The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-04-14
CAN YOU GUESS TIME?
THERE ARE FOLK WHO CAN DO 1T
ALMOST TO THE MINUTE.

They Seem to Have a Singular Abil-
ity For Measuring OF the Hours
Like OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES People
Who Think Time Stands Still.
Guessing the time of day is an
amusement for some and almost pro-
feSsiOn for others. The best gueSsers
are not those whose occupations re-
quire them to be most scrupulous in
the matter of time. Railway employ
ees. especially conductors and engi-
neers. are SO much men of the minute
and the second and have so learned to
trust to their watches that they do not
acquire the skill that many men have
of guessing time by various natural in
dications or 10y a sort of mysterious
knack.
The laborer who does not carry a
watch can often guess within ten or
fifteen minutes of the time at any hour
Of his working day 1t is not uncom-
mon even in New York for a laborer
on the street to inquire the time of day
Of passerby. but the query is oftenest
made near the noon hour. and the la
borer, if asked to guess. could probably
come very close to the very minute in
Dictated by the length of shadows. the
position of the sun and the quantity
of light falling into the street. Men
working underground or at night guess
the time much less closely than those
who work by daylight and in the oper.
air
Many men 90 by the hunger cock"
and can guess very close to the hour
for quitting work whether at noon o,
toward the close of tie days work. In
shops where there are no clocks hun
dreds of inquiries rs to the time pass
from mouth to mouth as those hours
approach The signal for quitting work
seldom comes as a surprise to the ord
nary hand worker.
Brain workers and men whose trades
require delicate manipulation do no,
guess time so accurately as unskilleG
laborerS. because they become so alb
sorbed in their work as to be oblivioua
to the flight of time. \ hardworkins
business man of New York used tt.
keep an alarm clock ON his desk, which.
went off at the hour he should make
ready to catch suburban train. The
alarm literally walked him up out OF
thought. Sometimes. 50 to speak, he
slept through the alarm and missed his
train. Without this reminder he would
overstay his time at the office an hour
or more.
Some men have a really uncanny
power of guessing time. They do it APP
parently without the aid of natural in
dications and by means of some inward
monitor which goes on measuring off
the hours like I; chronometer. There
are men who can ordinarily guess the
time within ten minutes at any hour Of
their waking day. 1t is suspected that
such men rarely become deeply absorb
ed in their work, though the faculty
often accompanies fine intellectual pow
erS.
A much rarer power than that Of
guessing the time at Il given hour of
the day is that of guessing the elapsed
time in short periods. Hardly one man
guessing the elapsed time in periods of
less than half an hour and more than
4 quarter. and very few can tell with.
in Il minute when Il period of ten min.
utes has elapsed.
The most difficult feat in time guess
ing is to wake from a sound sleep in
the small hours after having gone to
bed before midnight and guess within
half an hour of the tine. Most per-
sons, unaided by natural Indications
such as moonlight. the first signs Of
dawn in midsummer or the profound
quiet of tie house in winter. cannot
under thcsa conditions guess within
two hours Of the time
Persons ordinarily underestimate the
time they have slept 1T might and over
estimate Tie length If Il day Wight nap,
The cat nap of two or three l.:inutes al'-
pears to most persons to hive lasted
from fifteen minutes to laf an hour.
In fact, some pplS, rs seem II get IL
slcop.all over and through and through
whenever they lose consciousness and
are thus utterly oblivious of the flight
of time. while others seem never, even
at night to be Thoroughly saturated
with sleep Persons Of the latter class
wake at any moment of the night in al
most full possession of their facultie
and can usually form a pretty good
notion of the hour.
Public speakers are proverbially bad
gunssers of the elapsed time when they
speak eXtemporaneously. Clergymen.
through habit. however. can guess pref;
ty close us to the length of IN extern
noraneous sermon. and the clergyman
VITO breaches beyond his IL 'ual time
gets many hints that h. is talking too
long from the conduct of his hearers
When Il preacher sees his usually wax"
full hearers ncdling and the younger
members OF the congregation more than
usually uneasy in their seats he knows
that he has passed his usual limit.
Women and children are bad guess,
ers of time because they tend to be pre-
occupied with the matter of the mo-
ment. so that they are obliviouS to all
.1> Of