The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1922-10-27

RuntIlcs OF Sticks

pulling out one stick each day TIL
last bundle is repeated in each hal
year to even things up. and tAe mid
die bundle is split in two equa
groups to determine the approach o
midsummer and midwiater days. Il
the Fiji Islands the moon stick
was used. on which a notch marke,
the waning Of each moon.
The Hebrews evolved a six-montl
year when Jacob set out stakes from
central position in a line to tn,
horizon to mark where the sun rose
and set on the longest. shortest and
median day of the year. The ex.
irene ages given to early Bible
worthless were attributed to count
ing moons" as years and later five
and six months as full years.
One of the means used by the ear
ly priesthoods, to impress the masses.
il was explained. was the secrecy at
tending the determining of the sea-
sons and years. Sacred rods used
to measure the shadows by which the
time of year was determined, were
jealousy guarded. and when on the
set date, the priests measured out on
the ground the lengths of the shad-
ows, the ceremony was accompanied
by great show.
Today, in Borneo. expert calendar
makers among the Dyaks have secret
measuring poles. They travel over
the country setting up measuring
rods and setting in the ground pegs
at certain distances by the secret
rods. They tell the farmers to
plant, cultivate or reap when the
poles shadow touches certain pegs /
in the middle of the day At the |
end of the harvest they return and |
gather the tithes OF the crops which
are their fees.
So accurate were the measure
ments of the early Egyptian astrono-
mers, according to the writer, that
they were able to determine to the
third decimal point the exact length
Of the year. which they. set at sos.
242 days.
Secret of the Sphinx.
The famous Egyptian Sphinx is
leither a monument nor a tomb, Mr.. ,
ellsworth declares, but was design ,
ID and built primarily as another as 2
economical instrument by which the q
unrise and setting points of spring
ummer and winter were fixed. That
Measurement was not so accurate as
he observation of the MONDAY !
hadow. so was abandoned in favor .
f the latter.
According to Mr.. COtsworth's
heory. the early Egyptians were fac /,
with the need of maintaining and q
icreasing their population to ward O,
If invasion by the Assyrians on the "
orth and the Philippians on the r
,uth. To do so they had to increase Ia
leir food supplies AS no more
liable land was available il was up In
them to Increase the yield of their o,
nds by intensive and careful farm 81
&. IL was then necessary to know m
st exactly when to sow and when to III
ap, and such intensive crops could IN
ly be developed by locating the pre- W,
;e points in the seasons. in
Precise knowledge depended up m
study of the sun, and as the fif
,yptians had neither telescope nor rit
N glass observation of shadows was w,
veloped. To have better shadows III
e pyramid was gradually evolved al,
a huge sun dial, and the need was da
filled. Three crops of certain sh
aims are still harvested in Egypt. VIC
In Central and South America the Sv
tees Mayas and other early civili- sw
ions also devised Calendars such I'M
the Aztec calendar stone now in
} museum at Mexico City. Being DIR,
much closed to the equator than fra
, Egyptians. the latter's form of DR.,
ramid observatory was impossible fer
cause an Increased angle of slope to
uld be necessary and this was i'm ms
ssible to build then. Their open tn,
p pyramide. then, were only capa- for
of determining the years length to
the 365th day and not the frac- Pc
II of the 366th. tina
dal
MADAM WHEAT CROP vii
GREATEST SINCE lois. NJ