The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-09-20
NOON TIME IS SENT
MANY MILES
OFFICIAL oBsER-
WALTON is FLASHED OVER
THE COUNTRY.

main building at the naval obserya-
tory. which is set up On a hill in the
northwestern part of the District Of
Columbia. He glances at the various
clocks in tho room and then goes over
To table which lis covered with cleo
trio apparatus.
lie watches the clocks to his left
closely and waits for the hands to
reach u:55. As the second hands ap-
prodches the 60 on the dial he pre-
pares to shift switch. The clock is
SO finely adjusted that when the sec
ond hand points to so it exactly marks
the beginning Of a new minute.
As it touches the SO the switches
are thrown on. Then starts a signal
that goes out instantanequsly over
800, 900 miles of telegraph lines In
Washington. New York, Buffalo.
Cleveland. Newport. Baltimore. New
port News, Norfolk, Savannah, New
Orleans, Key West. Galveston. Chi
cago and elsewhere the time balls go
up on their poles. People know that
ii Is five minutes to moon, Washing
ton time.
More Ticks.
The clock which keeps the time in
the observatory ticks on. With each
tick there is a contact of electric
points. \ circuit IS closed. and an in
strument on The table similar In APP
pearance to a telegraph sounder ticks
away loudly.
1t goes. on to the 2sth second,
then skips one tick, then resumes its
steady sounding until the last five
seconds: then there is another gap
These gaps are for the purpose of
giving the listeners at the other ends
of the great system of wires a chance
tn know what part of the minute the
clock Is on. So ii goes up to the last
minute.
AT the Goth second there is
again the skipping of one second.
Finally the clock gets around to the
50th second. Then the circuit remains
open for 10 seconds. There Is silence
all along the telegraph wires
At the other end, where there are
time balls or merely train operators.
the long pause indicates that noon is
almost there. The second hand makes
on toward 60 and finally reaches
the mark. Then there is another click:
in about n second tho sounder in
down. and that tells hundreds of
thousands of people that it is noon
In Washington
Wonderful Operation.
II IL wonderful operation. this get
ting the time. and highly technical
Finely adjusted clocks. chronographs
and other instruments of great value
are used. and the taking and record
ing of the time have reached n point
where the human equation is practi-
cails eliminated. 49,
The results obtained are of great
value, particularly to mariners The
time is not only flashed to hundreds
of paints in the United States, but il
Is sent far out to sea by wireless. A
cable carries the flash to Havana: an
other to Panama nd callao. Peru.
The observatory here does not send
the time much farther west than the
Rockies. but they have on observa-
tory at the Mare Island navy yard.
and from there the time is sent up and
down the Pacific coast, just as it Is
from here to the eastern part of the
United States. In the cities where the
central time Is used the flash marks
IL O'Clock. An hour later local opera
tors drop the time balls.
Mean Time.
The mean time IL determined by as
Economical observations. When GER
tain stars pass the 18th merd-
ian. called the meridian of Washing
Ion, IL Is certain time. The operator
watches for the starry through telc-
scope, the field Of which is covered
with fine wires
As the stars reaen Il certain neint in
transit the operator presses a key In
his hand. \ contact is made and re-
corded nn chronograph. The chrome
graph consists of cylinder covered
with paper. II is held by an arm at
taehed to tho mechanism. The cylin-
der revolves once minute. and the
pen moves along the surface of the
paper. making spiral line.
sidereal clock ot the finest make
Is running in vault underneath the
observatory. With each tick of the
CLOCK there is contact of two points
These two points are attached to wires
that lead to an eectro-masnet at
tached To the arm that holds the pen
nj the chronograph The clock is So
adjusted that each minute the pen
jumps To one side. Consequently there
is break in the line.
mere are other breaks. too. when
the observer watches the stars
cross the lines in tho field of the
telescope. The mean time thus re-
cofdtd for each star after being cor
f"rted Tor errors. is the clock time of
the stars transit. Whatever difference
There IL between the clock time and
Inc sld"rai time marked by the trans
II "f the stars is the error Of the
clock From theso astronomical OBJ
SefFattors the stdereat time is OBJ
The error amounts to but
little. rarely being more than from
tive one-hundredthS 10 ten one-hun-
dredths NJ a second.
The time of sending a flash over the
wires is practically nothing. \ flash
has reached Greenwich. England. i'm
'hfee-tenths OF a Observation-Disclosures .
Correspondent. CHICAGO Inter Ocean.