Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-05
THE NOONASIGNAL
HOW IT rs SENB OVER THE
UNITED IsTATES.
For Five Minutes the, Wires of the
Western Union Telegraph Are Silent
Awaiting the Signal.


1t was five minutes before noon in Wash
ment in the office of the Western Union
Telegraph Company at the corner of 14th
and streets punctuated the seconds with
it's metallic music Every other trans
mitter in the great central office was for
the time being silent, the MONDAY rush of
press and commercial business was at a
standstill. for the naval observatory on
Georgetown Heights was giving the United
States the time of day and every other
human affair was obsequiously standing
aside for this all-important information
From the first tick of the clock at the OBJ
servatory at precisely five minutes before
actual noon on the seyenty-fifth meridian
thirty thousand clocks throughout the
country awaited correction. The eye of
the reporter of The Evening Star, who lis
tened to the click of theainstrument, watch
ed the official clock in the office it licked
calmly on. BY it's hands the time was
termined by the telegrap hic signals that
were coming from the observatory, for the
chronometers there were corrected by the
stars and not dependent upon such a poor
time keeper as the sun for their time. They
were running on sidereal time instead of
solar, so the observatory really corrected
Old Sol himself with unblushing nerve.
At Exactly Noon.
'CHck-clo ck-click--clock-clic
continued the instrument on the desk of the
chief operator
AS the time was passing the minutes
could be counted by the breaks in the ticks
at the end of each sixty seconds and at
precisely fifty seconds before actual noon
the sounds entirely ceased. The reporter
and hundred others watched the official
clock as it's second hand moved jerkily on
no 1t had passed the
mark when there came final tick from the
instrument and the hands of the clock
jumped to XII as If they had been snapped
back by invisible fingers. Instantly the
commercial keys were opened and the hum
OF the scores of Geographic trapsmitters re-
newed their work. The country had been
once more put on the right track and every
clock on the circuit set by the observatory.
The method employed in this work is in
teresting and little known to the general
public All that most people know about
it is that at noon a signal is sent from
the observatory and balls all over the
country drop, proclaiming the hour. They
do not understand the means that are en-
ployed to achieve that end. By an arrange
ment with the Western Union Telegraph
Company the naval observatory has con-
nected its thermometer with the wires of
the telegraph company and at noon every
day announces the time to the country
Clocks that are corrected thus are con-
nected by wire with the observatory and
sets the hands when they are out OF the
way. The signals begin at five minutes be-
fore noon and continue Ifor five minutes.
This length of time beforehand enables peo-
pie everywhere east ofitthe Rocky Noun
tains to get ready for the final signal. West
of that point the time lis given by the OBJ
seryatory at Mare Island navy yard, San
Francisco. The electric connections OF the
clocks are so arrangedas to omit certain
seconds at the ends of the several minutes
and just before the close of the last min
ute ten seconds are omitted, then comes
the final click which announces noon
Sidereal Time the Most Accurate.
Sidereal time by which the chronometers
at the observatory are set. is taken at
night by observations Of the fixed stars
and is more nearly accurate than sun time
for the reason. that the stars. are so mucn
farther away from the earth than is the
sun that astronomical calculations are
more nearly accurate. There is always
fraction of a second variation between the
two times, and the sun is actually set cor
rectly on it's course by the star time. That
is allowance is made for the detection. and
inasmuch as the clock at the observatory
from which the time is sent out over tho
country is seldom out of the way more
than 3-100 of a second, it is a simple matter
to the astronomers there to correct 1t be-
fore the signals begin, task which Is
daily performed by the official in charge of
noon it will be found perfectly safe to set
your watches by 1t, for electrical trans
mission is practically instantaneous, the
time balls in Washington, New York ana
Chicago dropping evenly that they are
all moving down their respective poles at
the same time and hit their bases less than
second after they have been electrically
released
The exact method of transmission is ex-
planned by the connecting of a wire with
the time clock at the observatory. This
wire leads to the trunk line of the tele-
graph company, and at the first tick or the
instrument at five minutes before noon
every office in the country has orders to
cease all regular business and give the lines
over to the more important work in hand
The clock then has everything its own
way. and every swing of it's pendulum is
announced to the country by the ticks OF
the attached clocks. For the time being
all business by wire in the United States
is at a standstill. An order for the sale of |
the Standard Oil Company for 81 could not
be sent during these five minutes by the
lines of the Western Union. for what are
a few hundred millions of dollars to the
time of day announced by the distant stars
Time Balls in Different Cities.
There are time balls on the most conspfc-
uous buildings Of all the important Ameri-
can cities, and these are electrically con-
nected with the naval observatory by
feeder lines from the main, Or trunk, line,
working directly with the great clock on
Georgetown Heights. Immediately be-
enthusiastically speaking-the time ball
is the clock that gives the observatory time
to the others that are on it's circuit, and
the instant that the ball drops all OF those
clocks have their hands automatically .ad-
justed to the correct time-nOon. The ball
on the building Of the War, State and Navy |
Departments is so situated that it can be
seen from all the more important parts or
the city, and from this ball hundreds OF
people daily set their watches. In New
York the ball is again prominently dis
played on building on Broadway, and
the city in that section gets its time from
that ball. So again In Chicago and in all
the important cities Of the section east OF
the Rocky mountains, and from that paraI-
lei westward the time is given from the
Mare Island navy yard.t Noon In Wash
San Francisco. and as tits, would be an I'M
reasonable hour to dispatch the daily sig
nal; the national observatory has arranged
to have the noon time given to the section
west Of the continental, divide by the |