STANDARD TIME
FOR THK
United States of America,
CANADA AND MEXICO.
►•♦-
Special attention to the subject referred to in the accom-
pamjing documents is respectfully requested
BY THK
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS,
127 East Twenty-Thibd Stbeet,
NEW YORK.
Should the Person receiving this be unable to send a roply, he will confer a great favor
by transmitting the circular to some person who may be able to do so.
<~'0
American Society of Civil Engineers.
COMMITTEE ON STANDARD TIME.
SANDFORD FLEMING, Esq., Ottawa,
Ex-Chief Engineer .of the Northern Railway of Canada, The Inter-C!olo-
nial liaihvay, and The Canadian Pacific Railway, Chairman.
CHARLES PAINE, Esq., New Yobk,
General Manager New York, West Shore and Buflfalo Railroad.
THEODORE N. ELY, Esq., Altoona, Pa.,
Superintendent of Motive Power, Pennsylvania Railroad.
J. M. TOUCEY, Esq., New York,
General Superintendent New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.
Professor J. E. HILGARD, Washington,
Superintendent United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Professor T. EGLESTON, New York,
School of Mines, Columbia College.
General T. G. ELLIS, C. E.,
Hartford, Conn.
New York, March Lst, 1882.
At the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Civil Engi-
neers, held at New York, on the 18th ultimo, resolutions were passed
directing that a general invitation be extended to all persons and
associations specially interested in the subject of Standard Time,
to co-operate with the Society in an effort to effect a satisfactory
and speedy settlement of this important public question.
The Committee on Standard Time has been requested to give
effect to the wishes of the Society in this behalf.
Accordingly the Committee seeks for the desired co-operation
and solicits a general expression of opinion from persons engaged
in connection with the Railways and Telegraphs of the country,
and from all others specially interested in the question through-
out the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Committee respt otfully directs the attention of all con-
cerned to the accompanying documents elucidating the subject.
The Committee cordially invites replies to the series of questions
which accompany this. To all opinions with which the committee
may be favored due weight will be attached.
After the receipt of replies a Convention, duly called, will meet
at Washington, for the purpose of determining the Time System
which it would be advisable to adopt. The President of the So-
ciety has been authorized to invite other Societies interested, the
several State governments, the governments of Canada and Mexico,
and the various departments of the general government at Wash-
ington, to send representatives to the Convention.
Replies are requested to be sent without delay (i^«]iMiiMi|«hMing
addressed
^ ^ JOHN BOGART,
Secretary A. 8. C. E,,
127 East Twbnty-Thibd Stbest,
NEW YORK.
SPECIAL KOTE.
As authorized and requested by the Society at the Annual Meeting,
the Committee has issued a series of questions on a separate sheet,
with the view of eliciting an expression of opinio?i froa as many per-
sons as possible. Some of the questions require explanations, but the
Committee finds it difficult to narrow explanaxions to limits suffi-
ciently small to be read by men whose time is sevcjrely taxed. The Com-
mittee, however, hopes that such men may favor them with replies, at
least to the leading questions. To other persons who have more leisure
and who may desire to consider the wider range of the subject and ex-
amine every point under discussion, the following documents are ap-
pended to the resolutions adopted by the Society and the report of the
Committee. The details of the scheme for Regulating Time, referred
to in the sheet of questions, will be found in Appendix No. 4, to which
particular attention is invited :
No. 1. Communication read at the Convention of the American So-
ciety of Civil Engineers, at Montreal, June, 1881 (page 9).
No. 2. Extracts from an address read before the Association for the
Beform and Codification of the Law of Nations, at Cologne, Prussia,
August, 1881 (page 15).
No. 3. Extracts from an address read at the International Geographi-
cal Congress, at Venice, Italy, in September, 1881 (page 23).
No. 4. Cosmopolitan scheme for regulating time with accompanying
diagram, (page 28).
STANDARD TIME.
Resolutions adopted at the Annwil Meeting of the American Society of OivU
Engineers.
January IHth, 1882.
Resolved, That the report of the Special Committee on Standard
Time be accepted, and that the Committee is hereby requested to take
such steps as it may consider necessary to obtain information to enable
it to report definitely at a future meeting.
Resolved, That the authority is hereby given to the Committee to co-
operate with other associations in furtherance of this important subject.
Resolved, That authority is hereby granted to the President of this
Society to invite other Societies interested, and that representatives of
State Governments, representatives of the Dominion of Canada, the
Republic of Mexico and the various Departments of the General Gov-
ernment at Washington, be invited to meet in a convention as set forth
in the report.
6
STANDARD TIME
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE.
House op the Societt, )
New Yokk, January 17tb, 1882. \
The Committee appointed to consider the paper on Standard Time,
for Railway and other purposes, read at the Montreal Convention, June,
1881, beg leave to report :
The Committee have examined the question referred to them, and
fully recognize its great public importance. Practically it resolves
itself into a proposition to reform our general time system. But diffi-
culties of a peculiar nature present themselves. The Committee does
not considpv the problem insolvable ; but from its character it is clear
that no single association, and that no one individual can solve it.
Every member of society is interested in it, and it becomes necessary to
consult many interests in order that general concurrence in any change
be obtained.
Since the subject was brought under the notice of the Society in
June last it has been taken into consideration by other associations :
by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Cincin-
nati ; by the American Metrological Society, in New York ; by the Asso-
ciation for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, at
Cologne, Prussia ; by the International Geographical Congress, at
Venice, Italy.
The members of the Committee have, since their appointment, con-
ferred individually with many persons. They find it admitted on
all sides that standard time lor general use throughout the country is
tiT<*ently demanded, and that the time has arrived when action should
be taken.
To apprehend that the question is one of importance, it is only nec-
essary to glance at the existing conilition of our time service. Mistakes
in the hour of the day are frecpient. In every State— in every city or
town— discrepancies are met ^hich produce great aggregate inconven-
ience. Thousands of engagements are broken. Innumerable disap-
pointments and losses result. In some cases loss of life is caused, and
generally in consec^uencie of defects in oiir time system, difficulties more
or less serious constantly are exporiencod.
These difficulties are not confined to this country. They are ex-
perienced in all civilized <!ommunities where lines of rapid communica-
tion have been established. In the papers before the Committee it is
urged that the question is one which affects every nationality, and there-
fore any change which may bo proposed for this country should be such
as to commend itself to other nations for adoption, so as ultimately to
become universal.
The time system which we follow has been in use for centuries. It
certainly answered all the i^urposes of mankind when there were no
railways, no steamboats, and no telegraphs. In some respects the general
advancement of civilized communities has outgrown the old custom :
the yearly march of events more aud more rendering it obsolete, and
calling for reform to meet the condition of the age in which we live.
The Committee anticipate difficulty in effecting a desirable reform, as
no change in a matter of this kind can be effected without interfering in
a greater or less degree with long established usages and fixed habits of
thought. The importance of the question, however, appears to the
Committee to justify a united effort to obtain as complete a reform as
may be desirable and possible.
The Committee feels assured that the general intelligence of the Com-
munity will cordially sympathize with an earnest movement to bring
about such modifications in our time system as may be practicable and
beneficial.
The people of the old world are influenced by traditional customs,
and generally are attached to usages on account of their antiquity.
They may adhere even to imperfections, — which years have made vener-
able. On this continent this feeling is modified. Americans are not, to
the same extent, disposed to cling to conventional forms when these
forms interfere with public convenience, or when they retard progress.
It is, therefore, clear to the committee that we should not remain passive
tiQtil other natioDH take the initiative in Time reform. For in this
country the imperioua power of custom is less difficult to overcome.
If it l>e oousidered that the initiation of such a time system as the
age demands properly falls within the province of the people of America,
it becomes the more necessary that we shonld make earnest eftbrts to
ascertain not simply what best will meet the reqiiireraents of the hour,
but what will prove most generally beneficial to our own and succeeding
generations throughout the world.
The Committee holds it expedient to obtain an expression of opinion
on the various points which present themselves, from as large a number
of practical and scientific men as possible. They consider it essential
to have the views of those who have been and are now engaged in con-
nection with the great lines of transportation in every State, and Prov-
ince between the two Oceans.
Accordingly the Committee begs leave to recommend that such papers
on Standard Time as it may consider necessary to set forth the sub-
ject, be printed, and, all who are prominently connected with Railway
and Telegraph enterprises, or are in any way interested in the consider-
ation of the question in the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico, be
cordially invited to send replies to the series of questions which have
been prepared, with the view of obtaining all shades of opinion.
The Committee more particularly draw attention to propositions 13
to 20 in the scheme which accompanies this. (See page 28.)
It has been held by those who have given attention to the subject
that no scheme of time reform can be considered complete without pro-
vision for the ultimate removal of a defect familiar to many. The Com-
mittee accordingly direct attention to the suggestions submitted under
the heading "Division of the day into hours." (See page 31.) '
The Committee respectfully recommend that authority be granted by
the Society to invite the co-operation of other scientific associations, and
that of other bodies in the furtherance of this important object, and
that all such Societies and government departments interested be invited
in the name of the Society to attend a general convention to meet at
New York or Washington on a day hereafter to be named, for the pur-
pose of determining the Time System advisable to adopt.
SANDFORD FLEMING,
Chairman.
9
APPENDIX No. 1.
Paper read before the Coni-ention of the American Society of Civil Engineers
held at Montreal, Cmmda, June 15fh, 1881.
CCXXXf.
(Vol. X.— December, 1881.)
ON UNIFORM STANDARD TIME, FOR RAILWAYS,
TELEGRAPHS AND CIVIL PURPOSES
GENERALLY.
By Sandford FiiEMiNo, M. A. C. E.
The question which I have been requested to bring under the notice
of the Convention, although not strictly of an engineering character,
from its nature cannot fail to be of interest to the members of the Ameri-
can Society of Civil Engineers, many of whom have taken a prominent
part in establishing the great lines of communication on this continent.
To the large number of its members connected with the administration
and development of the gigantic railway system extending between the
two oceans, which in length are but little less than 100,000 mUes, the
subject becomes one of vital importance.
The occasion strikes me as peculiarly appropriate for submitting for
your consideration the subject to which, with your permission, I will
briefly refer. The Society meets for the first time beyond the limits of
the United States, to find in the Dominion of Canada a cordial welcome.
Many of its members, in attending this Convention, must have travelled
long distances, and have experienced, in one way or another, some of the
difficulties it is proposed should be removed.
The definition of civil time and its scientific determination for railway,
telegraph and all ordinary purposes, is a problem to which a solution is
imperatively demanded by the present condition of civilization.
10, \r,^-yr;-y%./:^^
The question has been examined by the American Metrological
Society, New York ; the Imperial Academy of Science, St. Petersburg ;
the Boyal Society, London, England ; the Canadian Institute, Toronto,
and other scientific bodies.
Its importance has been fully admitted, and expressions of opinion
have been obtained as to the means of overcoming the difficulties which
are experienced.
The citizens of the United States, and the subjects of Her Majesty, the
Queen, occupy together the greater portion of North America. The most
friendly relations exist between us, for, in the main, we are substantially
one people, living under diflferent Governments, with laws and customs
essentially identical. On all sides we are s^^tisfied to remain separated
by our political affinities, having distinct theories and beliefs with respect
to systems of government. But science, like every noble virtue, knows
no national boundary. In this brief note I can recognize none. In
alluding to matters which equally concern the United States and Canada,
I shall refer simply to this country or to this continent.
As the continent extends across 105 degrees of longitude, an indivi-
dual at the western limit finds himself seven hours of recorded time be-
hind another individual at the extreme eastern side at the same moment of
absolute time. Much of the intervening country is but thinly settled, but
railways and telegraphs traverse from ocean to ocean, and we have every
gradation of difference of time between the extreme limit of seven hours.
According to the system of notation which we have inherited from
past centuries, every spot of earth between the Atlantic and the Pacific
is entitled to have its own local time. Should each locality stand on its
dignity, it may insist upon its railway and its other affairs being
governed by the time derived from its own meridian. The smaller and
less important localities, howevor, as a rule, have found it ( onvenient to
adopt the time of the nearest city. The railways have laid down special
standards which vary, as has been held expedient by eich separate
management. In the whole country there is, so far, an irregular
acknowledgment of more than one hundred of these artificial and arbi-
trary standards of time. The consequences of this system are unsatis-
factory. They are felt by every traveller, and in an age and in a country
w!ien all, more or less, travel, the aggregate inconvenience and confusion
is very great, and it will be enormously multiplied as time rolls on. If
the system already results in difficulties to trouble our daily life, and to
11 '■^■'■''::'^^-:ro--;-^
lead to embarrassments which often occapy onr courts of law, which,
indeed, too often are the cause of loss of life, what will be the conse-
quences in a few years, when population will be immensely increased
and travel and traffic indefinitely multiplied, if no effort be made to effect
a change ?
The societies I have mentioned, after careful examination, have
united in the opinion that a satisfactory change cannot be made too soon,
and they have adopted resolutions pointing to a general uniformity and
thorough accuracy in time reckoning. They believe that the course they
have recommended will greatly facilitate the daily transactions of busi-
ness men, greatly increase the safety of the travelling public, and im-
mensely benefit the whole community.
It is proposed that the community unite in an effort to simplify the
system now in use by reducing the number of time standards to a mini-
mum by substituting for an indefinite number of irregularly established
and purely local standards a few main or, as they may be termed, conti-
nental standards, each one having a fixed and well known relation to all
the others. It is proposed to have these standards established and main-
tained by governmental authority ; to have them regulated with precision
through a common central observatory, and through these standards it
is proposed to keep every town, city, railway and steamboat clock
throughout the land as nearly as practicable in perfect agreement.
The plan of arrangements favored by the Metrological Society,New York,
and the Canadian Institute, Toronto, is to have the standards so establish-
ed that they will be exactly one hour apart ; that is to say, while it would
be nine o'clock at one standard it would be eight o'clock at the next to
the west, seven o'clock at the following, and so on, by steps of exactly
one hour. There would be no difference in the minutes and smaller
divisions of time. If the time be ten minutes or thirty minutes past the
hour at any one point, it would at the same instant, in absolute time, be
ten minutes or thirty minutes past some hour at every point. The hours
themselves only would differ, and they would differ only in designation
according as the localities were east or west. At the same instant of
absolute time every clock in the country would strike either one hour or
another ; the minute and second hands would always and everywhere be
in perfect agreement.
It may be known to gentlemen present that the officers of the United
States Signal Service have evinced a deep interest in the question, and in
12
the efforts to establish uniformity, accuracy and simplicity of system
throughout the country, General Hazen, Chief Signal Officer, Wash-
ington, has expressed his earnest desire to contribute toward the public
dissemination of standard time. He considers it eminently proper that
the department over which ho presides should, as far as practicable, assist
in a work in which the whole community is interested, and he offers the
active co-operation of the Signal Service in every part of the United
States, in the maintenance of accurate standard time and giving it to the
public by dropping time balls at all important stations.
Mr. Oarpmael, Chief Director of the Meteorological Department of
Canada, would similarly co-operate in every practicable way. There
would, therefore, be no difficulty in giving effect to a scheme of intro-
ducing uniformity of time-reckoning .throughout North America, so soon
as the railway and telegraph authorities and the general public express
concurrence.
It is proposed : 1. That the exact time should be determined astro-
nomically at a central observatory. 2. That every town of any importance
should have a public time signal station. 3. That arrangements be made
for placing each station in electrical connection with the central obser-
vatory at a certain hour every day. 4. That each station be furnished
with automatical apparatus for making the proper signal, either by drop-
ping a time ball or by firing a gun at the proper moment. 5. That all
the public and railway clocks in each and every locality be controlled
electrically from the public time signal station.
I think it may fairly be claimed that no peoples are more progressive
or more ready to adopt any needed change or manifest improvement than
those who live in North America. And as there is no country except
Russia where a greater necessity is presented, or a better field offered for
the introduction of a comprehensive system of uniformity in time reck-
oning, it is more than probable that in this country the change will first
be made.
As there can be little doubt that other countries will in due time
follow the example of America, it is desirable that we should inaugurate
a system which will readily commend itself by its appropriateness and
simplicity. One that will have the best prospect of being ultimately
adopted throughout the world. If we admit the principle that in a
question of this kind it is not expedient to limit our view to any city
or state or province, but to embrace in our system the whole of the con-
lb
tinent, it seems to follow that we should take a still broader riew, and
endeavor to apply the principle to all countries. Steam and electricity
are rapidly altering the conditions of life everywhere, they are girdling
the globe and bringing all countries nearer together. We get our unit
measure of time from the earth's revolutions, it is, therefore, common
property, and nothing can be more cosmopolitan in its nature. It
is perfectly obvious to my mind that a system of uniform time which
would be good for this country should be equally good for all countries
on the face of the globe.
These views have mel with the ready acquiescence of all who have
given them careful consideration, and the system recommended by the
several scientific bodies for adoption on this continent, commends itself
as a scheme which all nations may, with advantage to themselves and to
general interests, accept.
The American Metrological Society and the Canadian Institute have
each papsed resolutions substantially as follows :
"Lesolved, That uniformity of time throughout the United States
and Canada is demanded by the progress of events, and that a general
system by which time may be reckoned in a uniform and accurate man*
ner by the people of all nations throughout the globe is of the highest
importance.
"Resolved, That a great service will be rendered to the world by
directing the public mind to the subject, and by securing the general
adoption of a well conceived system of uniformity, and that the Society
is hereby authorized to co-operate with other bodies in recommending a
comprehensive scheme based on the following propositions :
"1. Twenty -four standard meridians (one every 15 degrees of longi-
tude) to be established around the globe for reckoning sectional or local
time.
" 2. One of the 24 standards to be selected as a time zero or initial
meridian for reckoning cosmopolitan time.
" 3. The time zero to coincide with the prime meridian to be com-
mon to all nations for computing longitude.
"4. The twenty-four standard meridians to be designated by names^
or by letters of the alphabet, or by degrees of longitude, numbered from
the prime meridian westerly.
14
<i
5. The prime meridian, or zero for time and longitude, to pass near
Behring Strait 180 degrees from Greenwich.
"6. The division of the day into two halves of twelve hours each to
to be discouraged, and a single series numbered from I to XXIV, sub-
stituted. In the cosmopolitan day, or period of time between two
successive passages of the sun over the prime meridian, the single
division to be made absolute. "
I may avail myself of this opportunity of mentioning that the
scheme of cosmopolitan standard time is being brought before various
European societies under distinguished auspices. His Excellency, the
Governor-General of Canada, baa been good enough personally to evince
a deep interest in the question, and has been pleased to send communi-
cations to France, Belgium, Prussia, Austria, Russia and Switzerland.
The subject will be considered by the Association for the Reform and
Codification of the Law of Nations, at their meeting in August next, at
Cologne, in Rhine-Prussia : and it will, on that occasion, find warm
advocates in Dr. Barnard, President of Columbia College, and Mr.
David Dudley Field, of New York. The question will be brought under
the consideration of the International Geographical Congress at Venice,
in September next, supported by such men as Mr. Otto Strove, Director
of the Imperial Observatory, St. Petersburg ; General Hazen, of Wash-
ington, and others. - .
In bringing these propositions under the notice of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, I do not feel justified, on an occasion like
the present, to refer at length to the voluminous papers which have
been written, and the arguments which have been advanced, in connec-
tion with this question. Necessarily I have been brief, and I respect-
fully suggest, in order further to save the time of the Convention, that
a committee be appointed to examine and report at a future meeting.
I feel it proper to add that as the great object is to determine and
establish a system which will secure the greatest advantages to the com-
munity, it is of first importance to have the proposition carefully
digested by those whose opinions have value with the public. An
expression from this body, of educated, scientific and practical men,
must carry with it great wulght, and will exact respect in every quarter.
15
APPENDIX No. 2.
Extracts from an address read before the Association for the lieform and Codi-
fication K)f the Tmw if Nations, at Cologne, Prussia, August, 1881, by Dr. F. A.
P. Barnard, Delegate from the United States of America.
THE REGULATION OF TIME.
The propositions which I have the honor to present to the considera-
tion of the Conference ait'ect the personal convenience of every inhab-
itant of every civilized land, and that not occasionally only, but
continually. The regulation of time connects itself with every act and
every incident of social, religious, commercial or industrial life. Banks
open and close their doors, churches arrange the order of their services,
transportation companies regulate the movements of their trains, courts
and legislatures adjust the times of their assembling and their adjourn-
ment, theatres and other places of amusement announce the hours of
their performances or exhibitions, and, finally, society fixes the times of
its various appointments, for purposes of pleasure or business, in accord-
ance with some standard, which, if not universally satisfactory, is at
least universally understood. Thus the question, What shall be the
standard of time? is one which affects every man every hour of his life,
and one ii^ which he is compelled to take an interest.
In the United States of America and in Canada the desirability of the
adoption of some universally recognized system for the regulation of
the divisions of the day has long been felt; and a movement commenced
about two years ago, by two scientific organizations, viz., the American
Metrological Society, of New York, and the Canadian Institute, of
. Toronto, Canada, has already been successful in drawing public atten-
tion to a definite scheme of time-regulation for the Continent of America,
which is rapidly gaining ground in the favor of the people.
It is to be noticed, in the firbt place, that the time kept by clocks and
watches in our country is not, gonerrliy, the exact local time of the
place where the owners of such timepi« ces reside. Upon every great
Hue of railway it is indispensible, in oraer to secure safety and regu-
larity in the movement of trains, that the time kept should be unifor n
from end to end. And as some of these long lines extend over from five
to ten deg-ees of longitude, while the standard time kei)t by them is
usually that of one of their termini, it follows that, at ditferent points of
the road, the railway time differs from the local time, ten, twenty, thirty
or more minutes. Yet, such is the relative importance of the railway
traffic, in comparison with that of interests purely local, that, in prac-
tice, the railway time supersedes the local time, and all the affairs of
life are regulated in accordance with it. In some large towns two kinds
of time are kept; as, for instance, at Buffalo, New York, where, in the
same houses, may be found two clocks, one of them giving the time of
the place, and the other that of New York City, which is the railway
time, and is twenty minutes faster.
It sometimes happens that towns not distant from each other are
situated on different lines of railway keeping different times. In passing,
by ordinary vehicles, from one of these towns to another there is exper-
ienced the inconvenience of finding one's watch entirely out of harmony
with the time-keepers of the locality visited. But a still greater incon-
venience occurs in those towns which lie at the intersections of two or
more important roads — and there are a good many such— for here it is
necessary to keep account of as many systems of time as there are inter-
secting ways. From an investigation made by Professor Oleveland
Abbe, of the United States Weather Signal Office, at Washington, it
appears that the railway times kept by different transportation compa-
nies in the United Stalies correspond to no fewer than seventy meridians,
and the total number of such varieties is probably not less than one
hundred. Now, so far as the transaction of the ordinary affairs of life
in each particular locality is concerned, this extraordinary variety is of
no consequence to the inhabitants. But in all matters which concern
the mutual relations of the inhabitants of different places the case is
otherwise. Without a knowledge of the times of both places it is quite
possible that appointments in regard to affairs of important concern
may be wholly disconcerted. And without a similar knowledge one may
fail to meet a train on which he had counted, and may thus be subjected
./^■'',;vv .':.V'- 17
to unanticipated delay and other oonseqnent disadvantages. It is, o(
oourao, hardly necessary to mention the degree to which tbo usefulness
of the time-tables issued by the rariouH transportation companies is
impaired, for the purposes of the traveller, when the time standards of
all these companies are different. But the embarrassment to the tourist,
however great, is of less importance than that which is suffered by the
permanent resident. > '
Now, considering the fact that, for our own Continent of America the
time actually kept at any place is usually purely conventional, and is
not the true local time of the place itself, considering that this is also
true in England, and is, probably, to a great extent true of the Continent
of Europe, and considering that identity of the conventional with the
local time is unimportant when the standard of time actually used is
understood, it has seemed to us that by the adoption of a system accord-
ing to which all time-keepers throughout the world might be made to
agree as to the minute and second, and to differ only, as longitudes
differ, in regard to the hour, all the confusion which exists in conse-
quence of the present variety of time-standards might be wholly elimi-
nated, to the great benefit of the people of all civilized lands. The
adoption of this system would involve the recognition of twenty-four
fixed meridians, distant from each other by a constant difference of
fifteen degrees of longitude, and determined in position by some one of
the number distinguished as the prime or zero meridian. The moment
of the passage of the mean sun over each of these meridians is to be
regarded as the hour of mean noon for that meridian, and for all places
which are nearer to it than they are to any other. Thus the largest
difference which can occur between conventional time and true local
time will be thirty minutes, and the hour will change at a line half-way
distant between any two meridians.
The system here described was proposed originally for the United
States by Professor Cleveland Abbe, of the United States Signal Service
(as mentioned above), in a report to the American Metrological Society,
and also (without concert with Professor Abbe) by Sandford Fleming,
Esq., late Chief -Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Bail way, and now
titular Chancellor of Queen's University, at Kingston, Ont., in a paper
read by him before the Canadian Institute, and since published. In
these papers it was proposed to adopt, for the American Continent, five
meridians, of which the central one should be situated bit hours west of
18
Oreonwioh, and should pass almont centrally tkrongh the City of New
OrleanH. The time of this meridian, being that prevailing through the
principal Stut<fa of the Mississippi Valley and the British province of
Manitoba, is diHtinguislied as valley time. The flve-hotir meridian passes
near Now York, and govurns the States lying on the Atlantic, together
with the two Canadas, giving them what is hence called Atlantic time.
The four-hour meridian crosses the island of Newfoundland, and gives
what is called eastern time to that island, and to Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and the remaining British possessions east of Canada. The
seven-hour meridian passes through the City of Denver, and almost
exactly over the United States Signal Station on the summit of Pike's
Peak, more than 14,000 feet high, in Colorado. It gives time to the
States, Territories and provinces lying on and about the great central
ridge of the Continent, which is hence called mountain time. The eight-
hour meridian falls a little east of San Francisco, and almost exactly on
the small sea-coast town of Santa Barbara, in California. From this
the States of the Union which lie on the Pacific, and the British prov-
inces on the same ocean, derive their time, which it is proposed to dis-
tinguish as Paci^c ;fme. . ii
The bounding lines between the successive meridians, at which the
count of the hour shall change, it is not proposed to define with the
same geometrical iirecision which characterizes the meridians them-
selves. The idea is rather to follow any well-known natural or political
divisions which fall approximately midway between the meridians, and
which will serve as easily remembered reference boundaries. On the
American Continent such lines of demarcation are easily Tound. The
States and provinces which touch the Mississippi river will use valley
time; the Canadas, and the States of the Union which lie east of these
valley States, and most of which touch the Atlantic, will use Atlantic
time; the British provinces farther eastward will use eastern time; the
States and provinces which touch the Pacific will use Pacific time; and
all those which lie between the Pacific States and the valley Statec will
use mountain time.
The means by which we expect to establish this system on the Amer-
ican Continent, are partly the voluntary action of the transportation
companies; partly the co-operation of municipal corporations and cham-
bers of commerce, and partly local legislation. Already many local
organizations have taken steps for the establishment of time balls, and
19
other time Hignals, iti furtheranco of thu praotioal introduction of the
syHtuui. The Stuto of Connouticut hu8 ouucteil u utatuto making the Ufse
of Now York time oompiilHory upon all transportatioti compunieB within
her limits. Tho chief Hignal officer of the United StateH, Generul W. B.
Ha/en, hu8 warmly interested himself in the scheme, and has offered the
gervi(!es of his corps to operate daily any apparatus for the distribution
of time whi(;h may be erected at any of the numerous stations of his
extensive service. The same otUcer, and associated with him Mr. Chan-
cellor Fleming, above referred to, and the present speaker, have been
constituted a joint-committee, on the part of the American Metrological
Society and the Canadian Institute, to present this subject to the con-
sideration of the International Geographical Congress, which is to meet
in Venice on the 15th of September proximo, in the hope of obtaining
for it the approval of that body ; and I have been specially charged by
the Metrological Society just mentioned, of which I have the honor to
be president, to ask for it the favorable consideration of this Asso-
ciation. ■'■;'':' .,'■; u- ,
The Oovernor-Oeneral of Canada, the Marquis of Lome, has been
pleased to int^^rest himself actively in promoting the success of the
movement. The papers relating to it which have been published by the
two associations, whose titles have just been mentioned, have been for-
warded by Lord Lome, through the British Foreign Office in London,
to oountiies with which Great Britain is in diplomatic relations, and to
their scientific associations; and from the Imperial Academy of Sciences
at St. Petersburg have been received copies of a report from a com-
mittee, of which the eminent astronomer Otto Struve was chairman,
cordially approving the project, which report was adopted by the
Academy.
Two or three minor features of the scheme contained in the resolu-
tions proposed remain to be mentioned. The first of these is the propo-
sition to abolish the present division of the day into two equal portions
of twelve hours each, and to employ instead a continuous count running
from one to twenty -four hours in each day. The division at present in
use is not a natural one. It is founded, presumably, upon the custom
of astronomers to begin the day at the meridian passage of the sun, or
the habit of the people to fix the moment of apparent noon by observ-
ing the coincidence of the shadow of a vertical stile with a line drawn
north and south. The natural division of the day is into a light portion
20
and a dark portion. These portions are always and everywhere unequal,
except for a single day in the year, or for a single great circle of the
earth — the equator. No exact system for the uniform division of time
can, therefore, be founded upon them. On the other hand, no disad-
vantage can arise from regarding the day as a unit subdivided into
twenty-four equal fractions, a mode of division once very general, at least
in Italy, and hardly yet entirely abandoned; while there are very appre-
ciable disadvantages attending the present division into twelve-hour
moieties. The first of these is the necessity of using always in speech
the word forenoon or qflernoon, in order to identify the portion of the
day to which any hour which happens to be mentioned is to be referred;
or, in writing, to place after the number of the hour the explanatory
suffix, A. M. or p, M. Another, and even greater, is the uncertainty in
railway time-tables as to whether a particular hour is an hour of the
night or of the day. The compact form of these tables renders it
impossible always to introduce the necessary specifications in their coJ
umns, and the inquirer is thus often left at a loss. Some of these tables,
in order to remove the embarrassment, have employed the expedient of
printing the hours of the night in white letters upon a black ground,
while those of the day are printed in the usual way — with black letters
upon a white ground; but the very adoption of this expedient is a con-
fession of the existence of an evil which we may easily perceive to be
quite unnecessary. Let the hours of the day be only continuously
numbered from beginning to end, and there will never be any uncer-
tainty as to which part of the day is meant.
Another of the secondary features of the scheme is the designation of
a zero meridian. The zero meridian is that from which terrestrial longi-
tudes begin to be reckoned, and that at which, at the close of the day,
the count of the day in the monthly calendar shall be momentarily the
same for the entire globe. Any meridian which might be chosen, and
which should be generrUly accepted, would answer for this purpose ;
but such a selection ought not to be made through mere idle caprice.
Begard should be had to usages actually existing ; and if there is any
meridian which has already become more familiar than any other to the
great majority of mankind, that circumstance should be counted in its
favor. In a contribution made by me some ten years ago to a provisional
code of international law drawn up under authority of a resolution of
this Association, by the Hon. David Dudley Field, afterwards President
21
of the Association, I endeavored to assign some reasons why the merid-
ian of Greenwich is entitled to be regarded as rightfully the first merid-
ian for purposes of longitude . But the same reasons apply with equal
force to the inferior meridian of Greenwich — that is to say, to the me-
ridian twelve hours distant in time, and 180 degrees distant in longitude
from Greenwich itself ; and as I have found, in consultation with others,
that there might be danger of awakening national susceptibilities by
insisting on Greenwich (though, for myself, I fail to find this considera-
tion serious), I have yielded my first opinion, and propose to fix the first
meridian for time and for terrestrial longitude at the 180th degree from
Greenwich, so that this first meridian will fall almost entirely upon the
open ocean. As in the monthly calendar the change of count must
begin first at some particular meridian, it is desirable that this change
shall take place, if possible, beyond the limits of all habitable lands ;
and this is true of the meridian proposed, since, except a small portion
of wild and desolate sub-arctic Kamschatka, it scarcely touches any por-
tion of the earth's surface uncovered by water. At this assumed first
meridian, therefore, the day in ordinary chronology will begin when the
mean sun is on the meridian of Greenwich ; so that, in fact, it will be
identical with the astronomical day as reckoned at that observatory.
The last of the secondary features of the scheme which I have to
notice, is the proposition to establish, for purposes of pure chro-
nology, and for the facilitation of synchronous observations in science,
a special time-reckoning under the name of cosmopolitan time. So long
as the dimensions of the known world were limited in longitude between
the Indies on the east and the Ganary Islands on the west, there was no
danger of a oonfosion of chronology to arise from a mistake of an entire
day in a date. But at the present time, and since civilization has
encircled the entire globe, it is a fact that there are certain houm in
every twenty-four, during which, for one entire half the habitable world,
the date is a unit more advanced in the monthly calendar than in the
other. The change of count must hdve a beginning somewhere. In the
absence of any distinct cunvention on the subject, it is generally under-
stood that this change begins somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. It hap-
pens, therefore, that at the moment when the sun is on the meridian
opposed to that of Greenwich, the date for all Asia and all Continental
Europe may be, for example, the first of January before noon, while for
the entire American Continent it is still the thirty -first of December.
22
On the other hand, when, twelve hours later, the sun is on the Green-
wich meridian, the date will be the first of- January for all the world, but
will be afternoon for Asia and Europe and forenoon for America. At
present the change of count, as above observed, is supposed to begin in
the Pacific Ocean. But if we are to be exact, it ought to begin at some
certainly defined meridian ; and the present proposition is to make it
begin at the meridian distant twelve hours from Greenwich.
The time determined by the proposed zero meridian is, according to
a suggestion of Mr. Fleming adopted in the resolution, to be distin-
guished as cosmopolitan time, and might equally be called universal or
absolute time. Any observation made in cosmopolitan time will be fixed
with absolute certainty both in the chronological sequence and in the
hours of the day, and it can easily be converted, by the addition or sub-
traction of an even number of hours, into the particular time of each
standard meridian. Mr. Fleming proposes, also, that the hours of this
universal time shall be distinguished by symbols or letters rather than
by numbers. The value of this suggestion consists in the fact that, by
means of it, the danger will be averted of ever confounding cosmopolitan
time with that of any other except the prime meridian. It is not other-
wise insisted on as a feature of special importance.
23
APPENDIX No. 3.
Extracts from an address read at the International Geographical Congress, at
Venice, Italy, September, 1881, by Sandford Fleming, Delegate from the United
States and Canada.
THE ADOPTION OF A PRIME MERIDIAN AND TIME-
ZERO, TO BE COMMON TO ALL NATIONS,
IN COSTNKCTION WITH
THE REGULATION OF TIME.
The unification of initial meridians has been advocated in the interests
of geography, astronomy and navigation. I shall accept all the argu-
ments which have been advanced on behalf of these extremely important
interests, and crave your indulgence while I submit additional reasons
for the establishment of a common prime meridian for all the world.
I propose to direct your attention to arguments which spring from
the relations of time and longitude and the rapidly growing necessity in
this age for reform in time reckoning.
If we take into view the whole earth, we hsive at the same instant in
absolute time, noon, midnight, sunrise, sunset, and all intermediate
gradations of the day. The telegraph system, which is gradually spread-
ing like a spider's web over the surface of the globe, is practically bring-
ing this view of our sphere before all civilized communities. It leaves
no interval of time between widely separated places proportionate to
their distances apart. It brings points remote from one another, enjoy-
ing all the different hours of daylight and darkness, into close contact.
Under our present system of notation, confusion is developed, and all
count of time is thrown into disorder.
The local civil day begins twelve hours before and ends twelve hours
after the sun passes the meridian of a place. As the globe is constantly
revolving on its axis, a fresh meridian is every moment passing under
the sun. As a consequence, a day is always somewhere beginning and
24
always somewhere ending. Each spot around the oiroumference of the
sphere has its own day, and therefore there are, daring every diurnal
revolution of the earth, an infinite number of local days, all beginning
within the space of twenty -four hours, and each continuing for twenty -
four hours. These days overlap each other, and, theoretically, they are as
perfectly distinct as they are infinite in number. There are no simulta-
neous days except on the same meridian, and as the different days are
always in the various stages of advancement, difficulties must necessarily
result in assigning the period when an event takes place. The telegraph
may give the exact local time of the occurrence, but it will be in disagree-
ment with the local times on every other meridian around the earth. An
event occurring any one day may on the instant be announced some-
where the previous day, or somewhere else the following day. About
the period when one month or year passes into another month or year,
an occurrence may actually take place in two different months, or in two
different years, according to local reckoning.
It will be readily conceded that this system is extremely unscientific :
that it possesses all the elements of confusion, and produces a degree of
ambiguity which cannot long be tolerated ; that as time rolls on it will
lead to grave complications in social and commercial affairs ; that it will
produce serious errors in chronology ; that it will lead to litigation, and
result generally in difficulties of various kinds. According to our present
system, there can be no absolute certainty with regard to time unless the
precise geographical position be specified as an important element of the
date. It is evident that it will be exceedingly inconvenient and trouble-
some, when rapid communication becomes universal, to bring the times of
different countries and localities into agreement ; and that the necessity
for doing so by additions or deductions for differences in longitude will
undoubtedly clog the ordinary business of the world.
It is proposed to obviate the difficulty by a system of cosmopolitan
time reckoning, the chief peculiarity of which is the adoption of one
particular meridian as a standard time-zero, and by an extremely simple
arrangement regulating the times at all places on the globe by a direct
reference to the common standard. It is obvious that the world's time-
zero should coincide with the prime meridian to be used in common
by all nations for reckoning terrestrial longitudes.
I proceed to subirit special and more urgent reasons for the
selection of a common initial meridian and time-zero. I shall confine
25
my observations to the case of North America, a country with which I
am most familiar, but the remarks I venture to submit will doubtless
apply to other great divisions of the earth's surface.
The gigantic system of railways and telegraphs which has been estab-
lished in America has developed social and commercial conditions ^hioh
never previously existed in the history of the human race. These conditions
' have affected the relations of time and distance in a manner which shows
that the system of notation which we have inherited is defective ; that it
leads to confusion, causes loss of time and disturbs the arrangements of
travellers and business men ; that it frequently results in loss of life, and
leads to difiSculties of various kinds ; that under the circumstances which
have followed the extensive employment of steam and electricity as
m ::ans of rapid communication, it is generally inappropriate.
The question has therefore become a matter of great public import-
ance, and attention is seriously directed to the simplest and best means
of removing an impediment to commerce and general intercourse.
The system which we follow, and which has been followed for ages,
was not so objectionable half a century back, when the electric telegraph
was unknown and the horse was almost the only locomotive. The system
is based on the theory that time is regulated everywhere by the passage
of the sun over the meridian of each separate locality ; that the period
between any two solar passages at any one place is divided into halves,
known as ante-meridian and post-meridian, each half being subdivided
into twelve hours, and that the two halves together constitute a day.
According to the recognized theory, as already stated, every spot on
the surface of the globe differing in longitude has an entirely dis-
tinct day and a local time peculiar to itself. Except on the same
meridian there are no simultaneous days or hours or minutes. Every-
where the days and divisions of the day vary, and the variations are
infinite.
In the case of North America, the contine^^t extends across one hun-
dred and five degrees of longitude. Within its extreme eastern and
western limits it is possible to draw many thousand distinct meridians,
and, following rigidly the prescribed theory, we may have as many thou-
sand standards of time, not two of which would be in harmony. The
railway authorities have come face to face with the difficulty, and they
have from time to time met it as circumstances dictated. In order to
operate the long lines of railway with some degree of safety, each sepa-
26
rate manager has been obliged to ignore the different local times, and
arbitrarily adopt a special time for the movement of trains on the par-
ticular lines under his charge. The railway guide-books publish at least
seventy- five (75) irregularly chosen standards of time, employed for the
running of trains in the United States and Canada. Every city and
town of importance has its own time, occasionally coinciding, but fre-
quently differing from the nearest railway standard. The public have
been obliged to accommodate themselves to this irregular system, but it
has become exceedingly inconvenient and irksonic, and a scheme which
will introduce a time-system characterized by uniformity and simplicity
cannot fail to be cordially welcomed.
For the reasons stated, an earnest movement has begun in America,
with the view of establishing reform in time-reckoning. The question is
engaging the attention of the Canadian Institute of Science, the Ameri-
can Metrological Society, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, and other soci-
eties. The community generally and the great railway and telegraph
interests are being awakened to its importance.
It is felt that the question is one in which all countries have an inter-
est, and although it has presented itself, possibly more prominently in
America than elsewhere, it is felt that Americans should take no narrow
view of a scientific matter of world-wide interest.
It is held by those who have seriously considered the subject, that a
solution of the problem which would be good for America would be
advantageous to other countries. It is considered that in introducing a
reform in time reckoning in North America, the system should be such
as would commend itself generally ; that it should be one which by its
appropriateness and simplicity would have every prospect of being
adopted ultimately throughout the world.
A highly important feature of the movement is to take every
means to render the system generally acceptable, so that, whenever the
necessity may arise in any other community for its introduction, it may
be spontaneously adopted ; a course calculated to secure ultimately com-
plete uniformity in all countries.
I beg leave to submit an outline of a proposition for defining and regu-
lating civil time which is favored in many quarters in Canada and the
United States of America.
(See Cosmopolitan Scheme for Regulating Time.)
27
It must be evident that the principles laid down would be the ready
means of meeting the difficulties to which I have referred, and that
it is practicable to secure uniformity, great simplicity, perfect ac-
curacy and complete harmony. The times of places widely differing in
longitude would differ only by entire hours. In all other respects,
standard time in every longitude and latitude would be in perfect agree-
ment. In theory, every clock in the world would indicate some one of
the twenty-four hours at the same instant, and there would be perfect
synchronism with the minutes and seconds throughout the globe.
By the system proposed, instead of an infinite and confusing number
of local days, following the sun during each diurnal revolution of the
earth, we should have twenty-four well-defined local days only ; each
local day would have a fixed relation to the others, and all would be
governed by the position of the sun in respect to the Prime Meridian.
These twenty-four local days would succeed each other at intervals of
one hour during each successive diurnal revolution of the globe. The
day of each locality would be known by the letter or other designation of
its standard meridian, and the general confusion and ambiguity which I
have set forth as the consequences of the present system would cease to
exist.
Some such system as that proposed is imperatively demanded in
America. ' It cannot be doubted that the general adoption of the scheme
portrayed would be conducive to the convenience of all mankind. The
first step towards its introduction is the selection of an initial meridian
for the world. Accordingly I feel justified in asking you favorably to
consider the resolutions which I have now the honor to submit.
28
APPENDIX No. 4.
This in a revision of the original scheme for reg^dnting time published in the
procesdings of the Canadinn Institute, Toronto, and the American Metrological
Society, New York. Submitted by Sandford Fleming, Chairman of the lipecial
Committee.
COSMOPOLITAN SCHEME FOR REGULATING TIME.
1. It is propo<«ed to establish one universal standard time common to
all peoples throughout the world, for the use of railways, telegraphs and
steamboats, for the purposes of trade and commerce, for general scien-
tiflo observations, and for every ordinary local purpose.
2. It is proposed that standard time, everywhere, shall be based on
the one unit measure of time, denoted by the diurnal revolution of the
eai'th, as determined by the mean solar passage, at one particular
meridian to be selected as a time zero.
3. The time zero to coincide with the initial or prime meridian to be
common to all nations for computing terrestrial longitude.
4. The time zero and prime meridian of the world to be established
with the concurrence of civilized nations generally.
5. For reasons elsewhere given it is suggested that the prime
meridian and time zero shall be established through the Pacific Ocean,
entirely avoiding the land of any nationalty, as shown in the plate.
(Fig. No. 1.)
6. For the purpose of regulating time everywhere it is proposed that
the unit measure, determined as above, shall be divided into twenty-four
equal parts, and that these parts shall be defined by standard time
meridians, established around the globe, fifteen degrees of longitude or
one hour distant from each other.
7. It is proposed that the standard time meridians shall be denoted
by the letters of the English alphabet, which, omitting J and V, are
twenty- four in number. The zero meridian to be lettered Z ; the re-
maining meridians to be lettered in order from east to west, as shown
on the plate (See Figs. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4.)
8. It is proposed that standard time, determined as above, shall be
employed for general and local purposes in accordance with the follow-
ing definitions:
29
Standard Time fob Oenebal Fuiiposbb.
9. It in proposed that the unit measure of time, determined as above,
shall be held to be a day absolute, and irrespective of the periods of
light and darkness which vary with the longitude, to be common to the
whole world for all non-local purposes. To distinguish it from ordinary
local days, this space of time may be known as the " Oosmopolitan " or
" Cosmic Day." The hours, minutes and seconds of the cosmic day, and
the days themselves may be distinguished by the general term coatnie
time.
10. Cosmic time may be used to promote exactness in chronology ; it
may be employed in astronomy, navigation, meteorology, and in connec-
tion with synchronous observations in all parts of the world. It may be
regarded as the time which would be used in ocean telegraphy and in all
operations of a general or non-local character.
11. It is proposed to distinguish cosmic from local time by denoting
the hours of the former by letters, and of the latter, as at present, by
numerab.
12. It is proposed that cosmic time shall be so lettered that the hours
will correspond with the twenty-four standard time meridians.
When the sun passes meridians G' or iV it will be G or N time of the
cosmic day. When it becomes Z time, that is to say, when the (mean)
sun passes the zero meridian, at that moment, one cosmic day will end
and another begin.
Standard Time for Looaij Purposes.
13. It is proposed to constitute the lettered divisions of the cosmic
day, standards for regulating local time everywhere. Thus reducing the
number of standards to twenty -four and furnishing a ready means of
passage from cosmic to local time and from one local to any other local
time.
14. It is intended that local time at any place on the surface of the
globe shall generally be regulated by the standard meridian nearest or
most convenient to such place in longitude.
15. It is proposed that the local day at any place shall commence
twelve hours before, and end twelve hours after the (mean) solar passage
at the standard meridian which governs the time at that place. Local
days, so determined, to be regarded in the same light in all ordinary
affairs as local days under the present system.
30
16, It is proposed that local time at any place or in any section of
country shall be known by the letter of the particular standard meridian
by which it is governed. If local time at any place or in any section be
governed by meridian ^S* it may be known as Standard S time. If by
meridian T it may be distinguished as Standard T time and understood
to be one hour later than standart S, two hours later than Standard R,
and so on.
Ths Dihtbidution of Stampabo Timb.
17. It is proposed that standard time shall be determined and dissem-
inated under Governmental authority ; that time signal stations be es-
tablished at importtirt centres for the purpose of disseminating correct
time with precision, and that all the railway and local public clocks be
controlled electrically from the public time stations, or otherwise kept
in perfect agreement.
APPIilOATION OF THB SYSTEM IN NORTH AmEBIOA.
18. The adoption of the syatem in the United States and Canada,
would, exclusive of Newfoundland and Alaska, have the effect of reduc-
ing the standards of time to four. These four standards, B, S, T and
U, precisely one hour apart, would govern the time of the whole coun-
try, each would have the simplest possible relation to the other, and all
would bear equally simple relations to the other standards of the world.
19. It IS not proposed to prescribe the exact limits of the sections of
country within which, time would be regulated by each standard. In
this matter, general convenience would be the guiding principle. As a
rule the dirision lines would assume a central position between the
standard meridians. There would be no difficulty in finding division
lines either natural, political or commercial, which would fall about mid-
way between each of the four meridians. Probably in some cases a city or
town may lie equidistant from two meridians. In such cases geograph-
ical considerations, business relations, and other local circumstances,
would decide which standard should be adopted. The time used by the
railways would be determined by precisely similar considerations. The
time tables and railway clocks would always clearly indicate the stand*
ards which regulated the running of trains over particular sections.
20. It is suggested that standard time would generally prevail in the
several states and provinces as follows :
m
Stani>ari> Time,
Mkriuian U.
Cnlifornia.
Nevada.
Oregon.
Wasliington T.
Br. ColuinbiH.
Vancouver Island.
Idaho.
Utah.
Arizona.
STANUAnD TiMK,
Mkridian T,
Mexico.
Texas.
KnnMUS.
Colorado.
Nel)raa|{a.
Wyoming.
Dakota.
Montana.
Munitobn.
Saskatchewan.
Kcewadin.
Standaki) Timk,
Mkriuian 8*
Louiniana.
Mis!-i»<tsi|)|>i.
Alabama.
AvkatmaH.
Tennessee.
Missouri.
Kentucky.
Illinois.
Indiana.
I own.
Minnesota.
Wisconsin.
Michigan.
Standard T(hr,
Meridian It.
Florida.
eorgia. '
S. Carolina.
N. Carolina.
Virginia.
Ohio.
Maryland.
Delaware.
Pennsylvania.
New Jersey.
New York.
Rhode Island.
Connecticut.
Maosachusetts.
Vermont.
New llampshirs,
Maine. ^,„ ,
Ontario.
Quebec.
New Brunswick.
Prince Ed w'd rid
Nova Scotia.
21. Reference to the diagram will show that the four meridians, U,
T, S and R, at intervals each from the other of one hour, would effec-
tively regulate the time of day throughout the whole extent of the Uni-
ted States, Canada and Mexico. But the number of standards can be
increased or reduced without interference with the harmony, and cosmo-
politan application of the general scheme. Theories have been advanced,
still further to reduce the number of standards. If two st<uidards be
deemed expedient meridians {/and Rta&jhe selected; one adapted to
the eastern, the second to the western half of the Continent. If on the
other hand the opinion prevail, that there should be one uniform time
for the whole of the North American Continent, meridian ^S* might be
selected. Meridian S would be 90<=> to the east of the Prime Meridian
proposed for all nations. It would pass through Lake Superior and
the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico, It would be generallj
central, and would best suit the great body of the population.
The Division of the Day into Houbs.
22. The present division of the day into halves, and these halves
into twelve hours, each series of twelve hours being numbered identically,
89
leads to error and inconvenicnco. This division necessitates the use
of the expressions ante meridian and post meridian, or forenoon and
afternoon, or the contractions a. m. and p. m., to identify the particular
half day to which any hour belongs. In railway time tables the expres-
sions ordinarily used to specify the half day ure liable to be omitted,
misplaced or misiinderstood. The consequence is that innumerable
mistakes are made and uncertainty freqiiently arises.
The halving of the day and the use of dual numberd to denote the
hours is a very old practice, but it confers no single benefit ; and,
beyond its claim to antiquity, has nothing whatever to recommend it.
While it will doubtless be extremely diiHcult to do away with the custom
so firmly established by long usage, it is nevertheless important to ascer*
tain what change would be most advantageous, and what modifications,
if any, would be most likely sooner or later to meet with general accept-
anoe. Two alternative plans have been suggested.
Firstly. — To have only one series of hours in the day, extending frora
midnight to midnight, and numbered from one to twenty-four without
interruption.
Secondly. — To number the hours between midnight and noon (one to
twelve) precisely as at present, and to denote the hours between noon
and midnight by letters of the alphabet. y
Both propositions would obviate the necessity of adding words of
explanation, or otherwise specifying, whether the hours were forenoon
or afternoon. The first would be extremely simple. The second would
have the advantage of distinguishing the forenoon from the afternoon
hours by the character of the symbols employed to denote them. The
hours of the first half of the day would be known by numerals, of the
second half by letters. The second plan would have other advantages
to recommend it.
The employment of cosmic time letters to denote the hours from
noon to midnight, in local reckoning, would make the designation of
the afternoon hours everywhere concurrent.
According to the scheme herein submitted there would be, be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, four standard time meridians,
R, 8, T and U. (See Fig. 4.) The relative time of the day for
a few hours before and after noon under these several meridians would
be as given in the table appended. An examination will show that under
plan number two the noon letter in every instance would agree with the
33
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letter by which the standard meridian of the locality would be known.
Advancing Avesterly, local time would become one hour slower from
meridian to meridian, as indicated by the numerals which denote the
forenoon hours ; while the afternoon letters would everywhere be in
perfect agreement. The time of New York would be regulated by
Standard R, Chicago by Standard S, Denver by Standard T, and San
Francisco by Standard U, each standard differing by steps of one hour,
yet at any given hour in the afternoon, say at W, it wotild bo TF o'clock
at the same moment in absolute time from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
K.
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