38 New Yoek at the World's CoLtrsiBiAN Exposition. 



American history. Forefathers' day is celebrated in New England on 

 November nineteen, although the Pilgrims reached Plymouth November 

 9, 1620 ; Boston celebrates the anniversary of the foundation of the city on 

 September seventeen, although the event occurred, according to the old 

 calendar, on September seven. The people of Providence make a similar 

 correction for Founders' day. Washington was born on February 11, 

 1732, yet we celebrate his birthday on the twenty-second of February, the 

 discrepancy between the civil and astronomical time being then eleven days. 

 We want to imagine that it was exactly 400 yeai's ago to a day 

 that Columbus and his followers first saw the land of the New World. 

 The only way to make sure of this is to' find just when the longitude of 

 the sun at this time will correspond with the longtitude of the sun October 

 12, 1492. Astronomers tell us that this day in the year 1892 will be 

 October twenty-one. We shall be wrong if by the object lesson of the 

 ceremonies at Chicago we do not fix October twenty-one as the precise 

 anniversary day of Columbus' landing. 



The efforts of this board were accordingly directed to obtaining from 

 the Congress and the President of the United States a change of the 

 date fixed for the national anniversary. Mr. Thacher further elicited' 

 a consensus of opinion from historians, astronomers and public men as 

 to the expediency of correcting, for all time, the date of Discovery day, 

 and as to the correctness of the date of October twenty-one. The 

 result was an almost unanimous body of testimony in favor of the 

 change. The board requested the representatives of the State in Con- 

 gress to favor the desired amendment to the law, and its members 

 labored with the exposition directory and with legislators and jDublic 

 officers at Washington to bring about this result. 



These and other efforts had their duo effect, and by presidential 

 proclamation, as well as by amendment of the law, the national anni- 

 versary of the discovery of America was made to conform to the 

 accepted chronological style. This was a liappy solution of the 

 difficulty, and the subsequent events proved the wisdom of the New 

 York Board of Managers. Both celebrations were magnifieent in 

 their details, and each would liave undoubtedly obscured i the other in 

 some degree if compelled to happen on the same day. 



Meanwhile the Committee of One Hundred in charge of the New 

 York celebration were preparing a magnificent programme. The law 

 under which the committee was authorized to act is here given iu 

 full as a matter of historical reference : 



