs by the hourslnss in the
pulpit. These marked an hour exactly.
Those first made in C~harlemagne's day
ran for - hours. Alfred the Great hit
upon u method of measuring time which
shows that there was no Saxon one, though
very probably some of the inconsistencies
| flpn fhp only hnunSS nf Er,Nrl,1r,l ,,,r,
acquainted with water clocks and hour
glasses, If not by practical knowledge at
any ratio by hcarsay. However, the king
dom in general followed .Alfrcd's plan.
which, though ingenious, necessarily lack
ed anything like the accuracy of the other
Inventions. Yet the kings idea was hailed
as a wonderful effort of genius, which for
such an era ana by comparison with the
general ignorance, it was. AS every school
boy Tin this case literally knows, Alfred
marked timo by flashlights. A long ex-
~istence, by the way. has tho rushlight en-
joycd. seeing that middle aged people still
remember its use in tho nursery a.
night, and the reflection of the circular
holes in the tall metal shades on the cell
Ing. Alfred, says an ancient authority,
that no might properly know how the
hours passed, made use Of burning tnpcrs
which wcro marked with lines. ana iiXcd
In lanthorns, an cxncdient invented by
himself $50. by tho way, We're in S92 the
lanthorna Of scraped horn, which still
some old fashioned rustics prefer to glass;.
But tapors, however, were then very OK
pensivo. Tho king might himself use
these, but probably the rushlight WAS used
by people in general.
or all primitive methods of telling the
time, however, the most curious and
among tho most ancient existed in China,
and as tho "cyclc Of Cathny" has rcvolved
unhltcred for ages TO wonder it Is still in
use there. Time was guessed by recourse
80 tho necessary cat. BY exam
lnarion of her eye tho Chinaman could
and can make n fair shot at the hour by
Inspection of the creatures pupil. At noon
1t is said completely to contract, SO that "a
thin hairlikc perpendicular line only de-
rotcs tho pupil, which again after moor
begins to dilate. The floral clock Of Lin
nuus Is, of course, comparatively modern.
.-London Standard.
Dycing wcolena Black.
70 color woolcn goods black, use an
ounce Of extract of lOpyCnl and half nm