William Dana Orcutt BY Standard Time is meant that the hour of each 15° of longitude becomes the local mean time for the zone or belt extending 7 1?/?2° on each side of the central meridian; though in practise the zone has to be adapted to local circumstances, and so cannot conform to the exact line or meridian, but is arranged to suit boundaries of States or Provinces as may be most convenient. By way of illustration, it may be noted that in the Province of Ontario, Canada, by Act of the Legislature, the hour of 75° W. is Standard Time for the Province as far as 87° W., and that the S.W. point, 83° W., extends westerly beyond the eastern part of the State of Michigan, where the time of 90° W. is used; so at Windsor, Ontario, it is noon while in Michigan — more to the east — it is 11 A.M. The Standard Time as used in the chief cities of Canada and the United States may be noted: at Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto, at Boston, New York, and Washington, the time of 75° W., five hours earlier than Greenwich, is used; at Winnipeg in Manitoba, and at Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans, the time of 90°, {143} six hours earlier than Greenwich, is used; at Regina and Denver it is the time of 105°, seven hours earlier than Greenwich; and in British Columbia and at San Francisco the time of 120° W., eight hours earlier than Greenwich, is used; and when 180° is reached another day begins in Eastern Siberia, at the Fiji Islands, and a little to the east of New Zealand. The same rule applies to places east of Greenwich, where, of course, noon is earlier than at Greenwich according to the longitude. Spain adopted Standard — that is, Greenwich — Time early in the century. When noon at Greenwich it is 2 P.M. in Egypt and South Africa; it is 5:30 P.M. in India, 82 1?/?2° E.; in Japan and Corea, 135° E., it is 9 P.M.; and in Eastern Australia, 150° E., it is 10 P.M. The question is often asked, “Where does a day begin?” — that is, any special day, New Year’s Day or Easter Day — and the answer is that for all peoples, nations, and languages, using maps with longitude East and West from Greenwich, each day begins at the meridian of 180°, slightly east of New Zealand in the South, and intersecting Eastern Siberia in the North, and so the last day of the nineteenth century and the first day of the twentieth were on the Earth together, not running concurrently or side by side, north and south of the Equator, as has been {144} supposed, erroneously, but the latter following the former from 180° westerly to Greenwich, and on again to 180°, where it gave place to January 2. 29 Amoy, .641; Cheefoo, .613; Chin Kiang, .626; Fuchau, .593; Hankau, .599; Kiaochu, .621; Nanking, .634; Newchang, .601; Ningpo, .616; Peking, .625; Shanghai, .585; Swatow, .592; Takau, .645; Tientsin, .621. 30 The sovereign is the standard coin of India, but the rupee ($0.3244 1?/?2) is the current coin, valued at 15 to the sovereign. 31 Seventy-five centigrams fine gold. 32 The current coin of the Straits Settlements is the silver dollar issue on government account and which has been given a tentative value of $0.567758 1?/?3. NOTE. — The coins of silver-standard countries are valued by their pure silver contents at the average market price of silver for the three months preceding the date of this table. (Courtesy The World Almanac.) To change from centigrade to Fahrenheit multiply by 9, divide by 5, and add 32. To change from RÉaumur to Fahrenheit, multiply by 9, divide by 4, and add 32. (Courtesy The World Almanac) (NOTE. These are Greek numerals) Divisions which are used equally with all the principle units d (deci = .1) c (centi = .01) m (milli = .001) (NOTE. These are Latin numerals) Kinds of Quantities Measured Principal Units Definitions Length m (meter) Area sq. m (square meter) a (Ar) 1 sq. Dm. Volume cu m (cubic meter) s (ster) 1 cu. m. l (liter) 1 cu. d m Weight g (gram) Weight of 1 cu. cm. of pure water at 4° centigrade NOTE. 1000 kg. is called t. (a metric ton.) {150} LINEAR MEASURE 12 in. = 1 foot 3 ft. = 1 yd. 5 1?/?2 yds. = 1 rod 320 rds. = 1 mile 5280 ft. = 1 mile 3 miles = 1 league The hand (4 in.) is used to measure the height of horses. The nautical mile is 6086.44 ft. 1 knot is 1.1528 statute miles. 1 degree is 67.168 statute miles. SQUARE MEASURE 144 sq. in. = 1 sq. ft. 9 sq. ft. = 1 sq. yd. 30 1?/?4 sq. yds. = 1 sq. rod 160 sq. rods = 1 acre 640 acres = 1 sq. mile The side of a square having an area of an acre is approximately 208 3?/?4 feet. DRY MEASURE 2 pints = 1 quart 8 quarts = 1 peck 4 pecks = 1 bushel LIQUID MEASURE 4 gills = 1 pt. 2 pts. = 1 qt. 4 qts. = 1 gall. 31 1?/?2 gall. = 1 barrel 2 barrels = 1 hogshead APOTHECARIES’ WEIGHT 20 grains = 1 scruple 3 scruples = 1 dram 8 drams = 1 ounce 12 ounces = 1 pound AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT 16 drams = 1 ounce 16 ounces = 1 pound 100 pounds = 1 hundredweight 20 hundredweights = 1 ton Long ton = 2240 pounds, used mostly in Great Britain. TROY WEIGHT 24 grains = 1 pennyweight 20 pennyweights = 1 ounce 12 ounces = 1 pound 1 carat in diamond, measure = 3.2 Troy grains. {151} PAPER MEASURE 24 sheets = 1 quire 20 quires = 1 ream 2 reams = 1 bundle 5 bundles = 1 bale TIME MEASURE 60 seconds = 1 minute 60 minutes = 1 hour 24 hours = 1 day 7 days = 1 week 28, 29, 30, or 31 days = 1 calendar month (30 days = 1 month in computing interest) 365 days = 1 year 366 days = 1 leap year CIRCULAR MEASURE 60 seconds = 1 minute 60 minutes = 1 degree 30 degrees = 1 sign 90 degrees = 1 quadrant 4 quadrants = 12 signs, or 360 degrees = 1 circle CLOTH MEASURE 2 1?/?4 inches = 1 nail 4 nails = 1 quarter 4 quarters = 1 yard MARINERS’ MEASURE 6 feet = 1 fathom 120 fathoms = 1 cab. le’th. 7 1?/?2 cable lengths = 1 mile 5280 feet = 1 stat. mile 6085 feet = 1 naut. mile MISCELLANEOUS 3 inches = 1 palm 4 inches = 1 hand 6 inches = 1 span 18 inches = 1 cubit 21.8 in. = 1 Bible cubit 2 1?/?2 ft. = 1 military pace SURVEYORS’ MEASURE 7.92 inches = 1 link 25 links = 1 rod 4 rods = 1 chain 10 square chains or 160 square rods = 1 acre 640 acres = 1 sq. mile 36 sq. miles (6 miles sq.) = 1 township 1 centimeter = 0.3937 in.	1 in. = 2.54 centimeters
1 decimeter = 3.937 in. = 0.328 feet	1 ft. = 3.048 decimeters
1 meter = 39.37 in. = 1.0936 yards	1 yard = 0.9144 meter
1 dekameter = 1.9884 rods	1 rod= 0.5029 dekameter
1 kilometer = 0.62137 mile	1 mile = 1.6093 kilometers

Further Acts of Parliament were passed in 1889 and 1904 dealing with the question of verification of weights and measures, and regulations were issued by the Board of Trade in 1907 respecting the inspection and stamping of weights and measures.

The Yard and the Pound are the only two independent standards for weights and measures, as the Gallon, the standard of capacity, both for dry and liquid measure, is not independent, but is based upon the Pound. The Gallon is defined in the Act of 1878 as the volume of ten Imperial Standard Pounds weight of distilled water weighed in air against brass weights, with the water and air at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit and the barometer at 30 inches.

Of the Apothecaries’ measure of weight, the grain is the same as the Imperial grain; and the Apothecaries’ ounce contains 480 grains, like the Troy ounce. But, of the measures of capacity, the Apothecaries’ drachm is not the same as the Imperial dram, and the two words are spelt differently. A fluid ounce of distilled water at a temperature of 62° Fahrenheit is equal in weight to the Imperial ounce (437.5 grains), and the fluid drachm (54.6875 grains) is equal in weight to two Imperial drams.

The OHM, the unit of resistance, is the resistance offered to an unvarying electric current by a column of mercury, at the temperature of melting ice, 14.4521 grammes in mass, of a constant cross-sectional area, and of a length of 106.3 centimeters.

The AMPERE, the unit of current, is the unvarying electric current which, when passed through a solution of nitrate of silver in water, deposits silver at the rate of 0.001118 of a gramme per second.

The VOLT, the unit of pressure, is the pressure which, when steadily applied to a conductor whose resistance is one ohm, will produce a current of one ampere.

The WATT, the unit of power, is ¹?/?₇₄₆ of one horse-power, the horse-power being 33,000 lb. raised one foot in one minute. The Board of Trade unit is 1000 Watt-hours.

In carbon lamps of 16-candle power (nominal) about four watts are required per candle power to give good economical results for domestic purposes. One Board of Trade unit will keep a 16-candle carbon lamp alight for about 16 hours; metallic filament lamps require considerably less. {157}

A Rod of Brickwork 16 ¹?/?₂ feet × 16 ¹?/?₂ feet × 1 ¹?/?₂ brick thick = 306 cubic feet, or 11 ¹?/?₃ cubic yards, and contains about 4500 bricks with about 75 cubic feet of mortar.

Ordinary bricks weigh about 7 lb. each; a load of 500 weighs about 1 ton 11 cwt. 1 qr.

A Piece of Wall Paper is 12 yd. long × 21 in. wide (English), and 9 yd. × 18 in. (French).

Width of Battens, 7 inches; Deals, 9 inches; Planks are 2 to 4 inches thick, and 10 or 11 inches wide. A Cord of Wood is 2 ¹?/?₂ tons, or 128 cubic feet.

Worsted Count. — Wrap, 80 yards; Hank = 560 yards = 7 Wraps. Counts or Numbers are the number of hanks in a lb.

Linen Count. — The Hank or Lea is 300 yards, and the number of these in 1 lb. is the count of the yarn. A Spindle is 48 hanks; a Bundle is 200 hanks.

West of England Count. — The Hank is 320 yards, and the number of hanks in 1 lb. is the count of the yarn. {159}

The Imperial weights and measures are the legal standards in the British Dominions and in India. In some Colonies the Metric system may also be used. In certain Colonies and in India, the old local measures are still employed to a considerable extent. Among these are the following:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Rumania, Servia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The usual measure of capacity in Turkey is the Kileh, which is slightly larger than the British bushel.

First, two strokes of the clapper at the interval of a second, then an interval of two seconds; then two more strokes with a second’s interval apart, then a rest of two seconds, thus:

Watch. — For purposes of discipline, and to divide the work fairly, the crew is mustered in two divisions: the Starboard (right side, looking forward) and the Port (left). The day commences at noon, and is thus divided:

This makes seven Watches, which enables the crew to keep them alternately, as the Watch which is on duty in the forenoon one {162} day has the afternoon the next day, and the men who have only four hours’ rest one night have eight hours the next. This is the reason for having Dog Watches, which are made by dividing the hours between 4 P.M. and 8 P.M. into two Watches.