The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-10-20
Evolution q
T Calendar
A ROMANCE r THE
HIS Dry OF MAN

Washington, q l9.--The evolu-
tion of the caller r, from the days
when man could bnt only from day
to day, through e time when thu
lunar month wa reckoned as a
"year," to the pl )nt time of an al
most universally led time counting |
system, is a ron zee of the history
of the history nan. Piecing to-
gether the few bwn facts of the
calendars life y, scientists have
found different ferpretations and
uses for we'll Fn facts and re-
mains of early
! For instance, fording to Moses |
b. Cotsworth, ng in recent |
publication of Pan American
Union, the wei known Egyptian
pyramids were erected by early
; monarchs Of tn fealm as monu-
ments to their eatness nor as
tombs for thei bdies; but were
. huge sun dials the aid of which
the yearly pre- ion of the equi-
, noxes was disc ed and the calen-
dar devised.
| The pyramid pre constructed by
mathematicians astronomers, Mr..
Cotsworth hold The size, height
and slopes of being determined
to aid astrono1 Each of the piles
3 lin lower Egypt built at differ
. ent period, uni be last was found
a Ito be the mo hearty perfect for
: lstudying the and stars OH the
: meridian of E Not until each
Q was abandone or a better, he
,. claims, was mid given over to
the uses of a tomb.
I'll The pyramidase Pm, in conjunc-
" tion with the obehswas devised to
n cast a shadoW o3sAiient sharpness
o be meas-r lalysed day by
lay. The wonderful Washington
Monument, at Washington, D. G..
which shadow measurements found
% be constructed perfectly from base
% peak, while following the form Of
he Egyptian obelisk, is too high, he
found to cast Sshadow useful fo"
solar measurements. The blending
# the suns rays around the top, at
that distance, blurs the shadow.
However, he declared, the shadow
vas used for certain measurements
which prove that September % and
not the 2lst is the day of the fall
equinox.
The pyramid was the result OF tn.
efforts to get sufficient.
~ long shadow to measure the
months and years more accurately,
md along it's sides the early astron-
omer gazed to mark the movements
Of the stars and planets.
Stonehedge, an ancient monolithic
ruin in England, attributed to the
Druids, was another mechanical
means of determining solar and lunar
it was said, as was the
purpose also of several other SINH
lar ancient stone constructions in va.
rious parts Of the world.
The primary reason for the calen-
dar in early days was the need OF
when to SOW and reap, how
to handle cattle and to determine 9th.
er prepition days. All peoples, it IS
used the periods Of the
moon as their. longest time space
but this was varied and unequal
through the year. Noah, it was said
adopted the early Egyptian calenda,
of five month year, 80 days to the
month and three ten-day weeks, al
a better way to ration the tribal sup
plies.
Bundles of small sticks were th,
first known means, of actually keep
ing track Of the passage Of days, an.
even today some American Indian.
keep fve bundles Of 80 sticks, pulling
out one stick for each day The las
bundle is repeated in each half yea
to even things up, and the middle
bundle is split in two equal groupl
to determine the approach of mid
summer and midwinter days. In tn
Fiji Islands the moon stick" wa
used, on which a notch was marke,
the waning Of each moon.
The Hebrews evolved q six rnontl
year when, Jacob set out stakes from
central position in line to the no
rizon to mark where the sun rose an
set on the longest, shortest and med,
an day Of the year. The extrem
ages given to early Bible worthie
were attributed to counting "moons
as years and later 6 and month
as full years.
One Of the m,sans used by the earl
priesthoods,. to impress the ,nassss,
was explained, was the secrecy a,
tending The dsterninins Of ths sss
sons and years. SScrsd rods used 4
measure the shaSsows BY which Il
time Of year was determined, we,
jealously guarded, and when, on ii