The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1905-11-09
THE DAYS AND HOURS
ORIGIN or OUR SYSTEM OF THE
DIVISION OF TIME.

| pocket you viii have IN yodr hand one
OF tbs most wonderful pieces cf ma
claefy ever constructed Think how
It wJr.is throughout the day and night
and Low It Keeps II up yearin, year out
Think how the second hand points to
5,cCO divisions Of time during every
hour. Ii never sleeps.
II it is like the average watch, 1t will
bc Iullt up of no fewer than ITO differ
ent pieces. These pieces Will have
passed through more than 2,400 sep
arate operations, each bo 7g distinct
form of manufacture.
The fourth jewel wheel screw is so
very small that Il ls almost invisible.
10 the naked eve it appears TO be but u
speck OF dust. When examined under
Il magnisSlng glass It win be seen to
be a perfect screw, having ECO threads
to the inch, each thread being well
cat. Actually the diameter of this
screw is so little as the four one-thou-
sandth part CT an inch, ana it would
take no less number than 100000
similar screws in order to fill an or
dinary thimble as used by the ladies'
Each screw has double hend and
has 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 skillful operator. Some
where about a hundred screws are
placed in each frame, and the frames
are attached to machine which pol
ishes the heads of the screws 10000 at
q time.
1t will be seen how marvellous these
screws are, yet one Of them forms but
one tiny piece of a watch. Still, this
viii show the remarkable nature of that
everyday article. When special watches
tare considered there is indeed room for
wonder.
/ For instance, take the watch which
was presented to Catherine 1. on 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,
aud 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 III the year 1870, and it
was made for Charles " of France.
This monarch was surnamed the Wise,
but his education was imperfect in
l4Any respects, and he knew it well.
AS q result he was very obstinate In
his claim to know everything. He
showed this obstinacy when Wick
brought the new timepiece for his ap-
proyal. The king could not find any
fault with its working, so he criticised
the figures on the dial.
He told the maker that he had made
4 grlevous error, as the figures to de-
note the hour OF should be four rs.
Poor Yick ventured to tell the king
that he was wrong. 81 am never
wrong" Numbered the irate monarch.
Take the clock away and correct the
mistake at once upon pain of my dis
pleasure!"
| Vick had to do as he was told, with
the result that all our timepieces have
the fourth hour labeled iii instead of
", 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-
tion, but also by seXagesimal sys-
TEN. That is to say, they not only
reckoned by tens but also by sixties.
The Babylonians were very clever peo-
pie, and they saw that the decimal sys-
tenn was by no means the best.
They knew that no number had 50
many diyisors as has sixty.
How about the division Of the day
into hours? The Babylonlans began by
comparing the progress made by the
sun on its daily journey to the distance
| covered by a 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
hly the Greeks. 1t 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 reyolu-
tlonized all weights and measures, GO
Ing so far rs 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
lovers of the decimal notation do not
iuggest that the old sexngesimal meth
bl Of reckoning time should be altered.
-pearson's Weekly
Condensed.
Diner-Giye me n plate o. pork and