The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-29

ner of Fourteenth and Il streets pune
tuated the seconds with its metallic
music. Every other transmitter 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 ev-
cry other human affair was obsequious-
ly standing aside for this all-important
information. From the first tick of the
clock at the observatory at precisely
five minutes before actual noon on the
seventy-fifth meridian 10000 clocks
throughout the country awaited cor
rection. The eye of the reporter of the
Evening Star, who listened to the click
of the instrument, watched the official
clock in the Office as it licked calmly
on. BY its hands the time was 11.56.
but that this'w incorrect was deter
mined by the telegraphic signals that
were coming from the observatory, for
the chronometers there We're corrected
by the stars and not dependent upon
such poor timekeeper 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.
Click clock click clock - click -
clock" 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 a hundred others
watched the official clock as its second
hand moved jerkily on over the face.
1t had passed -he noon mark when
there came final tick from the instru-
ment and the hands of the clock
jumped to MI as If they had been
snapped back by invisible fingers. In
stantly the commercial keys were
opened and the hum of the scores OF
telegraphic transmitters renewed 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
interesting and little known to the gen.
eral 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 employed to achieve that end. BY
an arrangement with the Western
Union Telegraph Company the Naval
Observatory has connected its chro-
nometer with the wires of the tele.
graph 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 are adjusted by an electro-magnet
which sets the hands when they arc
out Of the way. The signals begin al
five minutes before noon and continue
for five minutes. This length of time
beforehand enables people everywhere
east Of the Rocky Mountains to get
ready for the final signal. West of that
point the time is given by the observa-
tory at Mare Island Navy Yard, San
Francisco. The electric connections of
the clocks are so arranged as TO omit
certain seconds at the ends of the sew
eral minutes, and just before the close
of the last minute ten seconds are
omitted, then comes the final click
which announces noon.
Sidereal time, by which the chro-
nometers at the observatory are set,
is taken at night by observations of
the fixed stars. and is more nearly ac-
curate than sun time for the reason
that the stars are so much farther
away from the earth than is the sun
that astronomical calculations are
more nearly accurate. There Is always
fraction Of second variation be-
tween the two times, and the sun is ac-
tually set correctly on its course b. 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 the country
is seldom out of the way more than
3-100 of n second, it Is a simple matter
to the astronomers there to correct it
before the signals begins, task which
is daily performed by the official in
charge of that department. When the
ball drops at noon 1t will be found per-
fectly safe to set your watches by it,
for electrical transmission is practical
ly instantaneous, the time balls in
Washington, New York and Chicago
dropping so evenly that they are all
moving down their respective poles at
the same time and hit their bases less
than a second after tley have been
electrically released.
The exact method of transmission Is
explained by the connecting of a wire
with the time clock at the observatory.
This wire leads to the trunk line of the
telegraph company, and at the first tick
of the instrument at five minutes be-
fore noon every office in the country
has orders TO cease all regular business
and give the lines over to the more i'm
portant work In hand. The clock then
has everything its own way, and every
swing of its 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 those five minutes by
the lines OF the Western Union. for
what are few hundred millions Of
dollars to the time Of day announced
hv tho distant stOrs2