The Newtown bee., 1905-03-24

TOWN TOPICS. VIEWPOINT BI-CENTENNIAL. CELEBRATION TO TAKE PLACE ON AU
 GUST 5.

CELEBRATION TO TAKE PLACE ON AL GUST 5.
 The Executive Committee, appoint ed to arrange for the celebration o1 the 20Oth anniversary of the purchase of the land of the town from the lndi- ans, held meeting at the house of E. l.. Johnson, on Monday evening. At that meeting it was decided to hold the celebration on August } instead of on July 25, as at first proposed.
 The reasons for the change the un- derslgned was requested to give to the public through the columns of THE BEE.
 The deed which con veyed the land from the Indians was dated July 25, 17O5. At that time .the calendar in use in England and her colonies was the Julian Calendar or Old Style. The New Style, or GregOrian Calendar, which we now use differs, in dates of that century, from the Julian Calen- dar by II days. The corrected date is found by adding II days to the Old Style date. July 25 therefore becomes August 5.
 pr Hart, the President of the Con- necticut Historical Society, informs us niversaries of events which took place before 1752 is to take the corrected date. Thus, General Washington's birthday is observed on the 22d of February, though he was born on the 11th of February, Old Style. When | the Connecticut Historical Society celebrated the 25Oth anniversary of the adoption of the Fundamental Or ders of Connecticut, 1t held the anni- versary January A. 1889, to correspond to January IA, 1639, Old Style, (For l dot in ha or1 10 days, in the 18th century II days.) | A brief account of the reasons for the change in the calendar may be in- tereSting to some of the readers of THE BEE.
 The calendar in use in England and her colonies in 1705 was that institut- ed by Julius Cesar in B. 0. 46. In this calendar the year was reckoned as containing 3654 days. Every four years would therefore make an addi- tional day, and the year would con- Leap Year.
 A more accurate measurement or the year, however, shows it to con- tain 365 days, five hours, AS minutes, and 46 seconds, falling short of the one-fourth of day, or six hours, by 1 minutes, IA seconds, or little less than quarter of an hour. This would make no practical difference in the course of an ordinary lifetime; 100 of these short periods or about three-quarters of day, or three days in 400 years. By the time of the Coun- Gil of Nicea, 325, A. D., the Vernal Equinox, or the time in the Spring "When the sun crosses the line," as we say, had fallen back from March 25 to March 21.
 The First General Council of the Christian church made rule as to the time of keeping Easter, the festival upon which all the other parts of the Christian year depend, in which rule March 21 was reckoned as the Vernal Equinox, Easter being the first Sun day after the full moon which falls on or after the Vernal Equinox, that be- ing the time of the Passover. It was by this calendar of Julius Caesar as it stood in 325 A. D. that the Christian world was regulated.
 | But in the course of centuries the small inaccuracy multiplying itself year by year began to make serious difference; so that in the 18th century the Vernal Equinox, which determ- ined the date of Easter, had gone back 10 days, coming on March 11th. In order to restore the Equinox to the date which it held at the time of the Council of Nicea, Pope Gregory XIII directed that 10 days should be sup pressed from the calendar, October 5, 1882 being called October 15. As the error of the Julian Calendar was about three days in 400 years, it each century, except one diviSible by 400, should be common year. The year 1900 was therefore leap year: but 17OO, 1900, and 1900 were common l years. The year 20OO will be a leap year.
 In Protestant countries and those where the ancient Greek Church pre- vails the old Julian Calendar was re- tained, and it is the method of com | putting time in Russia and Greece to- day. It continued in use in England time it was II days from the true aS- tronomical time, that is the Vernal Equinox came on March 10th. In that year, by a law passed by Parliament the year before, the 3d of September was made the 14th, dropping Il days from the calendar. This calendar is the one now in use.
 The event which we are to con- memorate occurred on July 25, 17O5, ac- cording to the old Julian calendar; but according to the calendar now in use l duU III uSO du Ulc Uluc III LulOpc 1U OC- cured on August 5. To put it in an other way: It is evident that, if we are to celebrate the end of 200 years, we must add to the old date the II days left out in 1752. The old style calendar now in use in Russia and Greece has added, since the English race adopted the more accurate calen- dar, two more days by having leap years in 1900 and 1900; so that the 25th of July in Russia will come on our Au- gust '. We will be keeping the exact anniversary of 200 years ago by hold ing our celebration on Saturday, Au- gust ,.
 The fact that the celebration will come in the first week in August will bring us to time when farmers will have more leisure, having being com pleted by that time.
 The fact that the day comes on Sat- urday will give more time in the week for preparation, will make it more con- venient for those who have taken the day for a holiday to remain over Sun day. And this, in addition, will af- ford an opportunity for our friends