The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1903-11-06
FIXING LENGTH srASn.,,.
How . Constant Unit of Ne..
II Fixed and Maiatsa,.s
In England.

Preparations are being mad. !.
posting parliamentary copies =
imperial standards of length alo,.
floor of Westminster hall, says ma
don Telegraph, of recent date
The delicate undertaking WI,
being carried out in its initial sta,..s
the first commissioner of works NM
taken over on its completion /, =
standards department of the bo.,,
trade as the responsible authors,
such matters. The standards II a..
derstood, will be identical with -.
which were placed some years A..
Trafalgar square. There are. in =.
four sets, the first ranging from op.,,-
to an imperial yard. while the seco,s : (;
a pole or perch. the third a chain ~
feet, and the fourth the standard NJ
ure of 100 feet. Students of bi,,,~
scarcely need being reminded that K,,.
Edward decreed that there should =
but one standard measure-that rs.s :.
Winchester-for all England. and ".
ma Charta contained similar proyidc.
with regard to weight. Strict eufor,s,
ment of the law was found impractic,h.
for generations. a great number of en-.
tomary weights and measures CONT,
uing in use, especially in trapsactio..
relating to land. corn and wool. Ffpaiy
however. parliament insisted upon u
observance of general uniformity. Sim.
1926 an imperial system of weights n
measures has been in vogue throushou.
the kingdom and an act passed In I'm
inflicts heavy penalties for using wejshh
and measures not recognized by theiav
Naturally, the man in the street" =
quires to know how the standards IN
asoertained and established. CHI
among the earliest standards Of lenrh
were the palm. the foot and the cuhn
There were two leading cubits-the n
tural cubit of Egypt. Chaldea. Phoenicia
and Greece, and the royal cubit Of Meut
phis. The Greek foot passed into Italy.
where 1t was divided into II inches. III
Romans used three-foot ulna, while IL
Saxons adopted an ell. or yard Of 4
inches, based on the Roman foot III
remained in England, 4
though the lapse Of time saw variou
in the ell. So matte13
until 1850. when copy Of
Did yard measure found in the tower 4
London was made for select commits
Of the house of commons, and In In
his copy was legalized by parliameat
with a direction that ''Dl the event Of ID
being lost the standard should be recov-
cred by making the length Of q meaa
time seconds pendulum in the latitn1e
Of London in a vacuum at sea level eqnaI
to 39.1-393 inches" Unfortunately, the
standard disappeared at the great m
which destroyed the houses Of parlia-
ment in 1884, and. as the committee sub
appointed by the sstronoma
royal reported against the accuracy 4
he pendulum method, the duty OF restoF.
ne the lost standard was intrusted to {
,oyal commission. 1t was not till 1Sl
nat the task was accomplished Taking
he best secondary evidence available.
he commissioners produced standard
,ar of gun metal. the distance betvea
wo lines on which. crossing gold studs.
S one yard at 81 degrees Fahrenheit and
% inches barometric pressure Author
zed copies Of this legalizsd standard AZ
at the mint. the royal a.
ervatory at Greenwich, Trafalsf
quare and elsewhere, so that the addF
ion now being made I'm Westminster
all Is a precaution which experiencehm
hown to be necessary In matter vital1
ffecting the commercial life Of the -
ion.