Facts and Queries Bearing upon the Subject of the Day Line.
By John Nevins Andrews
Some time since, I cut the following from a secular paper: “A QUESTION FOR FIGURES. Suppose a man start from any point on the line of the equator at twelve o’clock on Monday noon, and travel west at a rate of speed sufficient to keep the sun directly over his head. In twenty-four hours he necessarily would arrive at his place of departure, finding, of course, that it is Tuesday noon. Now suppose, for the sake of example, that a line of stations be located directly in his line of travel, at a distance from each other say of ten miles. Inquiring the time of day at each station as he progresses, he is told ‘twelve o’clock Monday noon.’ Yet manifestly at some station he must receive the information that it is Tuesday noon. Query—at which one? and could there be a discrepancy of twenty-four hours between any two localities not more than ten miles apart?” Though it be impossible for a person to travel round the world with such speed as to keep up with the sun in his apparent circuit of the globe, yet the supposed case is well calculated to bring the matter to the consideration of the reader. The revolution of the earth causes the sun to make the apparent circuit of the globe every twenty-four hours. When the sun is on our meridian, in other words when it is directly south of us, it is to us noon. And as the sun moves westward through the heavens, noon also moves forward in the same path directly beneath the sun and keeping pace with it exactly. Noon therefore is constantly making the circuit of the globe. To-day it is Thursday noon. Noon keeps on its westward course and in twenty-four hours it will be here again. But when it comes again, behold, it is Friday noon. There is a steady, uninterrupted course of noon from the time that it leaves us to-day till it comes to us again. But at some point it changes in an instant from being the noon of Thursday to be the noon of Friday. And so of every day in the week. Every one can see that this instantaneous transition must take place somewhere. And the line where this transition takes place is the boundary between one day and another, the starting point or source of day, the line whence each day sets out on its mission around our world. The writer, from whom we quote the paragraph at the commencement of this article, asks whether it is possible that this instantaneous change of twenty-four hours in the count of time can be, and where that locality is at which it takes place. That such a change does occur in the circuit of day is sufficiently evident, and in a former article we have given some reasons in proof that this line is in the Pacific Ocean, between the old world and the new, where the east and the west literally come together. It will be of interest to see what others have said on this subject. The American Institute Farmer’s Club, which meets in New York, have at different times discussed this question, and the N. Y. Tribune has given us the substance of their reasoning. The reporter of the Institute speaks thus: “WHERE DOES THE DAY BEGIN?—R. R. Fox, Edinboro, Erie Co., Pa., says: The answer you give to this question is not satisfactory. There are numbers of your readers here who would like a little more light on this perplexing subject. When it is Monday noon at the first meridian [i. e., from Greenwich, England], what day of the week and what hour of the day is it at 175° east and 175° west longitude, respectively?” [Note. The question seems to imply that the writer locates the day line at the meridian of 180° east or west from Greenwich, which is five degrees either way from the points respecting which he inquires; i. e., it lies midway between them. But we have shown in a former article that the day line must be located through Behring’s Straits in longitude about 168° west from Greenwich. The day line is therefore to the east of both the meridians which he names. But we can answer his question. When it is Monday noon at Greenwich, it is at the meridian of 180° the midnight with which Tuesday begins (according to the method of beginning days, now in use), and at 175° east longitude it is twenty minutes before midnight of Monday night, while at 175° west longitude it is twenty minutes past midnight Tuesday morning. Observe, we here use the method which begins the day at midnight. For while it is true that first day, second day, etc., do begin at sunset, it is also true that Sunday, Monday, etc., do begin at midnight. For God’s first day and man’s Sunday do not correspond, one beginning six hours earlier than the other. And as 180° from Greenwich is just half way around the world from that point, when it is noon at Greenwich, it is midnight at 180°. And as each degree makes a difference of four minutes in time, and the two points of inquiry are five degrees each way from 180° one of them is twenty minutes before, and the other twenty minutes after midnight. And as the day line is to the east of all three of these meridians, the midnight is that with which Tuesday commences. J. N. A.] The Tribune report continues Mr. F.’s inquiries and adds its own comments:— “If a person could start from New York at noon on Monday and travel with the sun around the earth, twenty-four hours afterward, when he returns it is Tuesday noon. It was Monday noon when he started, noon all the way round, and Tuesday noon when he returns; when did it change from Monday noon to Tuesday noon?” “Ah, there’s the rub. That’s what puzzled Archbishop Whately. It is a problem which no astronomer has yet explained, where any particular day commences.” [Note. We think that the location of the day line can be determined with as much certainty as can be the fact that such a line does really exist, though astronomy may not be able to do it. Can any reader of the Review tell us where in the writings of Abp. Whately we can find what he has said on this question? J. N. A.] The Tribune continues thus:— “H. Terene writes from Council Bluffs, Iowa, upon this question: ‘There is no denying or evading the progressive steps of this reasoning, and yet we know that twenty-four hours ago it was Sunday noon, and not Monday. The difficulty is, that while we know the exact time that denotes Sunday morning 6 o’clock in New York, we cannot determine how many hours have elapsed since Sunday morning, the same day, 6 o’clock, first commenced on earth. We know that it was Sunday morning in Asia, twelve hours before it was in New York, but who can say as to the whole zodiac, when Sunday morning first commenced? If it is true that Sunday morning commences at San Francisco one hour later than it does in New York, it is equally true that Sunday morning begins one hour later for every fifteen degrees we go west, and entirely round the world at the same rate, so that twenty-four hours from the time first mentioned it is still nothing but Sunday morning in New York—a reductio ad absurdum. Again, allow me to state this case. Suppose the earth was belted by a continuous telegraph running east and west, with operators and stations every mile, and that they were all required to telegraph to New York the instant that the sun should rise at each station on the first day of January, will you please tell me what would be the time in New York when the first signal would be received? If you can do that you can tell where the day begins, as well as when, and will receive the thanks of Archbishop Whately, if you should be so happy as to meet him in the next world.’” [Note. Mr. T. sees plainly that there must be a line where each day first begins to mankind; for to trace the day westward it begins later, and trace it eastward it begins earlier, and where the east and the west meet there is of necessity a line, one side of which is twenty-four hours in advance of the other. Those who deny this, can, if they please, continue to trace the same day westward clear round the world and have it begin later and later till they arrive where they started from, and find that it begins there latest of all, which is manifestly false. And they can reverse this process by travelling east and having the day begin earlier and earlier as they continue this eastward journey till they complete the circuit of the globe and find thus that the day begins earliest of all at the place where they set out, which is a second palpable falsehood. Each of these things is sufficient to show that there is a day line from which each day sets out, and at which it finishes its course. And again, as Mr. T. supposes the case, if we go west with the speed of the sun, as the day begins later and yet later in exact correspondence with the sun’s progress, we shall continue to witness the same hour till we have completed the circuit of the globe, and find at our starting point that it is the same day and the same hour at which we set out twenty-four hours before! The position of those who deny a day line at which the transition from one day to another takes place simply by crossing it, is thus, as Mr. T. remarks, reduced to an absurdity. The question relative to telegraph operators, might be more properly stated thus: Which one would first announce the beginning of the new year? for all the other questions are readily answered if this one can be answered correctly. Is it not manifest that there is but one place at which we can locate such a line, and that that must be where the eastern extremity of the old world approaches the western extremity of the new? Where the east and the west touch each other, must be the line where day is earliest on one side and latest on the other. J. N. A.] The Tribune reports the further discussion of this subject by the same body on another occasion as follows:— “THE LONGITUDE QUESTION.—The question asked some time since by one of our correspondents, ‘Where does the day begin, or where does the circumnavigator correct his reckoning?’ seems to have awakened a remarkable degree of interest, as we have numerous letters upon the subject. We can only find room for brief extracts from a few of the most important:—” “A. P. Andrew, Jr., La Porte, Ind.: The Rev. Dr. Robinson, a great biblical historian, when this question was agitated some forty years ago in Cincinnati, said [of the question, Where does Monday noon become Tuesday noon?]: ‘It could not be answered astronomically, but historically, that where the traveler with the sun met the emigration that had emigrated eastwardly [from Asia to the islands of the Pacific] they would tell him it was Tuesday noon.’” “Wm. R. Reed, Cross Creek, Penn.: ‘Navigators have fixed upon the west shore of the Pacific as the beginning point, say about longitude 170. If a traveler left New York Sunday noon, moving with the sun, when he reached Australia, he would find the people there calling the time Monday noon.’” “G. W. Pressey, Hammonton, N. J.: ‘The first day of 1867 will begin on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean when that point is opposite the sun, which will be 8:30 A. M., Dec. 31, at Washington, D. C. At the island of Niphon, at sunrise, Jan. 1, it will be 3:55, P. M., Dec. 31, at Washington. With navigators the western shore of the Pacific is always one day in advance. When it is Sunday here, it is Monday there.’” [Note. Observe, this writer begins the day at midnight, and not at sunset. He thinks the day line is in the west shore of the Pacific; i. e., the east coast of Asia. When that shore is just opposite the sun, it is midnight there, and on the side toward the sun it is noon. If by the east shore of Asia he means its eastern extremity, he is not far from the truth. He does not differ far from the writer before him, if that writer means longitude 175 west from Greenwich. Observe the important fact last stated by Mr. P.; viz., that the west shore of the Pacific is one day in advance of the east shore. J. N. A.] Vincent Barnard, Kennet Square, Chester Co., Penn.: “Let us imagine a line to be drawn from the sun through the center of the earth, the meridian at which this line enters the earth is the noon meridian, the meridian where it leaves the earth on the opposite is the midnight meridian, or the line at which the two ends of the day, evening and morning, meet; these two are unchangeable with respect to the sun and to each other. Our method of reckoning probably originated with the Greeks, and spread eastward to the shores of the Pacific. It also extended westward over Europe, across the Atlantic and this continent. Thus the Pacific Ocean separates the two ends of the reckoning. Thus no two individuals on opposite sides of a meridian line are able to note the instant transition from one day to another. It is time astronomers should establish a meridian at which each day shall begin and end. Such a line, however, would produce some curious results. The people going to church on Sunday upon one side would see their neighbors at work Monday morning on the other.” [Note. The wisdom of God has placed the Pacific Ocean between the extreme east and the farthest west, and his providence has established the line through the midst of these waters, wholly avoiding Mr. B.’s difficulty. The reckoning of time from midnight is not of God’s ordaining; but the reckoning of time by weeks came from him, and it is the Hebrew people from whom this reckoning has gone east to the east coast of Asia, and west to the most western extremity of America. J. N. A.] “Wm. T. Parker, Birmingham, Erie Co., Ohio:—The beginning of the day occurs at the same moment at all places which lie on the same meridian, and it differs in time at all points differing in longitude; consequently it is not scientifically correct to affirm that the same day exists at the same time at two points having different longitude, as in Europe and America. In answer to the question, Where do navigators, when sailing around the world, and touching at ports on the way, correct their log books? I answer, at the first port after crossing the Pacific Ocean. When the telegraphic cable shall be laid across Behring’s Straits, should a dispatch be sent from the American shore on Monday at noon, it will be reported to the Siberian papers as having been received on Tuesday at noon.” [Note. Observe the last statement. We shall have occasion to refer to the wonders of the telegraph as bearing upon this question of the day line. Meantime it is sufficient to remark that the fact last stated shows that this line is between the two shores of Behring’s Straits. J. N. A.]