The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1910-01-28
TINE OF The NATION,
How II Is Kept at the Naval Oh
servatOry In Washington.
THE SIGNAL FOR HIGH NOON.
Il ls Flashed Out Over Nearly q Mil
lion Miles Of Telegraph Wires Every
Day In the Year-The Finely Ad-
\ iusted instruments That Are Used.

JNokG02 tuSAFutuguEB bU8H &$E8 ODU0a
AsfeW minutes before IL O'Clock noon
every day in the year young man
walks into q. certain room OF the main
building At the nslval observatory,
which is set up on al hill In the north
western part Of the District OF Column
bia. He glances at Ehe various clocks
in the room and thsn goes over to a
table which Is covered with electric
apparatus
He watches the clocks to his left
closely and waits 1br the hands to
reach 11:55. AS thtf second hand APP
proaches the so ont the dial he pre-
pares to shift a Switch. The clock is
SO finely adjusted mat when the sec
ond hand points to 30 1t exactly marks
the beginning of Aew minute.
AS it touches tile 90 the switches
are thrown on That starts a signal
that goes out in}tantaneously over
100000 miles Of telegraph lines. In
Washington, New York, Buffalo, Cleve-
land, Newport, Baltimore, Newport
News, Norfolk, Savannah, New Or
leans, Key West, Galveston, Chicago
and elsewhere the time balls go MP on
their poles. People know that It is
five minutes to noon. Washington time.
The clock which keeps the time in
the observatory ticks on. With each
tick there is contact OF electric
points A circuit is closed, and an in
strument on the table similar in ap-
pearance to a telegraph sounder ticks
away loudly.
1t goes on to the twenty-ninth sec
ond, then skips one tick, then resumes
its steady sounding until the last Eve
seconds; then there is another gap.
These gaps are for the purpose OF
giving listeners at the other ends Of
the great system of wires chance to
know what part Of the minute the
clock is on. So it goes up to the last
minute. ea ef
AT the twenty-ninth second there is
again the skipping of one second.
Finally the clock gets around to the
6ftieth second. Then the circuit re-
mains open for ten 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 go and finally reaches
the mark. Then there is another click;
inaHout second the sounder is down,
and that tells hundreds of thousands
Of people that it is noon in Washing
toA.
1T is 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 recording
OF the time have reached point where
the human equation is practically elm
mated.
The results obtained are Of great
value, particularly to mariners. The
time IS not only flashed to hundreds
of points in the United States, but it
is sent far out to sea by wireless. A
cable carries the flash to Havana; an
other to Panama and Callao, Peru.
The observatory here does not send
the time much farther west than the
Rockies, but they have an observatory
at the Mare Island navy yard, and
from there the. time is sent up and
down the Pacific coast, just as 1t is
from here to the eastern par 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.
The mean time is determined by as
Economical observations. When GER
tain stars pass the seventy fifth merid-
ian, called the meridian of Washing
ton, it is certain time. The operator
watches for the stars through a tele-
scope, the field Of which is covered
with fine wires.
As the stars reach a certain point in
transit the operator presses a key in
his hand A contact is made and re-
corded onsa chronograph. The chrome
graph consists Of cylinder covered
with paper. A fountain pen rests on
the paper 1t is held by an arm at
-fached to the mechanism. The cylin-
der gevolves once minute, and the
pen moves along the surface Of the
paper, making spiral line.
A sidereal clock Of the finest make is
running in vault underneath the OBJ
servatory. With each tick of the
clock there is contact of two points
These two points are attached TO wires
that lead to an electromagnetic at
tached to the arm that holds the pen
OF the chronograph. The clock is so
adjusted that each minute the pen
jumps to one side. Consequently there
is break in the line.
There are other breaks, too, when
the observer watches the stars
cross the lines in the field OF the
telescope. The mean time thus re-
corded for each star, after being cor
rected for errors, IS the clock time Of
the stars transit whatever difference
there Is between the clock time and