Evening star., 1909-07-17
"OAYL|GHT SAVING" FALLACY
PROF. FRIsBY SHOWS ABSURDI-
TIES OF PROPOSED PLAN.
Time System Already a Compromise
Between Sun and Longitude.
Confusion Certain.

To the Editor OF The Star:
NY attention has been called to the
daylight saving bill. as IL it was pos
sble for any bill to save daylight. 1t
seems a bill was actually introduced into
the British parliament to put the clock
on one hour during the summer months,
and then put it back again during the
winter, In order to make people COM
mence work earlier during the summer
months: when such a thing could be ac-
complshed nationally by commencing
work one hour earlier and stopping work
one hour earlier than at present. This ap-
parent juggling with time is too absurd
on the surface, it seems to me, to be seri-
ously considered, but l saw from a state
ment in The Evening Star, day or two
ago. that the Commissioners were con-
sidering the subject and a committee
from Cincinnati was here to urge its
adoption.
AS all our ideas of time are derived
from the motion of the earth on its axis.
the Commissioners would be as poWereSS
to modify that as Canute was to order
the waves of the sea to recede at his
bidding. 1 am fully aware that Capt.
BaSSett, in the United States Senate, had
faculty of putting back the hands of
the clock i'll the Senate chamber on GER
tain occasions; but does any one think
for an instant that that action had any
effect whatever on the time?
Several years ago a bill was introduced
In the United States Senate, stating that
all astronomical observations should be
made in Washington time. and all nauti-
cal observations in Greenwich time This
resolution was referred to a committee.
but of course nothing more was heard
from 1t. l pass over the fact that this
language is entirely unintelligible; the fact
remains that astronomical observations
are and necessarily must be recorded in
sidereal time. Some time ago a bill was
introduced into the Indiana legislature
providing that the ratio of the circum-
ference to the diameter of a circle shall
always be exactly 3 1t was stated that
this bill was referred to the committee
on swamp lands. Several centuries ago
1t is stated that a bill actually became a
law in England providing that a two
penny loaf should thereafter sell for a
penny. The object of this bill was the
| benefit of the poor people. We can
easily imagine how such laws could be
evaded.
Until near the close of the eighteenth
century it was customary to use true
solar time in all transactions. That is, the
time as indicated by the apparent mo-
tion of the true sun. This was found out
| to be uncertain. as well regulated clocks
and watches could not be made to keep
| time with the actual sun. 1t was dis
| covered that the sun itself, instead OF
moving varied ABOUT ndlI al
| hour in the year, at one season of the
year being about a quarter of an hour
ahead, and at another season of the year
about a quarter of an hour behind the
| time. as indicated by good clock OF
watch. Consequently mean solar time
| was adopted and used until 1888. wher
other difficulty which had been observed
| for a long time was partially obviated
! 1t consisted In this fact, that all time was
| necessarily local on account of the revo.
1,,tin nffh hn ~ fC oStd nd mos
exceedingly difficult, especially in travel
| ing, to be always changing time. So the
| zone system was adopted, changing al
(, certain places by one hour and in such a
| way that no adopted time could differ
| more than half an hour from mean solar
time.
This is the system used in the United
States at the present time. carried out as
near as practicable. Sometimes however
| on account of local circumstances this diff
| ference may probably be as. much as
| forty minutes. and this, added to the diff
ference between mean and true solar time.
may make the difference at present In
some localities between true solar time
and the time at present used nearly an
hour.
| Now it seemed necessary to do this.
| but it seems plain to me that nothing
| more should be done in that direction;
moreover the circumstances are entirely
different between Cincinnati and Wash
| ington, as the former already uses as a
| Standard a time that is slower than
theirs by more than twenty minutes.
whereas Washington uses a time that is
| fast between eight and nine minutes;
Washington and Cincinnati being in diff
| ferent hour zones.
The confusion that would result from
| the adoption of the proposed plan would
| be terrible. Nobody could get used to the
system, and changing in summer and
winter would add another element to the
confusion. We should then have, in ad-
dition to local and standard time. day
| light saving time. and as the Identical
| thing can be accomplished by going to
work an hour earlier, see no use, what
| ever for the agitation. especially since, if
| it should be adopted. the same people
would still go to work an hour earlier,
| there would be a great confusion and
| nothing whatever gained.
EDGAR FRISBY,
Professor of Mathematics U. S. Navy.