The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-10-17
DIVIDES THE WORLD,
The Line That Marks Where Day
Begins and Ends.
IT TRAvERSEs THE PACIFIC.
The Way This important Boundary
camc to Be Established - Spots
Where Today, Tomorrow and Yester-
day Are Still a Confused tumble.

1t is evident that the day must begin
somewhere. though it is a confusing
thing to undertake to determine just
where, for one may go on and on
around the world and never catch UP
with it. On the other hand. If we are
not careful In reasoning we will reach
the absurd conclusion that it is Mon
day noon and Tuesday noon at the
same time in any given place.
A writer in the st. James Gazette
treats this peculiar phase Of the sub
ject in very definite way.
Seeing that as one moves westward
the time gets earlier and earlier, SO
that when it is Monday noon in Lon
don 1t Ia some time on Monday morn
ing In Amer I follows that, If this
principle wes, tinued without limit
halfway round .4.e world. at the same
moment that 1t was Monday noon IN
London it would be also twenty-four
hours later-that is, Tuesday nooU-in
London. AS this is raductio ad absur,
dun. we have to look for the limit,
ciple that as one moves westward the
llLle SetS Garner dui aS one moves
eastward it gets later.
Before the circumnavigaton Of the
globe there was no difficulty. When
on Monday the sun stood over Lon
don 1t was Monday noon in London.
As the sun moved Ito use the popular
phfase) westward and stood a little
later over Dublin it became Monday
noon in Dublin. and so Oh until II
reached TIE western limit Of the
known world.
When the sun passed over that limit,
that was the e.l OF noon for that Mon
day. and nobody knew what the SUI,
was doing until he rsappearcd on thr
eastern limit OF the known world,
bringing with him Tuesday morning
1t Is evident. therefore. that Will"
the sun was in the urknown abyss be
tween west and east he dropped the al
tribute of making the time at al place
directly under his r"ys Monday noou
and took to himself the attribute Of
making it Tuesday noon.
AS the confines Of the world were
pushed farther eastward ana west
ward. respectively. the unknown abJ&.
where this change Of attriDut" had to
be made got narrower and narrower
until. when the g.cbe was circumlavi
gated. the place Of change became
simply a line
This llue eX!sta and Is the place
where the days begin. AS the sun
crosses this remarkable spot the time
jumps twentyfour hours onward
from noon one d&y to noon on the next
day. The situation OF the line has been
located quite fortuitoUs!y -namely. by
the circumstance whether any given
place was first reached by civilized
man journsyine from the east or from
the west.
The dscoyerer brought with him the
almanac from whence he came. and if
he caLle from the west the time in the
new country would be later. and if he
came from the east 1t would be earlier
than the time in the country he came
from.
America WAS reached by civilized
man voyaging westward and China by
man travelling eastward. and the result
Ia that the line that marks where the
days begin lies between these two in
the Pncifc ocean and. instead of being
u straight line. ZigZags about. dividing
islands which happened to be discover
ell from the east from those which
happened to be discovered from the
west
There must still be many islands in
that ocean where it is not yet decided
to which side OF the line they belong
and where. II one were put down. che
would not know whether it 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. sc
that 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 sc
near this line that by going a few miles
they can leave today and get into to-
morrow or. by going back, can find
yesterday.
,Iamaica's Green Turtlas