The suburban citizen., 1901-01-12

hob BIduudAeu ~ us W lhulCutc NiAt
passage Of any particular fraction Of a
day. When it cast a shadow six feet
long the hour for bathing had arrived.
and supper was eaten when the shad.
ow became twelve feet long. Simple
as 1t was, it seemed to satisfy the
needs Of that primitive race. 1t could
not Of course. be used indoors nor
was it Of any use on a cloudy day 1t
was merely a crude tlmekeeper, and
could not even be used for checking
off certain brief periods To accom-.
plish this the "Clepsydra," or water
clock, was invented, and Greece seems
to have been the land of it's origin.
Fifty years before the Christian era,
clepsydra was erected in the "Tower
OF the Winds" in the market place at
Athens. A running stream kept the
water in an upper vessel at con-
stant level. The discharge raised n
| float in a lower vessel. On this float
was an indicator or hand which, as Il
rose, Travelled over an adjacent scale
and so gave a time indication, vlsi-
bic at distance. This was the public
timepiece of Athens, and its indica-
tions could always be compared with
those Of the sun dial on the frieze os
the octagonal building by which It
was enclosed. At the top of the roof
was weather vane in the form of a
Triton, who pointed with his trident
toward the prevailing wind. Thus the
| double purpose Of naval observatory
and a weather bureau was accom-
plished.
coooANUT CLOCKS.
A similar device has been found in
use among the Malay boatmen, where
a perforated cocoanut shell floating in
bucket of water permits the full
to enter gradually. When the she'll
becomes full an hour is recorded. In
northern India a copper bowl is used,
and at the moment 1t sinks the at.
tendant strikes the hour upon the mer.
al. In China the same idea occurs
but with this difference, the vessel
is filled and drop by drop the water IS
allowed to flow out.
Coming down to our own day, what
else is the sandglass, which a few
! years ago was in common use IN kitch.
ems to show the cook when the
eggs were boiled? And is not the mod.
| ern clock based on the same prin.
ciples? In the clepsydra the water is
the motor; the perforation, the escape.
ment; while the sinking of the shell
or bowl is the index Of the completion
of a definite period.
TIMING SPEECHES BY WATER.
A curious use Of the clepsydra in
Greece was for limiting the length Of
speeches in the courts. In very i'm.
portant cases an additional amount OF
time was allowed, and each side was
permitted as much as fifty gallons OF
water, necessitating the use of unusu-
ally large amphorae. When a speaker
was interrupted to save the time be.
ing charged against him he would or
der the official to "stop the water"
The system of timekeeping in Rome
divided the day and night into four
watches, which were determined
roughly by observing the courses Of
the sun and stars. Noon was publicly
announced by an official who from the
senate watched for the appearance Of
the sun at Il certain point.
AMONG THE INDIANS.
Among the Montagnais Indians .
crude form of sun dial is used in hunt
ing to let the squaws, who follow their
lords and masters know whether they
may take it easy" or hurry up" for
they might fare badly if they Jagged
behind when their husbands were
ready for supper. And so the men
when hunting erect in the snow a stick
at some well-knOwn place and draw
the exact line of the sticks shadow in
the snow before going on. When the
women arrive with their pots and 9TH
er cooking utensils they note the
new line Of the shadow, and by oh
serving the angle which 1t forms with
the line already drawn in the snow
they can tell how far ahead their hua-
bands are.
With all Indian tribes the season OF
the year is indicated by observing ma
tures own processes and not by
months. Thus the changing of the
moon, the budding of the trees the
falling Of the leaves the coming and
going Of the birds, all are symboliCal
of the various seasons. Even among
the farmers in Virginia, not so very
long ago the proper time for planting
corn was "when the hickory leaves
became as large as a squirrels ear"
The Indians have no clocks or me-
chanical devices for telling the time,
but it is known that in zuni and Moki
the Pueblo Indians tell the arrival of
noon by setting up stones and noticing
when the shadows are shortest 1t Is
not uncommon on farms even nowa-
days to have the "hands" say that
when they can stand on their heads"
it is time to go to dinner.
A CUMBERSOME METHOD.
The old Japanese method Of time