DOCXJMKNTS
ON
TIME REFORM
ISSUED BY THE
^MERiGAN Society of Civil Engineers.
1. Address of D. J. Whittemore, Esq., the President of the Society,
delivered at the BuflTalo Convention, June, iS84.—£xfraas.
2. Report of the Special Committee on Standard Time, submitted
at the Buffalo Convention, June, 1884.
3. Remarks of the Chairman of Special Committee on the proposal to
adopt the 24 o'clock System,
(^^)
2
I. Address of D. J. Whittemore, Esq., tJ^c Prcsidait of the Society,
delivered at the buffalo convention.
(Extracts.)
" The high object of our profession is to consider and determine
the most economic use of time, power and matter. In this we are
gravely responsible, not merely to ourselves, nor yet alone to this
Society, but to that large, restless and progressive portion of the
civilized world which our organization assumes to represent. Upon the
results of your industry and study largely depend the fortunes of a
great people and the future of a continent yet in the infancy of its
physical resources and material power. * * ='-
*' Among the important subjects legitimately under consideration by
our Society ac the present time, is that of reckoning and denoting time.
It is not surprising that members of our profession should have been
the first to suggest practicable reforms in this direction ; and it is a
gratifying fact in the history of our Society, that the energetic support
you have given to the establishment of standard meridians of time in
the United States, and the intelligent industry of your Committee in
distributing its printed publications on this subject, have contributed
probably more than any other cause to the adoption of this reform
over a large portion of this continent. Something remains to be
accomplished in order to fully realize our views in this direction, — a step
so natural and simple in the path of rational progress that no serious
argument is required to establish its value or propriety. If he who
causes a blade of grass to grow where none grew before, is a benefactor
to his race, so is he a benefactor to his race who enable us to
economize time and space by the use of one word instead of three in
the notation of time.
" Hence it is not strange that the members of our profession, with
great unanimity, favor the numbering of the hours consecutively
throughout the entire day, instead of dividing each day into halves of
twelve hours each. We are fully aware that we contend with the
prejudice of custom in our attempts in this direction. That great agent
of modern civilization, the railway, rendered the adoption of standard
time possible. Now if that great agency in public education, the press,
will adopt the proposed reform in its record of the daily hours, it is
believed that ante and post meridian time will soon be relegated to
the past."
2- BUFFALO CUNVKXTION
OP THE
American Society of Civil Engineers.
REPORT
OP THE Special Committee on Standard Time.
The Committee beg leave to refer to the Report submitted at the
Annual Meeting of the Society, held at New York, on the i6th January
last, in which they set forth the various steps taken by the Society, in
promoting the proper regulation of Time, and the adoption of Time
Standards.
The Committee referred with much satisfaction to the fact that the
Railway authorities generally had determined to adopt one of the
reforms advocated by the Society, and that on the i8th November last,
trains commenced to run throughout the United States and Canada,
by Hour Standards, and that the public, with singular unanimity,
accepted the change, which they now universally recognize as a great
public boon.
• In the documents widely circulated tv d years ago by the Committee
under the authority of the Society, a series of questions bearing on the
whole subject, were submitted to men in prominent positions in the
Railway world, including Engineers, Traffic Managers and known
Scientists in every State in the Union, and in every Province in Canada.
To these questions the Committee invited replies, and among the large
number of replies received, the Committee had an emphatic expression
of opinion from many persons with respect to the division of the day
into hours. Ninety-two (92) per cent, of those heard from, gave their
unqualified support to the proposal, to abandon the old traditional
division of the day into halves of twelve (12) hours each, and to adopt
a single series of hours from midnight to midnight, numbered from one
to twenty-four (i to 24.)
A list of gentlemen who have carefully examined this branch of the
subject and who in their replies referred to, have given opinions
decidedly in favor of the proposed change, is appended to this Report.
It is proposed to adapt clocks and watches now in use to the
change, by having inscribed on the existing dials the new numbers of
the afternoon hours, — thirteen to twenty -four (13 to 24) incUisive, as
in the Plate No, i
l-'lato
No 1.
The only practical difficulty to be overcome is met by the simple
expedient of placing on the face of the watch or clock a supplementary
dial showing the new afternoon hours in Arabic numerals within the
present Roman figures.
Plate c^
^?4^^
^
ft-J^ No. S.
Plate No. 2 shawsthe supplementary dial, it must be of thin material
and it has been found that made simply of paper and secured to its
position by any gum which will adhere to an enamelled surface, the
object is attained without any further alteration of the watch or clock.
The Committee is aware that these seem trifling matters to bring
under the notice of the Convention, but questions of great moment not
seldom hinge on small details. It is evident from what has been set
forth, that every person in the community, may, at the cost of a few
cents in each case, adapt his watch to the 24 o'clock system.
The Committee accordingly repeat their conviction that with the
disappearance of the only practical difficulty at an insignificant cost,
there is nothing to prevent the Railway authorities and the Community
at large, adopting the change as soon as they become alive to its
advantages.
The Committee do not, on this occasion, consider it necessary again
to refer to the public benefits to be derived from the new Notation of
the day. The advantages have been fully established and have been
frequently discussed at various meetings of this Society.
That the American Society of Engineers, as a body, fully appreciates
the importance of the change is evident from the fact that since the last
Annual Meetin the Society has practically adopted the 24 o'clock
.system in all irrangements of meetings, and in all matters in which the
hour of the day is referred to.
The Committee cannot doubt that the influence of the Society in
this reform, will ultimately lead to equally satisfactory results, as have
been obtained by their efforts in the establishment of the Standard
Hour system throughout the Continent.
The Committee deem it proper to recall the action taken at the
Washington Contention in May 1882. On that occasion the Society
resolved to petition Congress to take steps to establish a Prime
Meridian as a zero for reckoning Time, and for the computation of
longitudes. Subsequently Congress passed a Joint Resolution authoriz-
ing the President to call an International Conference to fix on and
recommend for universal adoption such a zero, and in conformity with
the Act of Congress, the President has called an International Confe-
rence to be held at Washington, on the ist October next
The Act of Congress has authorized the appointment of Three
Delegates for the United States to the Conference, and it appears to
the Committee appropriate that the Railway and the other interests of
the Country of which to a certain extent the American Society of Civil
Engineers is the exponent, should be there represented.
Your Committee accordingly recommend that the President of the
United States be respectfully memorialized by the Society to appoint
one delegate to represent these important interesvS at the Washington
Conference.
For the Special Committee on Standard Time.
SANDFORD FLEMING,
Chairman.
Buffalo, loth June, 1884.
6
Appendix to Report of the Special Committee submitted at the Buffalo
Convention^ June loth, 1884.
The 24 o'clock System.
List of Engineers, Railway Presidents, Traffic Managers, Scientists
and other prominent persons, who, in their replies to questions issued
in 1882 by the Standard Time Committee, gave their unqualified
preference to a division of the day into a single series of hours
numbered from one to twenty-four (i to 24).
In addition to this list a number of gentlemen expressed them-
selves in favor of the 24 o'clock system for Railway Time 'I'ables, but
were in doubt as to the possibility of bringing it into common use for
all purposes.
Only eight (8) per cent, of all heard from expressed themselves as
unfavorable to the 24 o'clock system.
The names with an asterisk (*) are members of the American
Socic/ty of Civil Engineers.
Name.
W.J.McAlpine.M.I.C.E'
M.J. Becker*
Martin W. Harrington . . ,
H. r. Eddy, Ph. D
Official Title.
D.
Robert Fletcher, Ph
P. H. Philbrick*
E. A. Doane*
Henry H. Richardson*
til Stanley fjoodwm* , -1-, r-jAsst Gen. Super.
R. R. Co.
Robert Briggs*.
-S. Spencer. .....
C B. Comstock*
Francis J. Lynch, M.I.C.E
James H. Rowan, C. E . .
R. M. Harrod, C. E.*...
C. S. Masten*
S.,
James Hall, D. P,
W. A. Sweet*
Wm. T. Jennings. . .
M. G. Howe*
Robert H. Sayre ....
Robert Moore, C. E*
J. Foster Crowell* . .
Past Pres. Am Soc Civil Engineer
Chief Eng'r P. C ^f St. L. R. W. Co
Director Astron, Observatory
Prof of Mathematics, Astron. and
Civil Eng., Univer. of Cincinnati.
Prof, of Civil Engineering
Prof. C E , State Univ. of Iowa . . .
Chief Eng , Rome, W. and Og'gh. R.
Chief State Engineer
I^high Valley
3rd V. P., B. <&- O. R. R. ,
Lieut.-Colonel of Engineers.
Address.
"W. A. Doane* f¥««eipal Asst. ^ti^T^UK 6-O.R.R
In charge Canad'n Pacific R'y office
Ex-District Eng., C. P. Railway. . .
Member Miss. River Commission . .
Engineer in charge Western Division
W., St. L. &= P. Rv.
Ex-Sheriff and Ex-M.P
Prest Sanderson St. Co
Rest. Engr. C.PR
Eng. and Sup^-H ^ T.C.RR.-. . . .
Sup. and Eng^ Lehigh Valley R.R.
Assistant Engineer, P. R.R . .
Bay Ridge, N. Y.
Pittsburgh. Pa.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hanover, N. H.
Iowa City, Iowa.
Oswego, N. Y.
New Orleans, La.
Bethlehem, Pennr-
Philadelphia, Pa.
lialtimore, Md.
Detroit, Mich.
Oswego, N. Y.
Ottawa, Canada.
Winnipeg, Man.
New Orleans.
St. Ix)u{s, Mo.
Peterboro', Ont.
Syracuse, N. Y.
Keewatin, Man.
Houston, Texas.
Bethlehem, Pa.
St. Louis, Mo.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Namk.
T. J. r-otter
W. B. Smellie
Julius W. Adams* ....
F. N. (iisboinc
James II. Harlow* . . . .
Kdward S. I'liilbrick*. .
Kivas TuUy
T. H. Perry
J. \V. Futiram*
•Charles H. S«"an* . . . .
Sir Charles 'I'upper. . . .
Jos. P. Davis*
P. S. Archibald
H. E. Stevens*
B. S. Heniiing
J. Milton Titlow*
C. A. Young
Robert A. Shailer*
L. B. Archibald
E. P. Stearns*
<>. S. Davidson
Edward Maguire
E. G. Ferris
Collingwood Schreilier.
Henry Gannett . ......
Tames P. Howley
\V. H. Wood
F. M. Towar
Julius J. Duraye
lliomas S. Sedgwick*.
Geo. M. Dawson
T. C. Mendenhall
I.. J. I.eConte*
Edward C. Pickering . .
H. F. Royce
J. S. Sewall*
Wm. B. Hazen
Ofkiciai. Title.
3rd Vice-Pres .etc.. C.B. &' O R.R.
Cons Eng , Canadian Pacific R'y..
Past Pres., .\ni. Soc'y CMvil Eng..
Super. Tel Sig. Serv , Dom Canada
Eng Monongahela Navigation Co . .
Address.
( hicago, 111.
Montreal, Ca.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Ottawa.
Pittsburg, Ohio.
1 2 W . St . Boston, Mass.
Toronto,
l^afayette, Ind.
New Orleans.
Highlands, Boston.
Ottawa, Ca.
N. Y. City.
Monckton, N. B.
Philadelphia, Pa,
Princeton, N. J.
Wilmington, Del.
Charlottetown.
Atlanta, Mass.
Hartford, Conn.
Sout <forwalk, Conn.
Ottawa, Ca.
Washington, D. C.
G. Kennedy, M.A.
E. D, Ashe
Wilson Crosby* . ,
W. H. Pratt . . . ,
L.L.D
^ieorge S. Gatchell* . ,
H. S. Pritchett
C. J. Ives
Asa Horr, M.D
J. L. Gillespie*
William P. Anderson
Vice-Pres Canadian Institute
Chief Kng.. L. E «&* W. Rd
N. O <S- M. R R
Mem. Am M. Soc
Minister of Railways and Canals. .
Vice-Pres. Am Tel (o
Chief Eng. Intercolonial Railway.
U. S Asst Engineer St. Paul, Minn
Pres Ohio Im. R. W . Co 1 115 Broadway, N
Principal Asst. Eng , C ity Hall . . .
Prof. Astron'y, Col of New Jersey . .
Asst .Supt- Edge Moore Iron Works
Supt. Prince Edward Island R'y. ..
Asst. Eng , Boston Imp. .Sewerage
Sup Hud Div.N.Y.,N H ^^ HRR
Captain of Engineers, US. A
Engineers D. & N.RR
Chief Eng s.nd Gen. Man Canadian
Govemm«:nt Railways.
Geographer of (Census and of U. S.
Geological Survey-
Asst. t*rovincial (ieologist
U. S. .Asst. Engineer
U S. Asst. Engineer
U.S. Asst. Engineer
Land Agt-, Atlantic &= Pac R'd Co.
Asbt 1 )irector Geological Survey . .
Prof. Physics, Ohio State University^Columbus, Ohio.
Res Eng., Oakland Harbour [Oakland, Cal.
Director Harvard Coll. ObservatoryiCambridge, Mass.
Divisiou Sujierintendent 1 1 )es Moines, Iowa,
1st. Paul, Minn.
Brig, and Brevet Major-Gen , ChiefWashington.
Signal Officer, U.S. A
Law Clerk, Crown I^nd Depar't . . jToronto.
Director Quebec Observatory [Quebec.
C . E I Bangor, Me.
Cor.-Sec. and Curator Acad. Nat. Davenport, Iowa.
(ien. Supt B. N. Y, P. R. R
Prof. Astron'y and Director Obser-
vatory, Washington University . .
Gen. Supt. B. C. R. &- W. R'y ... .
Pres. Iowa Inst., Science and Art . .
U. S Asst. Engineer
Eng. to Marine Dept , in charge
construction Can. Light Houses
V.
St. Johns, Nfld.
St. Paul, Minn.
St. Paul, Minn.
St. Paul. Minn.
Albuquerque, N.
Ottawa, Ca.
M.
Buffalo, N. Y.
St. Louis, Mo.
Cedar Rapids, la.
Dubuque, Iowa.
St. Paul, Minn.
Ottawa, Canada..
8
Name.
Rufus Ingalls
\V. E. Jacobs . .
Winslow Upton
H. A. Howe . . .
D. R. Taylor
J. R. Eastman. . • .
James R. Barber. .
DeVolson Wood*.
Wm. F. Ellice
Alex. Murray, C.M.G.,
F.G.S
EdvinA. Hill
C. D. Ward* . . . .
I^ wis Bass .....
Chas. A. Schott .
David H Jerome
W. T Sampson .
Wm. Brydone Jack ,
John B. Hamilton .
H'y F McLeotl, MI C E.
Jacob M. Clark*
"H. P. Dwight
William F. Bradbury
M. Giddings
J. W. Mallett
1). Hudson Shedaker . . .
John Twigg
E. P. Dunnington ,
Francis H. Smith
Clarence J. Blake
Wm. M. Thornton
Albert Chapman Savage
M. C Femald
John H. Plake
Ed Fontaine
Fred Brooks*
Chas. F. Dowd, A.M.. .
Official Title.
Quarter-Master General and Brevet
Major-General, U. S- A.
Address.
Army Signal Office
Prof, of Math, and Astron'y, Univ'y
of Denver.
District Supt., N. P. R R
Prof Math. U.N S., U S.N.Observ'y
Railway Superintendent
Prof Math, and Mechan., Stevens'
Institute, Tech
Chief Eng. Connotton Val R'y Co.
Director Geolog. Survey, Newfd . .
Attorney, etc , Boston &" New York
Air Line R'y.
Windsor Hotel
Director Dudley Observatory
Asst US (^oast and Godetic Surv.
Governor of Michigan
Commander US N., Asst to Supt.
Naval Observatory.
Pres. University, New Brunswick..
Supervising Surg.-General, U. S.
Marine Hospital .Service-
Resident Eng., Canadian Pacific R'y
C. E
Gen. Man. Great N.-West Tel. Co
Hd. Master, Cambridge High School
Washington.
Prof Chemistry, Univ'y of Virginia.
Civil Engineer
Town Clerk
Prof Anal. C hem., Univ. of Virginia
Prof. Natl. Phil'y, Univ'y of Virginia
Fellow Am. Acad. Arts and Sciences
Adj. Prof Eng., Univ. of Virginia.
City Engineer
Pres. State College
Salt I^ke City.
Washington.
Colorado.
Mandan, D. T.
Washington.
Cobourg, Ont.
Hoboken, N. J.
Canton, O.
St. Johns, Newfoun'd,
New Haven, Conn.
Jersey City.
Albany, N. Y.
Washington.
Lansing, Mich.
Washington.
Frederickton, N, B. .
Washington,
Drynock, B. Columbia
New York.
Toronto, Can.
Cambridge, Mass.
Bangor, Me.
Albermarle Co. Va.
Philadelphia.
Picton, Ont.
Boston.
Professor, etc., etc
A. E. Ferro Carril Central Mexicano
Pres. Temple Grove Sem'y
El Paso, Texas.
Orono, Me.
Boston, Mass.
Jackson, Wis.
San Luis Potosi, Mex.
Saratoga Springs.
a
3. Remarks by the Chairman, Special Committee on Standard Time,
in reference to the movement for abolishing the halving of the
day, and substituting therefore
The 24 o'clock System.
When this question is carefully looked into by any one, surprise is
expressed that the day was ever divided into two parts and each part
subdivided into twelve hours, one set of hours distinguished as ante
meridian, the other set as post meridian.
The practise of so dividing and subdividing the day is very old,
and centuries back it doubtless answered all the purposes of man. The
conditions of the human race in the more advanced communities are
However greatly changed, and it is found that the old practise of
halving the day is becoming every year more and more inconvenient,
and will soon become almost intolerable.
The inconveniences resulting from this antique custom are well
known to many, but they have generally been looked upon as unavoid-
able, and consequently, have been philosophically and silently endured.
Such evils are met by all who have anything to do with railways, and
in this country, where all travel more or less by railway, there are few
who have not experienced them. Is there in fact, one who at some
time or other, has not been baffled in his efforts to solve the intricacies of
railway time-tables, who cannot refer to frequent mistakes and dis-
appointments to himself and others, springing directly from this cause ?
Occasionally we find railway time-tables unintelligible to many people,
and exceedingly troublesome to all who have occasion to consult them,
owing to the distinction made between the 1 2 hours before noon and
the 12 hours which follow noon. It is held there is no necessity for
this distinction, that it is awkward and inconvenient, aud that the
expressions ante meridian and post meridian, or their contractions, a.m.
and P.M., should be abolished, and a more simple notation substituted.
It is difficult to understand how the 12 hour division crept into use.
It may have been at a period when common education was at a low
ebb, and when in dealing with marketable commodities, it became
expedient to reduce arithmetical quantities to dozens. Such a practice
U!
is no longer necessary, as most people nowadays can count higher tham
twelve. The division of the day in accordance with this old custom i&
now indefensible, and not a single reason can be given why the same
numbers should do duty twice on our clocks and watches, to indicate^
as they now do, two distinct and separate hours.
The division of the day into halves at noon, besides being un-
necessary and inconvenient, is unnatural. The only divisions of the day
indicated by nature are those of daylight and darkness. Had those
portions of time been subdivided into separate sets of hours, making
6 o'clock come at noon, as in scriptural times, instead of 1 2 o'clock,
it would have been at least in harmony with nature, and, in some
respects, more rational than the present method.
The more the subject is considered, the more it will be found that
the traditional usage which we follo\/ has no advantage, while it has
many disadvantages. Every argument points to the expediency of
abandoning the halving of the day at noon, and the adoption of a
consecutive numbering of the hours In a single series up to 24. The
present system is felt to be an impediment to general intercourse, and
the removal of all such impediments is of such great and increasing
importance as to outweigh and overrule every consideration of tradition
or habit, however ancient and long continued.
It has been urged against the proposed change that the clocks and
watches that exist would be rendered useless by its general adoption.
This would, no doubt, be an insuperable objection, if it held good. It
is not, however, a valid objection, as it will be an easy matter to utilize
every time keeper now in use. This can be effected by a slight
alteration in the dial, as set fortn in the Report of the Special
Committee at the Buffalo Convention. The alteration can be effected
at a cost too triflng to be considered. It has been said that any watch
can thus be altered to the 24 o'clock system at a cost not exceeding
that of a single postage stamp.
It will take sometime to accustom ourselves to the new numbers of
the afternoon hours. The man who usually leaves off* work at 6
o'clock p. M. might consider that he had ground of complaint when
asked to continue until 18 o'clock. A lady inviting her friends to
afternoon tea at 5 o'clock would at first excite some amusement by
inviting them to tea at 17 o'clock; but the change once established,
and its advantages realized, the mind would soon become familiar
with the novel expressions, and in a marvellously brief space of time the
new sounds would become familiar to the ear. One thing is perfectly
11
obvious : the general movement of time reform has made substantial
l)rogress. Only very few years have rolled away since the proposition
iook form to substitute for the ancient practise a more simple, more
scientific and more suitable system of properly regulating and notating
time. Public interest is now thoroughly awakened to the importance of
the subject. Within the past six months, the representatives of 100,000
miles of railway have emphatically pronounced in favor of a change.
They have with singular unanimity, and with the hearty approval of
fifty millions of people, taken a decided course in initiating the scheme
of time reform, by adopting standard meridians. On thia continent,
at least, the first step is no'v irrevocably taken. Is not the second step
.to abolish the practice of halving the day and to give up counting the
hours by two sets of dozens? Many men consider that the second is
-even more important than the first step. Both lead to a third step
which concerns all civilized people, and which will be advanced at the
•conference of delegates from all nations in diplomatic relations with the
United States to be held at Washington in October next. In the mean
time the question is, shall we count up to 24 o'clock ? This question
may be answered at an earlier day than many anticipate, and America
may show to the world that she is prepared to take the lead in esta-
blishing such a complete time system as the conditions of the age demand
and which every nation on the face of the earth may eventually follow.
No class of men are more interested in thfl reform than
Bailway men. Each Railway authority can promote the
success of the movement by giving expression to his vieivs
in the following or in some other manner, and forwarding
the same.
To JOHN BOGAPCT, Esq.,
See. Am. Soc. C. E., 127 East 2yd Street, New York.
I am in sympathy with the movement for dropping the halving of
the day and giving up A.M. and P. M. If Railway corporations
generally decide to count the hours up to twenty four, I will be
prepared to recommend the system on this line of Railway.
Official Title _ - _ _ _
Railway '■ ; - ~.