Arizona republican., 1904-02-04
LEAP YEARS START.
Pope Gregory Gets Credit, but Caesar
 Did 1t.

This being leap year there is pop ular superstition that it was invented some where in the dark ages for the purpose of giving women a chance to propose. And as it takes woman longer to make up her mind to a thing than it does a man. that the eX- tra day In February was added to give her that much extra time. And. so far as the run of ordinary humanity goes except the man who has note to pay on March 1-that explanation covers all the difference that a leap year makes to the world anyhow.
 But it is interesting to trace back the history of this queer fact that one year in four has an extra day-except when it doesn't. It is generally be- lieved that Pope Gregory XIII. hadgthc fixing of this matter. and that leap year goes back only to this time. which is a great mistake. Leap year dates re- ally to the time .of one Julius Caesar, who, though. he died young. was pretty smart man. who left his impress on pretty mpeh everything, including Great Britiar. Give Julius Caesar cred it therefore. yc proposing maids, for pefmittins ycu the chance and the eX- tra day. Julius did other things to the calendar too.-iille leaving his name at tacAed to the seventh month for in stance--ptG they are neither here nor there, AO~.
 The history of marking periods of time is roihctdent with man, so far as can b~ YeckOned. The first primitive diVisjaFls were into the day and night, and fisbS and darkness regulated them. Some days were longer than others ahd soSsse EeFh short, but it figured out that from ore sunset to another was twenty four hSuFs-though they didn't have hours thcn-and that was all that was neeGful.
 Then people wanted longer divisions, and they found that the moon was fairly regulated in it's orbit around the earth-though they didn't know 1t cir cled the globe in those days but thought that the reverse was giving them months of twenty nine and one half days. Then the seasons came into the calendar. and for time they were used to make longer divisions. Still longer period were formed by groups of these months which, figured about a dozen, made one round of the sun. And for the noncalculating minds Of those times. these divisions did fairly well.
 Finally, however it was seen that this rough way of reckoning didn't put the seasons in the right place, as the years went on. For spring was where summer ought to be, and when it was time for autumn, winter was just coni- ing in. Something was wrong and new methods had to applied. And thus was born the leap" process.
 The Jews and the Creeks the civil ized peoples of that time, had different ways of fixing things when they go. too far away. The Jews put in leap month seven times in every nineteen years the Greeks three i1 every eight. The Romans came along later with ;L ten-year month but believing in odd numbers the finally worked it up to 355 days To make it even they added January and February, and thus got twelve months. But this didn't work out right. either. and their pontiffs, who ran the calendar, interlarded oc- Casionally, odd periods of time, fixing them where they would do themselves the most good, and their enemies the most harm; keeping them selves in snap positions that much lon- ger. and making a debtors time to them that much sorter Which shows that graft is nothing new. And thus by the time that Julius Caesar took charge of the whole mundane world, summer was ambling along about the middle of Oc- tober. and things were badly mixed generally.
 Along with dividing Gaul into three parts, slaughtering the barbarians, and running for emperor. Caesar under stood the job of fixing the calendar. He employed one Sosigenes, an Alexan- sdrian astronomer and together the; worked out a plan which, in the main holds to day. He made what now is reckoned as AS B. c. to consist of 455 days which put matters right, and then to avoid further trouble, he ordained that the year should have 365 days and that every fourth should have 366--