The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-12
THE pROPoMD UNIVEasAE DAT.
Some of the Reasons for n Reform Of the
Generhl system Of Time NotRtion.

Some of the Reasons for n Reform sf the
| General system Of Tine Notation.
To THE EDIToR OF THE SUS--Sir! The Royal
| Society OF Canada In trying TO revive the move
ment for the uniflcation OF civil time through
| out the world. 1t Is easy to understand why.
! The world has long recognized the fact that
| the present system OF dates and hours 10 un-
necessarily yoxhtious and inconveniont. II
compes men OF business or science. II they
need to translate the time OF an occurrence into
terms of their local time standard. to count
dcgrocs Of longitude and figure out the day and
hour The telegraph brings daily reports Of
distant events. but wO cannot tell when they
occurred. as measured by local time. without o
mathematical calculation. IT may bo OF the
greatest importance to know the exact time
when telegram was sent, lust as II 10 essential
to the best results that the recorder Of Garth
trcmors IN England should know the exact
time the shock producing these tremors o.
Cured In Jaran, but II is difficult now to yet
this exact information. For example, the
seismologist. John Milne, devoted o great
deal Of labor last year to procuring informa-
ton for tables showing the value. In Green
witch mean time, OF the local time employed
throughout the world. lie said that without
such tables 1T Ia impossible TO determine ac-
| curatoly the instant Of occurrence OF earth
uuakes. sca-waves. magnetic phenomena, the
despatch OF kilograms and many other events"
Mines expedient 10 an awkward one. re-
curing much labor to prepare and time to
n'lizo Its results but with tho present
mult,'i G Oh tlme stanuaruS, eeonveh-
tho present svstems the Ingenious and simple
device recently invented by Mr.. Albert p. Mar
bic of this city. may be useful. 1t indicates by
moments adjustment tho time In any pl0ce
whose longitude Is known at a given time In
London. DIR. Mill In his Commercial Geog-
rayhy." emphasizes tho importance OF remem.
astant G parts Of the world sna for the bone.
ft Of the British merchant, he SIves tables OF
~" ,'"' u',t..enss ~ 'o"'e VI '"e 'o''n''' ~
Thers i. ro,h,"g nav ohou, t,s ,rsssD,
rnvemert for n mnivsrsal d,y even, thot ths
n'o,e,neu, 'ot u,'veis"' aa' tAr'pt 'l'a' 'u'
ter than ever before. 1t has been chiefly op-
noseI by astronomers who n,ake nautical nj
MANAGES. but not by the naviRators for whom
the american meteorological society reported
ton would consist in using Greenwich time
globe The disparity of time in our own coun-
nin w roiIroaI os " u, Inc IN com tor
[ d,rorsroo. -, t, aI" oross ,bo
ne"',s su''ns un.e,enoeI .. t.lne aeross .no
nneG Of reform In 1874 "t ths a"I Pros,ds an"
n, " '. ~. lm io me me fr S
ence at =, Washington. Ono Of the re-
suits of this conference was that the other
F'&fs SSSp5 f5GsH
ttude anu II was also rec3mmendrd that uni
form day be secured for the purposes OF inter
or ciyiI time OF Greenwich Observatory the
me pt IN" Tn4e woF b psH
from zero to twenty-four., so as to avoid the
confusion arising from the forenoon and after
%9" %3"G vi %% eHss
Ina IGG mN GnSua pc dscg ird H. 1
Each place might continue to employ It's own
looa. time. but for International purposes uni
ve,rrSnl time should be used
be NJ, confusion of these two time standards
Watches are now IN use with hands referring
on tho dinl. Every one rem en- bers the frantic
figuring that was done In, August last when
de @ The Sas
whether that grea: event occurred before or
after the signing Of the Spanish American
,Rs .sSn&TSa haa Sssn
five seconds that the protocol was signed
four and half hours before the lombard
The universal day would have been adopted
i" n gag. ago 4 minority OF the nations bad not
intcrposed objections. The Royal Society
however. reports that nearly all the States
have been moving In that direction. The
adoption OF the hour-Zo system OF time reck.
onlng from Greenwich frst by the United
of Europe except France was a long step In ad-
vance. In fact. II anything Is likely decisIvely
to defeat the universal day project It will prob
tenn everywhere.
There are, however. q number OF anomalies
in the application OF this system and enc OF
them. curiouslv enough. occurs In the United