The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-05
TIME HERE AND IN MANILA.
NOON IS 1877 O'CLOCK THE MORNING
BEFORE IN THE PHILIPPINES.

About Dinner Hour Saturday, May
/. According to savannah Time or
sunday Morning According to
Hong Kong TIme-HOw to Figure
the difference in Time Between
Here and ManiIa-HOw Spain Got
the philippines.
Asnublic attention is now directed to the
war operations in the Philippine Islands,
the difference of time between this coun-
trv and that far-off region of the world
bacor1,s a matter of considerable interest.
These Islands are almost on the opposite
side of the earth from us, and hence near
~ in direction under our feet. When it
IS dav with us, it is night there, and vice
versa.
Tn, exact difference of time between
Savannah and Manila is ten hours and
tbirtv-three minutes, reckoning westward
from Savannah, or thirteen hours and
tveutv-seven minutes reckoning eastward.
Theoretically, the new day begins at mid
night on the 1SOth meridian, reckoning
fron Greenwich, and travels westward.
As the philippines are west of this line,
,5eoretlcaNy. their time should be thirteen
hours twenty-seven minutes ahead of ours,
but bv an arbitrary bending of the inter-
NATIONAL date line from the 1Soth merid-
ian. the Philippines are included in the
region east of this line, and hence practi-
cally the time at Manila Is ten hours thir-
tv-three minutes behind the time at Sa-
vannah. SO that, if you wish to find the
time at Manila, imagine that your watch
he turned backward ten hours thirty-three
minutes.
For instance the reader who looks at
his watch at s O'Clock on Thursday morn
i1g in Savannah will know that 1t is 9:7
o'clock on Wednesday night at Manila. AS
time is actually reckoned IN the Philip
pines As the international date line is
arbitrarily made to bend around the Phil
ippines the effect Is to make the time one
day behind that. at Hong Kong, which is
almost in the same longitude. From the
dispatches which we have so received 1t
seems that the battle of Manila was
fought. according to the reckoning of the
Standards in the Philippines, about day
break on Saturday mornng, or about our
dinner hour on Saturday in Savannah. But
as the time at Hong Kong is one day
ahead of that in the Philippines the dis
patches from that point gave Sunday
morning as the date of the battle
So that if we wish to get the time at
Manila according to the way the people of
that city reckon it, we must turn our
watches back ten hours and thirty-three
minutes, and if we wish to get the time at
Hong Kong according to the way the peo-
pie of that city reckon it, we must turn
our watches forward just thirteen hours.
The difference in time between Savan-
nah and Madrid is hours and 10 minutes,
that of Madrid being ahead. When it Is
noon at Savannah it is $40 p. m. at Mad
rid.
There is a hit of interesting historical
information connected with the discovery
and possession OF the Philippine Islands
by the Spaniards which is not generally
known. In the fifteenth century Spain
and Portugal quarreled about the possess
ion of the lands discovered by their navl-
gators. The matter was referred to the
pope, who directed that the line of no mag
netic variation should be the boundary be-
tween them. All lands discovered to the
eastward of this line were to belong TO
Portugal all to the westward to Spain.
Spain was determined to possess herself
of some of the East India Spice Islands.
but she could claim them only by making
il appear that they were to the westward
of this line of mo varia tion," which at
that time was near the 50th meridian.
Hence Magellan proposed in the interest
of the King of Spain, to reach Maluccas,
by sailing westward. His voyage resulted
In the first ton of the globe.
As the Spaniards reached the Philippine
by sailing westward they carried their
time reckoning with them, and they still
retain 1t, although it is theoretically incor-
rect and one day later than that of their
neighbors, who brought their time with
them from the opposite direction.
Otis Ashmore.