Dilemma of Officers of s.
Javanese Prince: Date Line Plays Three Queer Tricks Two of the greatest events British history of the past decade, the abdication of King Edward VIII and the Coronation of HM. King George VI, do not exist as far as irish officers of the inv. Javanese Prince are officially aware, for as far as they are concerned, the two days on which these momentous events happened do not exist. When the ship arrived in port early June 1, the officers dold the "North-China Herald" that they were still hack-seriously wondering whether tie events had happened at all, The International Date Line is to blame, "All trans-Pacific voyasne, whether from east to west, or west to east, entail the crossing of the 180th Meridian. The astronomers-royal, or whoever are responsible for limes and dates all over the world, decreed that when crossing the meridian one way a ship would lose day, and in the other direction she would have an extra day. And the result is a certain amount of confusion a But to the surprise of al, it was not tobe. On Tuesday, hay, the ship wes Spprosching' che 1800 Meridian and, since they were uavelfast Gay" would be Tharaaye next day woul aay lat" 'Ana so there' was no Corenstion sor'the avanese Prince.
The Loyal Toast Actually, as far as the ship is concerned, His Majesty was crowned King at midnight on Tuesday, May 11." 'The ship's officers and all the passengers, mostly Americans, gather-the saloon to listen' to the broadcast from Daventry of the Coronation ceremonies. "The King's Health" and a "Long and Prosperous Reign" was proposed 2s appropriate toasts.
Glasses were raised in that simple yet exquisitely thrilling ceremony, and as they were being emptied, "Bight Bells," midnight, rang out on the ship's bell. 'The' drinking of the toast had slipped from Tuesday fo Thursday, the third coincidence.
"The perplexities which arose board the Javanese Prince as a result of her crossing of the date line are probably unique in the annals of modern shipping as regards this time artifice. By a strange coincidence, this modern British freighter lost two days at a time when the rest of the world, and. Britons in particular, wore extremely conscious of events.
King Edward abdicated on December 10, 1936, during a voyage of the Javanese Prince from. San Pedro, California, to Manila, in the Philip pine Islands. It so happened that on this actual day the freighter crossed the International Date Line, trid, in conformity with the usual practice, the day did not appear on the ship's calendar.
*No Abdleat "And s0, you see, there was no such thing as an abdication as far as the officers and crew were concerned." tone of the officers said to the "North-China Herald" in a grave tone which rather belied his sincerity. He pointed out that, of course, no event could happen on a day which did not exist.
On the Javanese Prince's present voyage from New York, however, this little episode had been practical forgotten, and all were looking forward to celebrating the Coronation of their Majesties the King and Queen. Special preparations were made to mark the occasion with appriate ceremony and festivity, cluding the drinking of the Loyal "Toast.
One of the American passenger was heard to remark duly, "That, was a record toast. 1 guess I've never had one in America that's gone from one day to two days hen:
But that is not the only problem that is puzzling the officers of the Javanese Prince, as they made haste to tell the "North-China Herald" on their arrival in Shanghai. To take the actual words of the question posed by one of them
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.