The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1905-11-17
THE DAYS AND HOURS
ORIGIN or OUR SYSTEM oF THE
DIVISION OF TIME.
It Was Devised by the Babylonians,
Who Were a Very Clever People,
Was Adopted by the Greeks and
Has Survived Through All Changes.

| y
pocket you will have in your hand one
of the most wonderful pieces Of ma
chinery ever constructed. Think how
it works throughout the day and night
and how it keeps it up year in, year out.
Think how the second hand points to
3GUO divisions of time during every
hour. 1t never sleeps.
Ii it is like the average watch, it will
lie built up of no fewer than 175 differ
ent pieces. These pieces will have
passed through more than 2,40O sep
arate operations, each being distinct
form CT manufacture.
| The fourth jewel wheel screw is so
very small that it is almost invisible.
TO the naked eye it appears to be but a
speck of dust When examined under
a magnifying glass it will be seen to
be perfect screw, having 26O threads
| to the inch, each thread being well
CIT. Actually the diameter of this
screw is so little as the four one-thou
sant:th part of an inch, and it would
take no less a number than 100000
similar screws in order to fill an Or
binary thinlble as used by the ladies.
Each screw has a double head and
las to be hardened. After the harden
ing process the screws are arranged in
frames, being placed in with the heads
upward. This delicate operation is
done by the sense Of touch alone in
stead Of by sight, and great rapidity
marks the sllillful operator. Some
where about a hundred screws are
placed in each frame, and the frames
are attached to a machine which pol
ishes the heads of the screws 10000 at
time.
1t will be seen how marvellous these
screws are, yet one Of them forms but
one tiny piece of watch. Still, this
will show the remarkable nature of that
everyday article. When special watches
are considered there is indeed room for
wonder.
For instance, take the watch which
was presented to Catherine /. OH her
coronation as empress of Russia. This
watch was one of the most remarkably
constructed instruments ever made.
On the opposite side of the works of
this extraordinary timekeeper there
was an exact representation Of the
holy sepulcher, with carved image
Of the Roman guard stationed outside
it. AS soon as the watch case was
opened the imitation rocks would roll
away from the mouth of the sepulcher,
the soldier would kneel. angels would
appear at opposite sides Of the opening,
and sweet strains Of music would be
heard. This remarkable watch took
nine years uninterrupted labor in or
der to construct.
The first clock in any way resem-
bling those in use at present was made
by Henry Wick in the year $780, and it
was made for Charles V. Of France.
This monarch was surnamed the Wise,
but his education was imperfect in
many respects, and he knew it WELL
AS a result he was very obstinate in
his claim to know everything. He
showed this obstinacy when Wick
brought the new timepiece for his APP
prevail. The king could not find any
fault with it's working, SO he criticised
the figures on the dial.
He told the maker that he had made
a grievOus error, as the figures to de-
note the hour of should be four rs.
Poor Wick ventured to tell the king
that he was wrong. Il am never
wrong!' Numbered the irate monarch.
''Take the clock away and correct the
mistake at once upon pain of my dis
pleasurey'
Wick had to do as he was told, with
the result that all our timepieces have
the fourth hour labeled I'LL instead of
Nv, as should be the case if the correct
numeration were followed.
How many people have the slightest
notion why sixty seconds make min
ute and why the hour is divided into
sixty minutes, and So on? Why are
there not ten hours to the day and ten
to the night?
The reason is very simple. 1t is be-
cause the people of Babylon reckoned
not only by decimal system Of nota-
ton, but also by a sexagesimal sys-
TEN. That is to say, they not only
reckoned by tens, but also by sixties.
Inc BabylOn1anS were very clever peO-
pie, and they saw that the decimal sys-
TEN was by no means the best.
They knew that no number had so
many divisors as has sixty.
| How about the division of the day
into hours? The Babylonians began by
comparing the progress made by the
sun on its daily journey to the distance
covered by good walker, this being
done at the time of the equinox. The
astronomers divided the suns journey
into twenty-four parsangs, whence our
hours.
The Babylonian system was adopted
by the Greeks. It is one Of the most
remarkable facts of history that the
system has survived through every
change made since the days of Baby
lonia. When the the French revolu-
tionized all weights and measures, go
ing so far as to alter the days of the
week, still they left the old system of
notation SO far as regarded the reckon
ing Of the flight Of time. Even our own