The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1921-12-30
Measuring
Time
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The American is apt to regard his
New Year as the New Year. Had he
a penchant for celebrating holidays he
could travel in a more or less feisure-
~ way around the world, and in the
course Of the year could participate in
six or seven New Year festivities, add
ing couple of Christmas celebrations
for good measure" according to a bull
letin from the Washington headauar-
tiers OF the National Geographic So
ciety.
Our american might start his pro-
gressive holiday jaunt by going to
some western European country for
the approaching New Year which the
United States TOO will celebrate He
could then travel to Greece. Jugo-
Slavta. Rumania. or Bulgaria in time
for Christmas in those countries.
Christmas is also Decembr rs in the
countries named, according to their
calendars but corresponds 20 January
in America
by remaining a week in the same
country he could also spend New Year
day, called January l. but correspond
ing with the American and western
European January IA. by pushing on
and making good connections he might
be able to reach Singapore. or by sup
plementins steamers with airplanes
could reach China itself TO take part
i'll the most thoroughgoing New Year
celebration in the world, the Chinese
New Year
after The Chinese New Year cele-
bration, the traveller could pursue his
holiday hunting less strenucusly for a
while TJn cou1,1 arra 70 l.,
Siam in time for the Siames- New Year
on April |, and afterward could have
five months of sightseeing before
reaching Arabia for the Mohammedan
New Year on September 4. He could
quick Journey into Abyssinia to take
part in the New Year festivities of
that country on September 10. Re-
turning to the Red Sea and taking a
steamer north Re could easily reach
Jerusalem in good time for the He
brew New Year, October 3.
The holiday hunter woul now have
taken part in all the principal New
Year celebrations of the world and
could return - the Western hemis-
phere to spend Christmas with which
he is most familiar at his ,wn hearth
S'tS. III S4A aat itSS tIdI Il year he
would have chaked up seven New
Year and two Christ mas celebrations
to his credit
The worlds multiplicity of New
Year days and christmastiaes is due
TO the fact that our calenda: is largely
an arbitrary device The earth revolves
around the sun N 365.2l22 days. which
makes the true year a very odd mea-
sure CT time. md it is almost as diff
ficuit to choose a logical beginning for
the year rs it IS to find the starting
point OF q circle. Different peoples
nave selected different starting points
and have also assumed the year to be
CT slightly different lengths. This has
not only resulted in the years begin
ming at different times but has also
caused the times Of beginning to vary
IN their relations to ane another from
year to year. L is as though a clock
mad half q dozen or more hands all
moving around the dial from different
starting points
the most logical starting points for
the Year would seem to be summer
and winter soistices and the sprinE
and autumn equinoXcs: and all CT them
have been made to mark the begin
hilSS OF the years in some parts of
the world. The Gregorian calendar
that is now in use in the United States
and throughout most of the Christian
wefld. is the Julian calendar slightly
When Julius Caesar caused
IT 10 b" constructed, the beginning Of
the year. January, was placed seven
days after the winter solstice, and not
in conjunction with it as logic would
seem to dictate. The Julian year was
made by means of the leap year de-
vice, 365.25 days lcng. which was an
excess over the true year OF II min
ltes and II seconds. This excess caused
he nominal January to creep grad
nailE farther and farther beyond the
winter solsticc so that by the time of
the Church Council of Nice in 81, II
was eivn days beyond tho scistiee in-
stead of seven.
BY the time of Pope Ciregoi,v's cor
.ection in 1882, January was 21. days
beyond the solstice and Christmas IA
9fE"nd. IT the celander had remain |
'hcorrected New Year day would have |
seh" on creeping forward, frss INTO |
pr'n2, then into summer