The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-01-09
LEO'S POSITION Is CLEAR
THIS YEAR is THE END OF THE
CENTURY.
The Privilege Of Celebrating Midnight
Mass is that the Last Year" may be
Worthily Begun.

The Flemish Catholic Weekly of De-
cember 10, 1899, published at Brussels
in its announcement that the Pope had
granted the privilege of celebrating
mass at midnight December 81, clearly
makes it appears that the belief held
in Belgium is not that the Pope has
decided that the twentieth century be-
gins with the year 1900, but on the con-
trary that 50 far as he Pope has de-
cided anything it is that the year 1900
is the last Year of the ninenteenth CEN
fury. The language used by the Flem-
ish Catholic Weekly is as follows:
DE Paus heeft besloten dat, ON het
laatste jaar der tegenwordige eeuw, Oh
weerdige Wijze te beginner, op 81 de-
cember aalstaande i'm kerken en- kapeI-
len van gansch de wereld het H. Sa-
krament te middernacht ter aanbidding
zal mogen uitgesteld worden en- dat err
op hetzefde uur Gene enkele mis- zal
mogen gelezeE of gezongen worden."
Without giving a complete transla-
ton of this 1t is pointed out that the
important rart of the announcement
is that the Pope has directed that in
order that the last year of the century
may be worthily begun" it is per-
mitted that single mass may be said
at midnight in churches and chapels
AS showing the interest that is taken
in this subject all over the world, the
following is republished from the Re-
publican Standard, of New Bedford
Mass.
Three New England college presidents
think that the new century would begin
on the first day of January. They
are Miss Hazard of Wellesley and Drs.
Capen of Tufts and Seelye of Smith.
Quite number of presidents of other
colleges, however agree that the pres
ent century will continue through the
year 1900 Miss Hazard has a queer line
of reasoning to prove that this is the
last year of the nineteenth century.
| She says the year one cannot be writ
| ten until it is completed" though to
most of us there appears to be no diff
Guilty in writing the year one at any
| time during its existence. The year one
is not finished until it is completed, of
course, but it is the year one all the
time. And as it takes one hundred year
ones, so to speak, to make a century,
| there does not seem to be any great
difficulty in figuring out when centuries
| begin and end. Miss Hazards logic is
like this:
The year one cannot be written UNI
| til it is completed, when it ought actu-
ally to be the year one plus. But We
leave out the plus and simply write the
year one. So, in that way, whatever
! date we write-1S99 for instance-it is
1899 plus eleven months and twenty
eight days, the day that 1 am writing
upon. But these added months and days
We do not reckon in ordinary usage un-
! til the whole year is completed, when
we count the time by years, and go
into the next year, which is 1900"
Considering that she is a college pres
ident we must assume that Miss Haz-
ard understands this. We do not. MOI
do we believe that she would under
stand it if she were to attempt the pur'
chase of a hundred yards of cotton clotl
and the salesman were to apply mel
reasoning to the measuring of thu
goods. If he We're to try to palm of
ninety-nine yards for a hundred, will
the explanation that when he sale
ninety nine, IL was ninety plus ONT
yard her mathematics would be reveal
ed to her IN its full fallacy.
The Worcester Telegram has a gooC
explanation of the problem, with an il
lustration which is clear and timely. I
says:
"The bicycle race in New York las
week furnishes an illustration in point
Nobody thought of saying that the ride
on his 1900th mile was beginning hi!
goth century. 1t was when he started OF
the first lap of the 1901st mile that h,
began the goth wheel century and Faith
err Time is like wheelmen in this re
spect."
And the director of the Royal obser
vatory at Greenwich, England, Prores
sor w. II. NJ. Christie, has taken tn,
trouble to write to the Chicago Tribune
letter, part of which is as follows:
I'm reply to your inquiry beg to In
form you that the 20th century begins
on January l. 1901. 1t has been gener
ally agreed to call the first year of tn
Christian era Ammo Domini l, not A. d
0, and consequently the second centur.
begins with A. d. 101, 100 years afte
the beginning of the first year, and So
on for the succeeding centuries. Thu
question was fully discussed at the cen
fury dinner at Glasgow on April Is
1870, when the lord dean of the guild
after quoting various authorities, CAV
his decision as arbitrator that the 19tl
century did not commence till Januar.