The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-05-11
The Calendar

The Julian calendar, to which Russia, by special
edct, has at last conformed, after holding out
cessfully against it for than 800 years, is
by far the most important of those at present in
use, and the coming in of Russia places it in the
position of world calendar
Russia, in the change she has just made, has per-
formed an act beside which the writing off Of an
hour at the commencement OF summer time is in
deed small matter. She has written off no less
than 13 DAYS, and, in order to bring herself into
line with the rest of the world, took leap last
night, from April Is to May 1.
In early times the Romans were wont to divide
their year into 10 months but later on in the days
OF kings they adopted the lunar year of 355 days,
divided into II months, with occasional intercal
airy month to preserve due adjustment. In pro-
cess of time, however, the priests who had charge
of the matter, either through carelessness or ig
nOrance allowed confusion to creep in, and by the
time of julius Caesar the matter was crying out
vociferously for drastic adjustment julius Caesar,
accordingly, grappled with the question in B. c. 46.
The year was divided into 365 days, and, every
fourth year, one day was added, the length of the
year being assumed to be 1854 days. As matter
of fact, however, the year is less than 1854 days,
by II minutes and 48 seconds, and this fact the
source Of all the trouble which followed for some
1000 years.
In those 1000 years, the few minutes each year
grew into days, and by 1882 the discrepancy be-
tween the official date and the actual date amount
ed to 10 days. This shifting of days had caused
great disturbances by unIlXlng the times or the
celebration of Easter, and likewise of all other
able feass, and so, in the year already mentioned,
Pope Gregory XIII decided that reformation was
necessary. After carefully investigating the mat
ter, with the help of the astronomer Clavius, he
dained that 10 days should be deducted from the
year 1882 and that in the month of October in that
year. the calendar should jump from the 4th to the
10th. In order that this displacement should not
occur again, it was further ordained that every
Tooth year should not be counted as leap year,
ceptng every 4OOth, beginning with 1900. In Spain,
Portugal, part of Italy, France and the Roman
Catholic Low Countries, the change was made, al
though not in every on the same date but in
the Protestant countries the innovation was siren
uously resisted and the Lutherans of Germany,
Switzerland and the Protestant Low Countries did
not agree to the change until the year 1900 England
stood out for another half century, and it was not
until 1751 that act passed for equalizng the
style, in Great Britain and Ireland, with that used
in other western countries of Europe BY that
time the 10 days of Gregory's time had grown to be
IL, and so, when the change made, the End of
September, 1751, became the 18th, and an incensed
populace paraded the streets Of London calling up
on the authorities: "Give us back our II days!"
Russia and Greece still held to the old STYLE the
discrepancy, of course, accommodating all the time.
Now Russia has made the leap, and Greece alone is
left to represent the old order.-Christan Science
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