Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-02-23
When Does the Century End ?

Mn. EDITOR II noticed in your ed.
itorials Of Feb. I'd you stated that the
present century did not end until the
last day Of the year 1900. / don't want
to dispute your statement. but would
like to have you give an explanation in
your next issue.
| have always supposed that time
was reckoned from the birth or time OF
Christ and as an ordinary person Is 100
years old when he reaches his Tooth
birthday, | should have supposed it
would have been the same with Christ
if he had lived. If so, had he reached
the year 1900 there must be 1900 years.
unless he was year old when he was
born, and if he was it will take until
1901 70 get 1900 years. II you can
commence time with one year, why
not with one century and according
to that we would be in the eighteenth
century now, but / contend that time
as well as distance starts from nothing.
! find quite a difference OF opinion in
regard to the time the 10Th century
commences, but as You were 50 posi-
tive ! would like 10 have YOU print
this and explain, as | am open to con
victiOn.
J. NJ. CUsHMAN,
Hayerhill, Mass, Feb. 20, 1899.
We gather that our correspondent is
Of the opinion that the present century
ends and the twentieth century begins
with the end OF the present year, or the
beginning OF next year, 1900. At first
thought it would seem to be true that
when, in the reckoning of time, the
jump is made from one hundred-year
period to another that that moment
marks the dividing line between the
centuries.
A little consideration, however, will
suffice to show that this is an error. Al
century is one hundred full years, done
not uinety-nine done and the one hum
dredth begun, There is a difference
between the way birthdays are count
ed and the way time is reckoned, which
must have escaped our correspondent.
From the moment Of the child's birth
until one year elapses, he has no birth
day. We speak Of him as ''in his first
year" At the end of the year comes
his birthday, which means that he has
lived one full year. So when the man
reaches his hundredth birthday he has
completed one hundred full years and
is a century old.
Now suppose that We We're reckon
ing time by the life Of this man. The
first year OF his life would be the year
/. This year would end with his first
when the year would be-
gin. When the child was only one
year old, as we reckon age. he would
be living in the year ,, rs we reckon
time. So when he reached the age Of
% and was living the years time pre-
ceding his Tooth birthday, he would be
living in the year 100, rs time is reck
oned, and not until the close Of the
year 100 and the beginning of the year
lol would he have completed one hun
dred years of life, and the first century
have been finished. If Christ had lived
all these centuries, He would not have
the dawn of the twentieth
century until lie had completed his
hundredth year. which would
have been Dec. 81. A. ID. 1900.
If Mr.. Cushman will Just note that the
year 1 A. d. ended at the precise mo
ment when Christ was one year old.
and keep this constantly in mind he
will be helped out Of his quandary
The year A. d. 100 ended when lie
would have been 100 years old, had lie
lived, and, conversely, when He
would have reached his hundredth
birthday would have been at the end Of
the year A. d. 100. not the beginning.