Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-07-14

your pocket ana pun out your WATCH
If you are not fortunate enough to
be the possessor of a watch you
glance up at a friendly tower or into
nearby window at a clock.
incidentally, you think that you tell
time by the figures on the dial of
watch or clock, but you don't. You
merely get a mental impression from
the position of the hands. 1t was fig
ured out long ago that public clocks
are not read by figures. In Philadel-
phia people know that the Philadel-
phia City Hall clock has no numerals
on its dial. There is not even a clock
in the tower, the hands being moved
every minute by air pressure, which is
regulated by a clock far below.
It's a far simpler proposition, find
ing out what time 1t is nowadays,
compared with what it was when the
world was younger. Primitive men
used to set up a stick and mark its
shadows, so that a party coming be-
hind might estimate the distance of
those ahead by the shadows altered
position. When a mans shadow short
ened until it seemed to be fixed, 1t
was then known that 1t was noon;
when 1t began to lengthen 1t was
just past noon.
The sun dial was far ahead of the
mans shadow method, but sun dials
were only available during the hours
of the day when the sun was shin
ing.
In ancient times sun dials were
largely in use. The circular rows OF
stones used by the Druids, 1t Is
thought, were used to mark the suns
path. The Greeks were perfectly ac-
quainted with the method of making
sun dials with inclined styles" or
"gnomons, and obelisks are supposed
to have been used to cast sun shad-
ows.
In the ruins of Pompeii has been
found, in one of the gardens, a sun
dial which looks as II the position of
the carth's axis and the plane of the
Equator must have been known to the
maker Modern sun dials are made
much after the same fashion.
A dial consists of two parts-the
style, or gnomon, usually the edge OF
plate of metal. made parallel to the
earth's axis, and pointing toward the
pole, and the dial plane, which may
be of any hard substance. and on
which are marked the directions OF
the shadow for the several hours OF
the day, their halves, quarters. ETC.
DiaIs are given different names, &C
cording to the positions which they
are constructed to occupy The dial
Is called a horizontal dial when the
dial plane is on the plane of the hori-
ION; a vertical dial when perpendicu-
lar to that plane. A dial whose plane
Is paraIIel to the equator is called an
Eouatorial dial There are also North
dials, South dials, East dlals, west
dials, polar dials, declining dlals, etc.
The desire to mark the hours OF
night. as we'll as those OF day, leo 10
the invention of the water ciock' or
"clepsydra," which measured time py
the amount of water which escaped
from a small hole in level or water
Such clocks are said to have been
in use in China in 100 B. c. Two KINGS
of water clocks have been In use. III
one kind the water was aloWeu 10
escape from one vessel TO announcer
II was used in the courts or Athens
whore a sneaker was allowed GER
+.in amphora of water for his argu-
3
ments. the quantity depending on the
,nnortance of the debate at hand
plato is said to have invented the more
complicated form while others gave the
honor to Ctsibius of Alexandra. Inc
water was allowed to run at a UNI
form rate. in this form. into recep-
tacle on which was marked scare o,
hours. Both forms were widely useu
in the old DAYS.
In Canton, China, is to be seen to-
dav what Is known by the natives
as "the clock of the street arch. II
consists of four copper jars punt III
masonry and forming stalr-hhe
structure. Water commences at the
TON lar and drops down until II reach-
go the lowest jar, which has sola
bottom. In the lowest Jar Is placed
bamboo stick, which Indicates the
ha,ght of the water and thus the time
NJ day. 1t takes II hours for the wa
for In the top Jar to drip into the Dot
+or, iar and the clock Is set again
Nv merely emptying the contents Oh
+ha hotton Tar into the top jar, rms
aIoo,, 10 said To be over 5000 years old
Sand glasses for measuring time were
made as soon as the ART VI pio"-e
e,ase had been perfected by the people
of Byzantium. These glasses were usec
for all sorts of purposes. for COOKING
end for making speeches, but theii
most important use was at sea In or
dor that ones position at sea might pe
d1ured. it was important in those early
DAYS TO know the vessels speed. the
earliest method was to throw over a
heavy piece of wood of shape tha'
resisted being dragged through Inc
seq and with a string tied to 1t. the
string had knots In it and the bloch
cf wood was called a log. The knots
were so arranged that when one oil
hem ran through ones fingers in a
half minute measured by a sand glass
II indicated that the vessel was COINS
at tho speed of one nautical mile II
an hour.
An hour glass is made OF glass ano
consists of two bulbs united by mar
row neck. One OF the bulbs is nearly
flied with dry sand. fine enough to run
through the orifice in the neck, ane
the quantity of sand is just as much
az can run through the orifice in ar
l.