The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1900-01-04
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY { Il !.
The New York Journal illustrates
the end Of the Century Problem.

the end Of the Century Problem.
Thetwentieth century begins
at midnight Dec. 81, 1900. that
is to say, at the beginning of
the first day of 1901.
The twentieth century does
not begin on the first day of
1900. In other words the nine
teenth century is not finished
untilSthe end of the year 1900.
We have tried in vain to
make this fact clear to some of
our huge army Of intelligent
readers. We will try again, a, d
for the last time.
You admit that you have not
finished thenineteenth century
until you have fdished nine
teen hundred. years.
Now,then.instead of nineteen
hcenturies, let US take nineteen
each dollar consisting
of 100 cents as each century
consists of 100 years. Suppose
a man owed you nineteen dol
lars and paid you one cent at a
time. When would you CON
slider the payment complete?
When would you have your
nineteen dollars in your poket7
When he had paid you eigh-
teen hundred and ninety-nine
Cents you would not have your
nineteen dollars. But when he
had paid you nineteen hundred
cents you would have your
nineteen dollars. and your
twentieth dollar would begin
with the payment of the next
cent.
Similarly, when Father Time
has paid us eighteen hundred
and ninety-nine years he has
not paid us nineteen centuries.
He must give us one more
year,namely, the nineteen hun
dredth year, to make the nine.
teen centuries complete. After
he shall have given us that
year he will begin to pay us the
twentieth century and the first
year of that century will be
nineteen hundred and one, just
as the first cent ofthe twentieth
dollar is the nineteen hundred
and first cent. The nineteen
hundredth cent is only the last
centof the nineteen dollars, and
the nineteen hundredth year is
only the last year of the nine
teenth century.
For the love of heaven, get
this In your heads and keep it
there. And whatever you do,
don't write us any more letters
sagely proving that the nine
teenth century ends and the
twentieth century begins when
we have only lived through
eighteen hundred and ninety
nine years. The nineteenth
century will end when we shall
have lived through nineteen
hundred years, namely, on the
last day of December, 1900.
If this does not convince you,
come to the Journal Office with
$1,000. We will gladly give
$1,s99 in change. # you accept
that you will believe that the
nineteenth century ends at the
end of 1899. If you don't accept
$1,s98 in exchange for your
$1,000, then you don't think
that the nineteenth century
ends till the end Of 1900.
If you are not. prepared to
make this 81, 200 test don't let
US Hear from you.
In further support Of the CDR
rectness Of the statement that
the present century does not
end until the close: Of the pre-.
sent year the New York syn
quotes Camille Flammarion,
the great French astronomer
Here is what the Sun says:
The close Of the century and
the discussion as to when ethe
new century begins has attract,
ed unusual attention to Til
calendar,and a number of,curi.
ous facts about IL which an
notsgenerally known, though
IaarS s Z = = IL. - 81 ~ 81 a "A