﻿56 
  oldham: 
  great 
  earthquake 
  of 
  1897. 
  

  

  The 
  official 
  standard 
  time, 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  telegraph 
  department 
  and 
  

   by 
  all 
  railways 
  in 
  India, 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Madras 
  Observatory, 
  5 
  hours, 
  

   20 
  minutes, 
  59*2 
  seconds 
  1 
  , 
  east 
  of 
  Greenwich. 
  But 
  the 
  Indian 
  

   telegraph 
  system 
  ranges 
  over 
  nearly 
  two 
  and 
  a 
  quarter 
  hours 
  of 
  longi- 
  

   tude, 
  2 
  and, 
  as 
  the' 
  hour-zone 
  system 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  adopted, 
  the 
  use 
  

   of 
  Madras 
  time 
  would 
  be 
  inconvenient 
  in 
  many 
  cases. 
  A 
  system 
  has 
  

   consequently 
  sprung 
  up 
  of 
  using 
  local 
  time, 
  this 
  being 
  obtained 
  by 
  a 
  

   correction 
  of 
  an 
  integral 
  number 
  of 
  minutes, 
  the 
  number 
  to 
  be 
  added 
  

   or 
  subtracted 
  being 
  printed 
  in 
  the 
  official 
  telegraph 
  guide. 
  

  

  This, 
  in 
  itself, 
  would 
  introduce 
  no 
  element 
  of 
  confusion 
  if 
  the 
  

   system 
  was 
  uniformly 
  adopted, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not. 
  Throughout 
  the 
  Madras 
  

   Presidency, 
  Madras 
  time 
  is 
  used, 
  except 
  at 
  Vizagapatam, 
  where 
  local 
  

   time 
  is 
  used. 
  Elsewhere 
  local 
  time 
  is 
  that 
  in 
  general 
  use, 
  but 
  where 
  

   the 
  difference 
  is 
  not 
  great, 
  railway 
  time 
  — 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Madras 
  

   meridian 
  is 
  usually 
  called 
  — 
  is 
  used 
  in 
  some 
  places, 
  local 
  time 
  in 
  

   others. 
  Yet 
  another 
  source 
  of 
  confusion 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  practice 
  

   of 
  using 
  a 
  local 
  time 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  locality, 
  but 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   nearest 
  large 
  city 
  ; 
  for 
  instance, 
  at 
  many 
  places 
  in 
  Bengal, 
  the 
  time 
  

   conventionally 
  used 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  Calcutta, 
  not 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  meridian 
  of 
  

   the 
  place 
  or 
  standard 
  time. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  consequence 
  of 
  this 
  divergence 
  of 
  time-systems 
  in 
  use 
  it 
  is 
  

   necessary 
  to 
  be 
  certain, 
  even 
  after 
  an 
  observation 
  has 
  been 
  accepted 
  

   as 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  it 
  good, 
  which 
  system 
  has 
  been 
  used. 
  As 
  a 
  rule, 
  

   there 
  is 
  no 
  difficulty, 
  for 
  the 
  difference 
  between 
  them 
  is 
  great, 
  the 
  only 
  

   possibility 
  of 
  confusion 
  is 
  at 
  places 
  near 
  the 
  meridian 
  of 
  Madras, 
  

   and 
  in 
  Bengal, 
  when 
  the 
  local 
  time 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  locality, 
  

   but 
  of 
  Calcutta. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  reports 
  on 
  great 
  earthquakes^ 
  has 
  been 
  usual 
  to 
  print 
  at 
  

   length 
  the 
  time 
  records 
  obtained. 
  In 
  the 
  present 
  case 
  to 
  do 
  so 
  

   would 
  take 
  up 
  a 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  space 
  and 
  serve 
  no 
  useful 
  purpose. 
  

  

  1 
  According 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  recent 
  determination; 
  the 
  old 
  value 
  was 
  5 
  hours 
  20 
  minutes 
  

  

  59-4 
  seconds. 
  

  

  2 
  According 
  to 
  the 
  Indian 
  Telegraph 
  guide 
  the 
  most 
  westerly 
  open 
  station 
  is 
  

   Chaman, 
  55 
  minutes 
  slow, 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  easterly 
  KengTung, 
  75 
  minutes 
  fast, 
  of 
  Madras. 
  

  

  ( 
  56 
  ) 
  

  

  