El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-02-28


/ GALAXY day will come on next Thurs
/ day. makes the movement for the re
] vision of the calendar Of unusual inter
/ est at this time. 1t Is generally a6.SSu
/ BY thinking men Of all naIlondlltIes
] that there Is much room for improve
] nnent in our system Of reckoning time
/ While the calendar reforms OF > ulLus
/ Caesar and Pipe Gregory nave setteU
/ their times well, it IS believed IN scl I-
| tific circles that there Is no lOhseI alIs
| excuse for the continuation OF the cal
| endar as IL exists today
/ The one principal difficulty that has
I been encountered throughout the cen
| turtles since julius Caesar lent the IoICe
] of Rome to a revision Of the system
| of time reckoning. has Deen the AaCe
] that this Wilful old globe OF ours re
fuses to make its tourney 4Iouiiu a.
sun in an even number OF DAYS II -
! could be speeded up Just niue ~
so that 1t could finish Its journey IN
exactly 364 days, the calendar InaAeIs
that would be exactly. 50 weeks Under
those circumstances any given date IN
the year would always 1au on IHS
same day OF the week rms WouIu
leave no occasion for adjustment
through the addition Of leap years
Again, II II could be made 70 quicker
its pace so as to complete It's journey
around the sun five hours 46 minutes
and 46 seconds sooner than it now
does, the entire problem OF the leap
year might be eliminated
Seeking q Substitute
Many methods OF reckoning time
have been proposed as a substitute for
the present system. OF course without
exception they recognize the length OF
the year as the basic principle some
of them would record Christmas day
and February % as mo day" or dies
non in the calendar. These two days
would not stand as days Of the week
at all. This would IN no way inter
fere with the GregOrian system Of cal
culatlng leap year periods II would
simply permit all days IN the year 20
fall on the same day Of the week
ter Since it is found that under our
present system the four quarters OF
the year are not of equal length. 1t is
proposed that the length OF the months
shall be somewhat changed. At present
the first quarter consists Of 80 days,
the second quarter OF 81 days and the
third and fourth quarters Of % days
each 1t IS proposed so to reVamp the
number Of days in each month that
they shall each have 80 days. except
March June, September and December
In this proposition for revision New
Years day and Leap day. would oc-
cur, New Years day as at present, and
Leap day" between the end Of June
and the beginning OF July. This prop
ositlou for the simpli1icatlon Of the
calendar was made in 1907, by Alex
ander Phillip Of London
Would Make Year Is Months.
Still others would go farther than
Is months, each month consisting OF
exactly four weeks They would place
the new month in midsummer and call
II Sol. In nonor or rne sun Iney
would make Christmas a mo day" in
the calendar, and would dispose OF
February % I'm the same way, calling
1t Leap day or some similar term
This proposition has been champiOned
for many years by NJ 3, CotsWOrth, OF
Y Orks England AR COtsWOrth has
proposed that the new calendar shall
inf Nnr q In
that year Christmas viii fall on Mon
day. He suggests that this would al
ways permit Christmas eve to fall on
Sunday. and that that day could be
day He feels that no other year could
be more fittlngly set aside. since 1916
represents the centennial OF a large
number OF events OF great historical
interest He points out that in 1916
the congress OF Vienna. which finally
settled the political affairs OF Europe
and so prepared the way for interna-
tiOnal friendship and intercourse. was
held During that year George Steven
son was laying the foundations for his
construction Of the railway locomotive;
steam was being applied 10 navigation;
the first savings banks IN England and
the United States were established.
stereOtyped plates were invented; the
foundations Of the German empire were
laid: the United States OF America be-
came an international power as a re-
suit Of the events Of that year. These
and other epoch making happenings OF
1916, according to AR Cotsworth. make
1t fitting that the centennial OF that
year should be the date when the new
calendar should go into effect
Another class of calendar revisers
would go still farther. They would
make the ordinary year consist of 364
days, made up Of Is months of four
weeks each. They would add week
at the end Of every fifth or sixth year,
according to the number OF common
ana leap years occurring within the
cycle. This fifth or sixth year would
consist Of 81 days. Rev. L J. Heat
Wole, or virginia proposes this meth
Cd as a solution of the problem It
is modification Of the method pro-
posed in 1905 by George N Searle, in
The Catholic World
He proposed that the year should
consist of S64 days, with an intercalary
week in every year divisble by five,
with the omission OF this week in mid
century years and once every 400 years /
IN addluon thereto. This would per I
init the equinox to vary three and one /
nalt days instead of one half day as al (
present
Many Favor the Plan.
II seems that the. general tendency 4
or thought among those who are urg- I
ing a revision OF the calendar is IA I
voraole to 10 month year. Of four 4
weeks each. However, there are some 4
who would practically make a 14mOnth /
year Their proposal is to have IL 4
ordinary months and two half months, 7
one half month coming In mid summer
and the other half month In midwinter
still another proposition is that the \
number Of months should remain the
same as at present, each month TO De
Is days long. and an additional week
not belonging to any OF the months,
10 be added at the close of each quar-
ter, and to be known as CLOSE week
To this idea would be added the elm
nation from the calendar OF Christmas
lay and New Years day as days of the
week. They would be set apart as mo
lays" Christmas day In every year
and New Years day I'm those years
when leap year occurs In this idea or
L close week" at the end Of each
quarter. it is proposed to give each
II these four weeks a special name
one Of them would be called. Julian
week" and another "Gregorian week
N honor of the two great reformers OF
he calendar. Under this system one
uight write. Julian week, 9th.
q16"
Various names have been proposed Z
or the thirteenth month. advocated by
hose who would make each month I
.onsist of 2S days One has suggested
he name "Evemhcr." this month to ,
ONE between August and September.
mother has suggested SOL TO come +.
.-tTs-aau Tune and .Tu1v- still others J