Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1903-12-31

few think that 152 years ago thSsear
at this season was old. How cafe eho
change? Not by the r~eyolutiqfoi .ne
earth. for that is practiYiy un-
changeable. but through thsan.erven-
ion of human enactmeY inougn
ame. as measured by thffnotions Oh
.ae earth, nay be takeyas constant
get its divisions into SENDS. minutes'
hours, days. weeks. oontns. years
eras. their beginningsEnu enuinss' arc
arbitrary products ONO human minu'
and therefore yariaye'
All nations andpeople have q par
ticular epoch fra which they date
The era In ~whicbfhey may have lived.
The Romans dsbd their chronological
events "a oni t1eaf founding OF the city.
The expression, 'The year OF Rome"
or the letters A. u. G. lab urbs con-
dita) refers to that particular epoch.
The Mohammedans express their SO
quence OF time by "the year OF the
prophet" The date Is from the Hejira,
or the flight of Mohammed from
Mecca (Heiira is pronounced He1-i-ra.
and is an Arabic word meaning fight).
which occurred A. d. 622. The Jews
reckon their dispensation from the
creation Of the world, but IN reality
their chronology begins with the
Exodus. Moses intentionally intro
duced a new calendar. and makes
Abib their first month. 1t has been
supposed that the Jewish Sabbath is
che same as the seventh day on which
God ended His work, but as Moses
changed the first month To Abb, he
changed the first day also. The first
day of this new year was the first
day of the first month and the first
day of the first week. The Sabbath
being held on the seventh day, it must
OF necessity have been changed also.
But being changed, 1t could not be in
correspondence with the seventh day
of creation on which God rested"
Christians date their epoch from the
birth OK Christ, the expression for
which Is the Latin words An2o Dom
ini, or A. D., the initial letters o. the
words. Five centuries elapsed before
AZ attempt was made to authoritative
y fx the date OF The Nativity. This
was then undertaken by Dionysiug
Exiguus (~little), who fixed u present
chronology. Ii ia now generally al
lowed that he was four years out in
his reckoning, and that b. G. 4 is the
correct year. This corresponds with
the statement by Ireneus and Tertul-
Han that Christ was born about the
year of Rome 751.
Different nations have begun their
count Of tine at different parts OF the
twenty-four hours. The ancient Ac-
cadians, B~abylonians, Syrians, Per
SLAMS, the modern Greeks ard the in
habitants of the Balearic isles reckon
their day from sunrise to sunrise. Why
the ancient n-tions began the day ct
sunrise is evident from their early re
ligion, which was Magism. Fire vas
a chief object of reverence with them,
and the sun as the grand symbol of
eheir worship received especial venera-
tiop. Hence they began their day as
they began their dsvotions-with the
rising sun.
Others, like the Athenians, the Chi
nese and the Jews have counted the
day from sunset to sunset. Why tbs
Jews begin the day from sunset Is
potent from their religion. The char
acteristics of the Jewish religion are
In sharp contrast to those of other
nations. The aim OF Moses was TO
wean them from the gr~ossness of
oriental religions. Hence the contrasts
and anticneses. IL the worshipers of
the elements begin the day with sun
rise, then the followers of Jehovah
will begin theirs with sunset. Moses
can hate no concord with error.
The Egyptians and pagan Roman
priests began their day at midnight.
Most European nations follow the
same r.le. Americans have also adopt
ed the custom. Astronomers, however,
begin tae day at noon. whsR the sun
Is on tie meridian.
The day, meaning thereby light,
from sunrise to sunset, was In ancient
times divided into twelve equal parts,
called tours. A similar division was
observed with the night. Thus 1t will
be see2 the hour was constantly
changing In It's duration. The hour of
the dayip winter. when the days were
short, YES much longer than In sum
mer, am vice versa. The Same, OF
course, vas the case with thu nights.
also. &, that only at the ecuinoKes
wero thi two series OF hours equal.
This wal most ~inconvcnient and re-
suited hi much confusion.
To Hibarchus, a Greek philosopher.
who fIot.ished about B. C. $50. must.
be giveT the credit Of dividing the
day fron midnight to midnight into
twenty-ftHr hours. or two equal por-
lions OF ,uelvc hours each. This sys-
tern provtils generally at the present
day. Bus astronomers count confinu-
oualy for twenty-four hours.
The wesk, as all know. consists of
sevel dap. Christians and Jews
hold this Division because God created
- .ra thh ~,rtn Ghn aalor