AT noon to-morrow all our clocks and watches, presuming that they are keeping Shanghai mean time, will be about six minutes fast; for to-morrow the Sicawei Observatory, whose time-ball on the French Bund is our standard, will p manently adopt the China Coast Zone time that is the time of exactly 120 degrees east of Greenwich, or 8 hours, instead of the time belonging to our actual longitude. Every one who has travelled knows that fifteen degrees_of longitude represent an hour, In the old days every place had its own local time, and old church clocks in England arr still to be seen with two minute hands, one giving, the local and the other Londox, or Greenwich, time. With the advent of railways it became necessary to adopt a uniform time, and Greenwich time was made the standard everywhere. Transcontinental travellers in the United States will have noted that the time, instead of changing gradually as it does at sea according to the actual distance traversed to the enst or tu the west, changes by fixed intervals of one hour, these intervals representing, of e"urse, fifteen degrees of longitude. When Japan was first opened to foreigners, each of the ports had its own local time, but the Japanese soon saw how unscientific this was and fixed on the time of the 185th degree of longitude, 9 hours from Greenwich, for the standard for the whole of Japan. is now proposed that 8 hours from Greenwich be adopted as the standard for the China coast, and reference to any map of China will show the reasonableness of this sel: ction, We have received from Pare Froe, SI., 0 few remus te help us in we wish to say something shou th International Time, and we hive yo doubt that our readers will be only too glad to know why they must alter all their clocks and watches tomorrow. Pare Froe begins with the heading: "International time Zone time... (Greenwich time)—Our zone should be called China Coast zone." Iz is adopted, he says, for the benefit of so large a port as Shanghai, It is for the port that the Observatory takes the trouble of droping the Ball within half-a-second, and of dropping it twice a day, and is preparing for an additional night signal. Practically, nearly all the navies of the world, and the great navigation companies use this time. It is very convenient, in fact indis pensable, for railway companies to have one standard of time, as is for the telegraph companies and zone time is adopted over the greater part of Europe, with the exception of France, Portugal and Russia though France and her colonies will probably soon follow; over North America including Canada, and Japan; and over the ish colonies and Dependencies with the exception of India (where it is prevented by petty jealousies between the chief cities), the Straits Settlements, and Hongkong. Under the new system we shall have the same time as. the Philippines and West Australia, and shall be exactly one hour behind Japan.
To take the 8-herr from Greenwich meridian is especially suited, as we have said already, for the China coast.
passes h al vay between Foochow and Wenchow, through Hangchow, near Chinkiang, through Kixochou and Shanhaikuan, and crosses the Gulf of Prchili, The following changes will have ty be introduc Place. Minutes. Place. Minutes.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.