Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-10

counted out with an exactltude
almost superhuman, astronomical guides
to navigation and aviation are prepared
and all precision instruments Of the
American Navy are tested.
Thus it Is easy to sum Up q vast
volume of activity in few words. Con-
slider the Naval Observatory's work with
any pretense toward detail and many
words are necessary. One need not 60
to California or board ship of Cape
Horn to find evidence that a national
observatory drives an astronomical busi-
ness from l,000-foot circle in the
District of Columbia.
Refer to the present only and 60
Just as far as yourself: At this mo-
ment, to wit, the time is l2:57:23 am.
There can be, no guesswork about it, be-
cause the Naval Observatory says SO.
A shrewd stock broker would stake his
bottom dollar on it. Now, If the OBJ
servatory did not function as official
pulse beaten for the country the afore-
said time might have been 1881
or 12:58:l9.
Before the national observatory started
a daily time service Americans had
no notion what it means to be prompt.
TINS explains, also, why our early his
tory details so many diSappointmentS at
rendezvous. Congressman and bride
grooms always found excellent excuses
Tor being late-an watches save their
own were wrong
In this age of swift tempo and split
seconds one doffs ones derby to an
institution that processes impartial in
terest in everybodys business. Aside
from guiding mariners off the rocks the
naval Observatory attends to ringing
8 O'Clock school bells and blowing s
O'Clock whistles.
Should the time service suddenly
cease, you would, perchance, tomorrow
cneat your boss of labor, and the Sec
ono day he may gain. At the months
END 1t is hard to say who would have
gained most.
Wen, how did the country manage
before the time service? That was be-
lore the Civil War, when several min
uoeS lase or early didn't amount to
much. Trains, ships and stage coaches
weren't bothered by accurate Schedules
Wnat little correct time there was came
rom widely distributed observatories
Railroads not equipped with a stafY of
astronomers begged and bought correct
time. The information was for sale and
TOY income flowed into the Golfers
OF various private institutions
Inc master clock was built by the
.ias0sr nano, 1t is the sky vault. Man
t tias uut 70 FOCUS his instruments on
Daly, that is the business perforr,eri
ny observatory astronomers. Red,IceJ
20 hours, minutes. seconds and frac-
tsionaI seconds, We are free to learn
spent. -'"' "'i e"oy oeen
AS the time signals 90 ont thrice
uaAy, millions Of watches, chrononeterS
nanos and pendulun1s stand bv in ex-
G G;SS.Ss,Un. Inc principal channel of
tSiissrioutlon Is the Arlington Radio Sta |
ton, whence it is sent to men-o,Nwar
and merchantmen over the seas The
same signals are also broadcast hv |
Naval stations at Annapolis San Diego |
Gam, and Key West, Fla. MANY mi. |
vaee stations now broadcast the same |
information, and the two telerranh |
companies, Western Union and Postal |
Aeieeraph, send it out over their wires. /
SelIlng 1t to subscribers as a grocer sells |
canned pineapple. '
NO Layman can imagine how much
lofty mathematics enter into the caIcr-
lation OF such simple matter as the
correct time, Every weird symbol and
sign descended from Euclid. and IN |
herited by Einstein, plays some role in |
TINS important performance. These will |
not interest people who think in sin1nIe |
olgits. What the Nation at large cares |
ABOUT Is how accurately the Naval OBJ |
servatory delivers daily time. Quoting !
the latest data, we find that the aver |
age error is 0031 of a second The |
pulse heaters weep when they admit |
That on two instances in the past year !
the error crept up to 0.44 and o.62 of |
second. They offer humble apologies. |
ana ask you to remember that, normally |
their maximum error is O.l9. II Won |
can adjust the kitchen clock to these |
dfferences. that tinepiece belongs in |
q museum.
ONCE upon a time the Naval OBJ
servatory occupied grounds now |
held by the Naval Hospital. During |
some years, in the 40s. it began drop !
ping time ball from the buildings |
roof. Those who happened to pass by |
at noon could set their watches accord |
mgly. During Lincolns administration, |
the observatory began supplying local |
police and fire stations with the cor |
rect time over telegraph wires normally |
used to ring in fire alarms This, too, |
served as a great convenience to the |
people, and it was customary for a |
citizen to stop in at the firehouse and |
set his watch.
Soon the State Department found it |
practicable to press its fire alarm wires |
into daily use, and thereby founded q |
system of remote control. From the |
observatory signal would be relayed |
through the firehouse TO the State De- |
partment Building, where a Western |
Union operator thought it would be |
novel to tell his friends in Baltimore |
when to knock OF clicking the key |
From this simple convenience to oper- |
ators, the time signal service expanded |
steadily, until today there is no person |
in the country that does not live and |
die by Naval Observatory time.
For infringing on their profits, many |
private observatories petitioned legis- |!
lators to stop this fiourishing activity |
of a Governmental agency. COMPETE |
ton, they called it. But soon they |
recognized 1t as true function of gov
eminent.
A new system of time-keeping went I
into effect on American railroads at |
noon November 10. 1883. The CONT |
nent was divided into five longitudinal |
belts and time meridian fixed for |
each. They we're set hour apart
In 1904, the first radio time signal
was sent from Boston Navy Yard. In
1905 the Naval Observatory began send
ing signals from the Washington Navy
Yard, with the intention of reaching
ships at sea. BY more than two years 1t
preceded similar attempts from other
nations Today these signals are heard
around the world.
The country's master clocks are kept
In a sealed basement vault, assured
of constant temperature and barometric
pressure. Three sidereal clocks are
firn1ly anchored to rock piers. Nothing
save an earthquake trenor could shock
the instruments.
The passage of so-called "clock" stars
over the obServatory's meridian line
supplies astronomers with the exact
sidereal, or star" time. Several years
in advance mathematicians predict
what the hour, minute, second and frac-
ton will be when clock stars cross this
line. If, during an interval, one Of the
three ma sfer clocks has lost or gained.