Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-02-13
OUR CALENDAR MAKERS.
Caesar and Gregory and the Old
Rhyme Are Responsible For II.

Rhyme Are Responsible For II.
The Duke Of Wellington said OF the
British soldiers that they were great
| robbers, but not prone to acts of vio-
, lence in cold blood. That the Brtsher
loves not 10 be robbed. and that his
blood is liable to become heated at the
bare idea OF being cheated out of ever
so Intangible q commodity as time. is
evidenced by his demonstration when,
ill 11j2. the tardy reformation of the
calendar evoked from the London mob
the angry CRY, Give US back of elev-
en- days. Now Cnce again. there is
talk of revised calendar. which, 1t is
to be Hoped, will DC carried through
without impinging on the susceptible
ties Of any one
The calendar has, from time mme
mortal been source of constant de-
hght TO men of science, the division of
time into years and months being as
old as civilization and common to all
nations, east and west alike. Where
peoples have differed fundamentally
has been in the Use Of the sun and
II oon. respectively as chronological
criteria. The week, on the other hand.
having its origin in the East. found Il
ready acceptance wherever known
WEer, in the fullness of time, it was
introduced into the West by the En-
peror Theadosius, Europe may we'll
have heaved sigh of relief at finding
a chronological subdivision hallowed
by the associations of the magic num-
Der seven. ard free from entanslns
alliances with the celestial bodies.
H., tI., n,.lx -
was no ID question of merit about
it" it wasn't even an aliquot part of
the year. and had nothing to recon-
mend it save its obvious convenience
and utility.
With the month and year. on the
contrary. the case was very different.
for their raisen n'etrc depended on the
movements Of the moon and sun, both
subject to variations. small in them
selves nut conS:do rable when con-
tinuel through the centuries. and
which it has been the time-honored
dream of astronomers to reconcile.
The Egyptians. indeed early realized
where tire trouble came in. but, like
the levol-hcaded people they We're,
threw up their bands. and, declining
TO be drawn into what looked like an
iieXtricable mess. divided their year
into twelve months of thirty days
each, adding five Gays at the end, ap-
parently for good measure.
The result was calendar full of de-
lightful uncertainties-a dispensation
under which. once in 1.461 years,
Christmas would lave fallen ct mid
summer. and the President would have
IL, 10 10 In n
THANKSGIVING in watching the condi-
ton of the cranberry crop. However,
the ideal OF a thirty-day month has
persisted ir the minds of men, and the
latest scheme is tor a month OF thirty
days, with certain days undated 10
make the calendar keep pace with the
sun. Tie most recent attempt along
these lines was the French Revolu-
tionary cal 2ndar. IN which the months
were of thirty days. with intercalary
ones devoted to republican festivals
a device in which science joined hands
with sentiment, resulting in system
which today stands chiefly for sundry
revolutionary horrors hest forgotten.
a GREEK SLIP.
The ancients showed a prediction
for alternating months of % and 30
days; such was the Greek system, with
it's full and hollow months. Now,
the man who critcises the Greeks
takes his reputation in both hands ana
throws it aux critics, as they say in
Gaul. 1t is fact that Laocoon's right
leg is much shorter than his LETT. that
Apollo Belvidero has his left leg too
long by about nine lines, and that the
Venus de MediciS has the curved leg
longer by about three lines than the
one on which she is standing; but we
don't talk about these things except
entire amis. Nevertheless, the Greeks.
in the matter Of the calendar, were all
wrong. First Solon-the universally
of whose genius is rather bore-leg-
islated on the subject; then came Me-
ton with his cycle, the chef d'oeuvre of
ancient astronomy; and after him Cal
ippus But their years were all of the
Lunar variety and so doomed to fail
ure.
1t is to the Romans that we owe our
present calendar. Romulus is said toi
have divided the year into ten months
-four full ones and six hollow
ones-and no one knows exactly how
IL Was l1tenueu 20 WORK. II pIOpdDlJ
didn't work at all. for his successor,
Numa Pon,pilius. possibly at the sug-
gestipn of his friend Egeria--a lady OF
considerable political influence in her
day, though not possessing the SUI
frdgt-came to the rescue with two
more months, February and January
curiC usly enough in the opposite order
to that in which they at present occur.
Some time after, the Decemvirs-tor
reasons best knoWn TO Themselves
changed the order, and January pre-
cedes February to this day. March
was originally the first month of the
year as is soon from the names sep
terber. the seventh month; October,
the eighth. and SO on. The alternating
full and hollow" months naturally
made the year much too short de-
feet which was remedied by the inser-
tion of intercalary months and days.
These were interpolated at the discre-
ton OF the Pontifrs, and at the time of
Julius Caesar this clause. 1.-THE discre-
ton of the PontifGs." had taken its
place in history as what. in these ir-
reverent days, We cali a Joker" Cic-
Gro. himself of the college said that no