Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-02

day in front feasU of this meridian Is
ever being squeeZer out of existence
against the midnight line in space. And
as each old day is crooked to death. so
to speak, up springs q fresh new day.
like soldier Selling the sword of a
fallen comrade. to carry on the eter.
nal relay race of the days.
ut Is against the midnight line that
December 81, 1926, was squeezed
out of existence; and as it died, of
course, the year 1925 came to an
end. Then, as the 1S0th meridian
emerged from under the midnight line.
the first second of 1927 came into
existence, between the date line on
the earth and the midnight line in
space. THIS took place when il
is one second past noon in Greenwich.
Friday. December 81, and when that
day existed throughout the world. ex-
cept for the tiniest conceivable slice
OF the oceans surface in mid-Pacific.
when the new year was born II
was Z am. December 81 in New York.
Washington, Atlanta and other cities
OF the East; 6 am. in Chicago. st.
Louis and all of the central time zone;
am. in Denver and the mountain
zone, and 4 am. in the Pacific Coast
States.
ITO simplify matters the surface of
the earth is considered in most coun.
tries to be marked off into standard
time zones one hour Tor 10 degrees OF
longitude) wide. The time is taken to
be the same Throughout each OF these
zones, and to differ by one hour from
the time in the next zone 0ater to the
east. earlier to the west). The differ
ence across the date line, however
must be one day instead of one hour
Because of these zones and the fiber
ties that it has been necessary to take
with their boundaries because OF ma
tional and State lines and railway
divisions. the new year will begin at
the wrong theoretical time at many
places in the world.
THE Hawaiian Islands, for example
beat the pistol by half an hour.
Instead of using regular standard
time zone the islands have adopted a
zone between two Of the standard
slices. In effect they have hung their
midnight line seven and half de-
grees too tar east. Even so, Hawaii
is one of the last places to enter the
new year because 1t lies SO close to the
date line on it's eastern side.
THE westernmost Aleutian Islands
represent an extreme case in the OPP
posite direction. Geographically, they
lie short distance west of the date
line and should be among the first
bits of land TO which the new year
comes. But in practice the time zone
or central Alaska is extended west
ward to include these islands. AS a
result their new year reaches them
% hours later than it should.
Chatham Island, q part of New
zealand. is Snatched into the new
year almost "a hours ahead OF time
because the date line is bent east
ward to include it. But because New
zealand uses a half hour zone and
Chatham takes this time, 1t loses
thirty minutes of its ili-gotten gain
enough to let Fiji slip under the wire
ahead of il.
Fills claim to being the first
inhabited land OF any Importance to
reach 1927 is legitimate in every way.
1t does not depend on a bend in the
date line. The 1S0th meridian
crosses directly through the island
group. Astronomically as we'll as
practically, it becomes exactly mid
| night in Fiji when it becomes noon in
Greenwich: and Fits new day starts
with the ticking of the first second
after noon in Greenwich. There is
cable station on one of the main Fiji
Islands. Its operator therefore could
have sent a message from 1927 to the
rest of the earth still in 1926, and
| could have done SO when it was pos
sible from no other place in the
world
Double Celebration.
The western Samoan Isles alm"vt
at the date line, slip under the mid
night line just 80 minutes too soon
(since they lie east of the date line)
and SO must remain in the old year
231a hours longer than their neigh
bors the Fijis. few hundred miles
| away If an aviator on Samoa re-
sents this and cares to take the risk
he can fly to Fiji in a few hours and
SO break his way into the new year
nearly a day ahead of time. 1t is con.
New Year dinner in Fiji, then have
| flown back into 1925 in time TO well
come 1927 with his family.
Passengers on Pacific liners that
happened to cross the line from east
| to west on December 31st, sailed
prematurely into 1927. Those on
| ships that crossed the 1S0th meridian
going eastward on January /, on the
other hand, celebrated two New Year
+, days.
"Some of the time anomalies are
| to be found in the United States. The
central time zone is twice aS wide as
cally they should be equal. The
central zone is stretched far enough
west to include the entire State of
Texas. Because of this, residents in
the westernmost tip Of Texas receive
their new year an hour ahead Of
small towns in western Kansas,
| Nebraska and the Dakotas, although
the later are several hundred miles
farther east. Similarly, the new year
will start in Boise and other south
western Idaho towns an hour earlier