The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-06-02
DIVIDES THE WORLD,
The Line That Marks Where Day
Begins and Ends.
IT TRAvERsEs THE PACIFIC.
The Way This Important Boundary
Came 10 % Established - spets
Whsrs Today, Tomorrow and Yssssr.
day Are etIiI . Confused JumbIs.

4
Whsrs Today, Tomorrow and Yssssr.
day Arc etIiI . Confused JumbIs.
II Ia evident that tho day must begin
somewhere, though II Ii d confusing
thing to undertake to determine Just
where, for one may 70 on and on
around tho world and never catch up
with n. On tho other hand. II we are
not careful In reasoning we will reach
the absurd conclusion that II ID Mon.
day noon and Tuesday noon at tho
same time In any given place.
A writer In the st. James Gazette
treats this peculiar phase Of tho sub.
jcct In a very defihIte way.
Seeing that M one moves westward
the time gets earlier and earlier, 10
that when II u Monday noon In Lon
don II Is some time on Monday morn
Ing ia America, II follows that II this
principle were continued without limit
halfway round the world, at the same
moment that II was Monday noon III
London X would be also twenty-four
hours iater-that Ii. Tuesday noon--in
London. As this u reductio ad absur-
dunn. we have 10 look for the limit.
which does. In fact exist. on tho prin.
cIple that as one moves westward the
time gets earlier and as one moves
eastward II gets later.
Before the clrcumnnvigation Of the
globe there was no dliiicnlty. when
on Monday the sun stood over Lon
don II was Monday noon In London.
Az the sun moved TO use the popular
phrase westward and stood d little
later over Dublin II became Monday
noon IN Dublin, and 80 on until II
reached the western limit OF the
known world.
When the sun passed over that limit,
that was the end 0f noon for that Mon
day. and nobody knew what the sun
was doing until he rcappenred on the
eastern limit OF the known world,
bringing with him Tuesday morning.
II III evident, therefore. that while
the sun was In the unknown abyss be-
tween west and east he dropped the at
tribute Of making the time at all places
directly under his rays Monday noon
and took to himself the attribute OF
making II Tuesday noon.
Az the confines Of the world were
pushed farther eastward and west
ward. respectively. the unknown abyss
where this change Of attribute had 10
be made got narrower and narrower
until, when the globe was clTcumnayl.
gated. tho place OF change became
simply n line.
This limo exists and Is the place
where the days begin. AS the sun
crosses this remarkable spot the time
jumps twenty-four hours onward
from noon one day TO noon on the next
day. Tho situation OF the line has been
located quite fortultously- namely. by
the circumstance whether any given
place was first reached by civilized
man journeylng from the east or from
the west.
The dIscoverer brought with him the
almanac from whence he came, and II
be came from the west the time In the
new country would be later, and II he
came from the east II would be earlier
than the time In the country be came
from.
America was reached by civilized
man yoyaglng westward and China by
man travelling eastward, and the result
Is TINT the line that marks where the
days begin lies between these two In
the Pacific ocean and, instead Of being
a straight line, zigzags about, dividing
Islands which happened to be discover
cd from the east from those which
happened to be discovered from the
west.
There must still be many islands In
that ocean where II 10 not vet decided
to which side Of the line they belong
and where, IL one were put down, one
would not know whether 1t were to-
day, tomorrow or yesterday.
There must also be many islands
there which. never having been per-
manently occupied by civilized people,
change their day from time to time, so
that a ship calling there coming from
China might arrive on Tuesday. while
another ship calling at the same time
from America would arrive on Mon
day. There must be people living so
near this line that by going few miles
they can leave today and got into TO-
morrow or, BY going back, can find
yesterday.