88 UNIVERSAL OR COSMIC TIME. 



two termini, oi* by the Time of some point lying intermediate. This 

 w^ant of conformity with us, as it appeal's, hitherto has not brought 

 to light any special consequences by which injury has resulted : 

 possibly with this exception, that occasional stoppages have arisen 

 from the irregulai'ity of the trains, as for instance, the transport of 

 freight can bear witness. But that through this want of conformity 

 of Time, the more likely danger of collisions has not more frequently 

 hapi)ened, is indeed to be ascribed to the fact that our railway com- 

 munication with other countries has only been partially developed, 

 and the rate of speed of the trains, in spite of the greater lengths of 

 single lines, is considerably less than elsewhere. Under these 

 circumstances, it appears by the free use of the telegraph, collisions 

 are avoided. But it is to be expected that with time, this constant 

 untrustworthy expedient will not be sufficient, and that, as a conse- 

 q uence, owing to an increased communication, a decided and identical 

 Time will be again made obligatory on the administration of all 

 Russian railways. 



Until lately a similar condition of things existed in North America 

 with regard to the notation of Time on Railways. There, as with 

 us. Railway Time was not governed by a common binding law. 

 But the administration of single lines accepted, for the movement of 

 trains generally, the origin of Normal Time, which in the easiest 

 manner they could obtain from one of the observatories in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the line. The complications which arose from this want 

 of conformity in the enormous increase of railway communication, 

 furnished the starting point to the extended effort which was made 

 last year in North America on behalf of a strict wide-spread regula- 

 tion on the subject of Time Notation established by the Railway 

 administrations, not simply within the territory of the United States 

 but where possible over the entire continent. Had the matter alone 

 applied to the United States it would have been easy possibly to 

 establish the desired good understanding either through a resolution 

 of Congi-ess or by a convention of the directors of the several lines. 

 But, at the same time, the desire arose to include in the same strict 

 arrangement the railways of neighbouring states, which equally 

 in the matter of Time Notation were subjected to local enactments 

 and incidental changes. This desired arrangement could only be 

 obtained by international agreement. Such an agreement obtained 

 by lueans of an international conference or congress became so 

 much the more desirable when this beneficial result, principally 

 sought after for the new continent, could equally extend its good 

 results to all the civilized states of the earth : and at the same time 

 it was to be expected that resolutions passed in such a meeting would 

 be held to be binding on each individual country with an enhanced 

 degree of force. 



It is especially during the last ten years that those persons who 

 in North America have taken interest in such questions have 



