THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



DECEMBER, 1884. 



THE EEFOEMATIOK IN TIME-KEEPING. 



By W. F. ALLEN. 



ON November 19, 1883, the daily papers of the United States and 

 Canada, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, con- 

 tained more or less elaborate accounts of the change from local to 

 " standard time " which had been made on the previous day. Com- 

 paratively few among the millions of people who read these accounts 

 took the trouble to investigate the actual meaning of the change or the 

 arguments in its favor. It appeared to be the work of practical railway 

 managers, and to be favored by leading scientists. Watch-makers 

 agreed to and aided the change, and few other persons were apparently 

 interested. So the people quietly acquiesced, reset their watches a 

 few minutes faster or slower, and for the most part soon forgot that 

 any but " standard time " had ever been in use. 



In the present generation we have become so accustomed to the 

 use of accurate time and the ready means of obtaining it, that we 

 hardly realize how dependent we are upon it. Were it possible to sud- 

 denly destroy all clocks and watches in any given center of population 

 among civilized nations, while all other surroundings of modern de- 

 velopment remained as before, we can scarcely conceive of the end- 

 less confusion that would arise. Only by contemplating the results 

 of such a catastrophe can we fully understand what an important part 

 the knowledge of accurate time plays in our every-day affairs. 



Man shares with the inferior animals the knowledge and the use of 

 the simplest and earliest division of time into day and night, and in 

 a more restricted sense into seasons. The division of the day into 

 minor parts has been developed by man as necessity or convenience 

 required. It has not been many years since watches were made with 



VOL. XXVI. — 10 



