The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-18
DROPS A DAY.
Howe Describes the Losing Of
Day.
Had No Tuesday, November Il,
on His Calendar.
WHY AND HOW DONE.
Interesting Description Of the
Mid-0cean Incident.
When It's Friday in Kansas It's
Saturday on Pacific.


This is Wednesday, November Is.
You will observe that have dropped
Tuesday, the 14th. That's what hap
pened when we crossed the 1sOth
meridian; we lost a day. Captain
Smith, of the Siberia" has written an
explanation of this. which follows:
Explanatory. of the consequences
of crossing the 180th meridian, by
Captain ]. Tremaine Smith. S. S.
Siberia: All time is reckoned from
Greenwich, which is sometimes called
the primer. or first meridian-longi-
tude, o. Places on the earth are either
behind or ahead of Greenwich time,
according as they are in east or west
longitude. For example, when it is
noon at Greenwich, 1t Is { a. m in
New York the same day. New York
is in IS west. and as each Is degrees
of longitude is one hour of time. New
York is therefore five hours behind
Greenwich. When it is a. m in San
Francisco it is 4 p. m. in Greenwich
of the same day San Francisco is
100 degrees west from Greenwich, or
eight hours of time later. of course
Places east of Greenwich have their
time earlier by the difference of lOngi-
tude, or the distance from Greenwich.
Example: Manila is in longitude 100
-
hours of dme; therefore when it is
4 p. m. in Manila it is 8 a. m. of the
same day in Greenwich. In Japan,
standard time is reckoned from the
135th meridian, or nine hours ahead
of Greenwich time. Noon at any place
on the earth is marked by the advent
of the sun across the meridian of that
place. If the traveller is sailing from
east to west, or from San Francisco
towards Japan, and say, around the
q a veTsT 20
he and the sun are moving in the
same direction, and the instant the
sun arrives at his meridian, it must be
past noon at the place he left yes
terday, and is not yet noon at the
place he hopes to reach tomorrow
The opposite condition holds, of course,
if he is going eastward around the
world; or, instead OF the sun overta king
him, as it did in going westward, he
now advances to meet the sun, and
therefore shortens his day by the length
of his distance made each day, instead
of frightening it; or his day will prob
ably be 231k hours, instead of 241z hours.
by the time the traveller has reached
the meridian of $50 degrees, going west
ward, he has heightened his life by u
hours of time, and if he continues to
travel in the same direction until he
reaches Greenwich (frOn which all time
is reekoned) he viii have added a hours
to his life probably without being con-
opposite direction (eastward). he viii
have shortened his life by the same
time. but instead of dropping a day, as
we have done here. he adds a day at
the 10th meridian and evens up what
he had lost on the journey. To put the
problem more plainly: Suppose two men,
A and B, started on the same instant
on a tourney around the world the
first going east, and the other west,
neither making any alteration in their
date from the time Of starting until
their return together on the same day.
1-l5ie is what would happen: A would
believe that he had arrived say on Sun
day. while B would persist in the be-
lief that ii was Friday There would
he a difference of two whole days in
their reckoning; but no one would ser
iouslv entertain the idea that on this
account A had lived forty-eight hours
longer than B. The actual day Of the
week would of course he Saturday, and
the actual time consumed by each on
the journey would be precisely the same.