The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-29
THE DATE LINE.
A school Mystery Explained Through
the Aid of Man 200 Feet Tall.


W. F. Porter, in New York Sun.
In a recent Sunday issue of your paper
there was an article on the date line-the
line where sailors drop back one day in go
ing one direction and add day In going
the other The article was We'll written,
and 1t was a timely one because of our
possessions in the Far East.
The reason for making the change in
crossing this line is not easily understood.
An teachers of this subject find it to be
true, and probably each teacher who has
studied It for himself has method of his
own. I have one that 1 have never heard
another give or write about, and 1 beg
to offer it to all who are still in the dark
and wish TO see the light.
To begin with, four facts must be fixed:
sun does not move; second, that the earth
revolves on it's axis every twenty four
hours; third, that the revolution is from
west to east, or that we are moving to-
ward the east; fourth, that the rate of mo-
ton is about 900 miles an hour.
There are very few an the world who
have not seen man walk on a ball of
two or three feet in diameter. Now, mag
ire this ball 10 be suspended, as 1t some
times is We know then that the man
who walks on this suspended bali stands
still so far as his relative position is con-
cerned. and the bah moves round and round
under his feet. The same point as always
above the mans head
Let us now imagine a man tall enough
to walk thousand miles an hour. He
would be about LOO feet high. Let US
give him power to walk over water as
well as land. on Monday az exactly noon
we will set his face to the West, and
start him on his walk at the rate of about
a thousand miles an hour on this great
suspended ball, the earth.
Now, since ne walks at the same rate at
which the earth moves he viii not move
ahead any at all. He win walk just as a
horse does in a breaomill, or dog in a
churning power. To him it will always
be noon of Monday. for the sun will be
lust above his head al the time. The
earth below passes under his feet, lands
and seas move away to the East, ana
pass out of the light c6 day into the dark
ness of the night.
We. in this city, pass on with the rest
of the earth. We have our Monday after
noon and Monday night. aud Tuesday
morning comes. We PASS through the
morning hours of Tuesday and noon brings
us to our big man. To US it is Tues
day noon; to him il is Monday noon.
And so il would always he Monday noon
TO him. while in every tw enty-four hours
we should have a new day
Now. if this big man Of ours enjoys his
walking, and wishes 10 continue 1t, and
wishes at the same time to have his call
endar like ours, lie must Change his day
somewhere. And the world has agreed
that this change shall be m ade in the mid
die of the Pacific ocean. Then, with this
hotion he starts off on Tuesday. and
when he steps across longitude $50 de-
grees in the middle of the Pacific, he says;
THAT ends Tuesday; now Wednesday be-
gins" And when we came to him again
he would have the same time with us.
He would thereafter have the right day.
If. on crossing the date line, he said: An
other day begins"
If in going West he adds a day il
doesn't take a Yankee 10 guess what he
would have to do in going toward the
East.