The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1900-01-17
The O Cat and the 0 Year,

No cat has two tails; cat has one
tail more than no cat; therefore a cat
has three tails. Logic of this sort, APP
piled to 1.-The vexed century problem,
may lead to the conclusion that the
twentieth century began January l.,
1900, but the reasoning is subject to
the same deductions as to fact as in the
case of the cat. The 0 cats two tails,
by means of which logic equips the
real pussy with three, and the year
through whose fundamentally students
of the century question make 1900
years out of 1899, are equally illusory.
The JOURNAL is led to these obser-
vations by long letter from an esteem
ed correspondent, one clause Of which
let in a ray of light as to the source of
his "halucination" on this subject of
the beginning and ending of the CEN
fury. He writes:
The one hundred years began January l.
1900, became full one hundred years, a
ment of the first day of January 1, 1900.
All of which is strictly true. But
this is an entirely different matter from
the real question at issue, which is,
When does the 10Th century end, and
when does the Goth begin? Our friend
assumes that the 10Th century began
January l, 1900. Here is where the
mischief of the 0 year begins. The
10Th century did not begin January l.,
1900. That was .he last year of the
18th century. The trouble with him is
that he starts in the mid-ocean of time
without a chart or compass, and is in
evitably drifting. The true point of
departure is not 1900, or any other year
but the beginning of the Christian era,
the year one, from which station mod
ern time is reckoned. Time, then, be-
gan January l, A. D., l. Our friend
will admit that one full year had elaps-
ed January /, A. D., 2; two years had
passed January l, A. d., 3; three years,
A. D., 4; four years, A. d., 5; five years
A. D., 6; ten years, January l, A. d.,
IL; twenty years, A. D., 21; thirty
years, A. D., 81; fifty years, A. D., 81
one hundred years, "a century round
and complete" January l, A. D., 101-
the end of the first century and the be-
ginning of the second.
Now, as our correspondent says he
"learned to count and compute time
though he never had an opportunity to
attend kindergarten, proceeding
from this established base line of the
completion of the first century and the
beginning of the second, he will fine
that the second century was completed
January /, A. D., 201, with the tick o.
the first second of the New Year, anG
the third century thereupon took W
the march of time. January /, A. d.
301, the third century ended and thu
fourth began; January l, 1901, th'
tenth century ended and the eleventh
began; January l, l70l, the seven
teenth century ended and the eight
eenth began; January l, 1901, thu
eighteenth ended and the nineteenth
began; January l, 1901, the nineteenth
century will, therefore, end and tn
twentieth will begin.
, For the sake of simplicity of state
, ment, the beginning of the first secon
of time at twelve o'clock A. NJ. of Jan
{ uary l, is taken in the foregoing di'qui
3 sition as the point of division betwee
the completed year and its successor
a There are some facts 30 clear that e1
e PLANTATION clouds their light. Demon
stration is apt to obscure axiomati
3 truth. Eucidation of the great an
# fundamental principle that boy car
( not eat his cake and have it, too, doe
g not contribute to edi6cation. or yer
}. much the same sort is the discussion {
f this question of the proper enumeratio
a OF time by centuries.