Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-10-06
zoMEwARD.

The far peaks wait the sunrise: cheerily
The goat-herd calls his wanderers to the
fold.
Ny weary soul. that fain would cease to
roam.
Take comfort: evening bringeth all
things home.
Homeward the swift winged seagulI takes
her flight;
The eObing tide breaks softer on the
sand s4f
The red-saiIed boats draw shoreward for
the night;
The shadows deepen over sea and
land.
Be stin my soul. thine hour shall also
Behold. one evening God shall lead thee
home.
Lately there has been a good deal said,
about changing the calendar making
every month begin and end on certain
week-day-Saturday or Wednesday, and
eliminating leap years and the odd days
that end some Of the months
/ believe that IL win be long time
before II Will really be done; but there
is no telling what changes viii eventu-
ally come, for many changes have been
made as mankind has progressed. In the
years when the world was young there
was. roughly speaking. two divisions
winter and summer.
After a time spring and autumn were
added But even these dates or divisions
would have been very confusing II there
had then been the intercourse between
nations that we have now. Even in the
United States summer in Florida and
summer in Maine or Oregon do not be-
gin in the same month, unless we merely
consider the passing of the sun across
the equinox. And the difference in the
seasons here and in Australia are exact
~ opposite. their cold weather is in
the middle of the year and July weather
IN December. Strictly speaking, and to
prevent confusion. the seasons begin at
exactly the same time every year.
Astronomy. the oldest OF sciences. cali
cu1ated the vernal equinox before the
foundations of the pyramids was laid.
and that fixed the beginning OF the year
for many centuries.
The Romans, the worlds most progress
sive citizens. introduced January and
February into the calendar by Numa and
30 IL remained until Julius Caesar had IL
revised BY that time IL was a mat
ter Of great confusion for every ruler
had power TO change the year TO suit
himself. Taken all in all. no ruler has
Zone more for the whole world than Ju-
Jus caesar. he was leNeA nedueu anu
recognized the fact that he did not know
everything. He called to his assistance
in this instance a Greek astronomer.
S0sugines. TO unravel the tangle. This
man round that by taking any point in
the suns path as q starting point IL
takes the sun 3S5 days. s hours and IS
minutes. 9s.7 seconds to return TO that
point To hoId to this strictly would
mean a loss OF nearly a fourth OF a day
Rvery year. so he proposed that every
fourth year should have 3ss days.
Caesar accepted the suggestion and is
sued the decree. making the first leap
rear. which was A B. c. In order to re-
atore the vernal sQHinax to the time occu-
pled On fherdays OF Numa he ordered two
txsrz- months put between November
and December of that special year, max
ng that a year OF As days. He also or
sered that the first. third. fifth. seventh,
ninth and eleventh months should con-
ain 81 days, the others %. except Feb
ruary, which had =. In leap year il had
~ The Emperor Augustus called August
his month and got jealous because July
named for Julius Caesar. had 81 and in
stead OF taking one from January, he
robbed poor February. So that we have
10 count our knuckles or repeat the old
rhyme:
Thirty days hath September. April
Tune and November TO remember the
lhirties from the others.
In spite Of the addition of a day every
sourth year there was an error of eleven
minutes and some seconds every year.
rhIs amounted to a day every 12s years