Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-01-04
THEDAYS AND HOURS
ORIGIN OF OUR SYSTEM OF THE
DIVISION OF TIME.

10 Was Devised by the Babylonians'
Who Were m Very Clever People,
W.s Adopted by the Greeks and
H.. Survived Through All Changes.
III you pull your watch out OF your
pocket you will have in your hand one
Of the most wonderful pieces OF ma
chinery ever constructed. Ihink no"
il works throughout the day and night
and how it keeps it up year in, year out.
Think how the second hand points TO
1900 divisions of time during every
hour. 1t never sleeps.
IL il is like the average watch, II Will
be built w OF no fewer than 10 differ
ent pieces These pieces Will nave
passed through more than 2,4OO sep
Hrate operations. each being distinct
form of manufacture.
The fourth jewel wheel screw Is 30
very small that it is almost invisible
To the naked eye it appears to be but
speck of dust When examined uSder
a magnlfying glass 1t will be seen TO
be a perfect screw, having 260 threads
to the inch, each thread being well
cut Actually the diameter or this
screw is so little as the four one-thou-
sandth part Of an inch, and II would
take no less a number than 100000
similar screws In order to fill an or
dInary thimble as used by the ladies.
Ho InnhlA hp1n and
has TO be hardened. After the harden
ing process the screws are arranged III
frames. being placed in with the heads
inward. This delicate operation Is
done by the sense of touch alone IN
stead OF by sight. and great rapidity
marks the skilful operator. Some
where about 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
a 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 |. 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
IL. 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 1870, and it
was made for Charles Y. of France.
This monarch was surnamed the Wise,
but his education was imperfect i'll
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 ap-
proval. 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
a grievous error, as the figures TO de
note the hour of 4 should be four Is.
Poor Wick ventured to tell the king
chat he was wrong. Il am never
wrong thundered the irate monarch.
Take the clock away and correct the
mistake at once upon pain OF my dis
pleasure
Wick had TO do as he was told, with
the result that all our timepieces have
the fourth hour labeled iii instead OF
Nv, as should be the case II the correct
Enumeration We're followed.
How many people have the slightest
notion why sixty seconds make a 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 a decimal system Of nota-
ton, but also by a sexagesimal sys-
TEN. That is to say, they not only
Feckoned by tens. but also by sixties.
The Babylonians 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 10y
comparing the progress made by the
sun on it's 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 II is one Of the most
remarkable facts Of history that the
aystem has survived through every
change made since the days of Baby
iOnld. hneH tle tue FIth'2 leNoiu
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 owl
lovers OF the decimal notation do nO
suggest that the old sexagcsimal meth
Cd of reckoning time should be altered
-Pearsons Weekly.
Condensed.
Diner-Give me plate o pork anC
beans and hurry EN- up. Waiter