Where Two Sundays Come Together

" Well, I never did " " I know you never did, rny dear, but you may one of these days, when our sliip cornés in and we start on that round of ours. We can't very wel' start until that metaphorical vessel does arrive ; oan't go out until she comes in. You see, the sinews of war are also the musclea of peace, and ït needs a well-developed ünancial biceps to enable one to strike out effectively on suoh a round." " What on earth are you talking of," saidMrs. Penn, " with such a jumble of finanoe and pugüism and maritime affairs ? It strikes me that your metaphors are slightly mixed." " Well, you said you nevei " " ïes, i'was going to say that I never heard of where two Sundays carne together." "Esactïy. And that is what i was talking of. I was about to explain it to you." "Do you mean to say that there is such aplace?" "I do." "And time?" " And time." "Then I should like to know what becomes of the Seventh Day of the strict öabbatanans r " That is a theological question, my dear. We'll not meddle with it." " But how do they niake two Sundaya come together?" "Just in that way preoisely. lhey make 'cm come together. For ínstance, on board a naval vessel, say, when the oflicer in charge of that duty ñnds by an ' observation' that the sun is precisely over the line of the ship's meridian (i. o., the point or degree of longitnde east or west of Washington or Green wich where she then is), he knows that it is noon of that day (to a landsman; to him it is the beginning of the next day), and he. reports acoordingly to the proper officer : 'Eight bells, sir,' and reoeives reply: 'Make it so, sir,' usually with the agíeeable addition, 'and pipe to dinncr.' So it is that the ship's oiRcer, upon occasion, makes two Bundays come together, or, for the matter of that, knooks Sunday out of the week aitogether, aocording to circuinstances. " ' ' Knocks it out aitogether ? Only one Sunday in two weeks ?" "Precisely. He can jurop frora j urday to Monday if he wip.'. " Worne and worse ! Well, explain, please. Let me understand the ' circumstances ' under which these náutica! gentlemen so coollv doublé Snnday or drop it." "Hete goes, then : We were talking of that little proposed round of ours." "O, yes! What round Í" " Why, round the world. Haven't we been speculating and castle-buüding on taking one of those tickets for the yet-to-be-faahionable tour, with layover coupons for Chicago and San Francisco and Yokohama and Hong Kong and Calcutta and Bombay and Suez and Biindiai and Paris andLondon? Wel], it depends on which way we take that ticket, eastward or westward, whether we lose a day- Sunday it may be as well as any other - or mako one on our trip. It is usually on the Pacific Ocean that this gain or loss is made, because, Washington or ijreenwich beiDg the ' given or governiug meridian ' f rom which American or English vessels calcúlate their longitude, it is only on that ocean that they find the ono hurdred and eightietii degree, or hálí-ronnd-the world point, at which they effect the change. " " Yes, I see that by the globe. Here is the one hundred and eightieth degree west or east of Greenwich, right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Go on with y our yarn." " Thanks to common schools and the electric telegraph most landsmen now understand that a difference in longitude manes a amerence 111 me uiub vi uny , that a message goingwestward arrivés at its destination beforo its apparent hour j of starting ; or, as Pat would say, ' it'd rache Bt. Louis before ye sint it from New York.' Orreries have taught our youngsters that, as the earth turns toward the suri, at the point wliich is faced to that luminary it is highnoon, while at one quarter of the earth's circumf erence toward the vest it is just sunrise. Thia difference of time is, at the equator, just four minutes for each degree of longitude - eqal to six hours (360 minutes) for the ninety degrees, or qunrter circumference, above noted. Thus at St. Louis, fifteen degrees west of New York, it is sixty minutes earlier than I with us, or eleven o'clock when it is twelve here, aiid a ship circHmnavigating the globe going westwardly thus gains on apparent time (laps over on to the next day) four minutes for each of the 360 degrees of westing, or twentyfour hoiu-s for the entire circuit of the earth. In other words, goiug west, and keeping her record of days from the day oS. the week on which she starts, on ari-iving back at her jort on what to her is Monday she finds that it is Tuesday on shore, and she must jump from Monday to Wednesday to set heraelf right. Making the circuit castwardly, the case is reversed, and arriving from the west it is Tuesday on her log, while to-morrow is Tuesday to her boardiiig-officer. The ship then doubles Tuesday and squares her record. " But most seamen correct this seeming error on passing the half-way point ; i. e., on reaching the 180th degree east or west of their governing ceridian a day is dropped or repeated, and the ship arrivés without being in next week or last week, when she should be in this. Landsmen's ignorance of these facts has caused some amusing scènes on steamers on the Paciiic. Some twenty years ago the New Orleans, the flrst passenger steamer that ever crossed the Pacific Ocean, was on her way i'roin San Francisco to Sydney with a load of gold ers, including some Pike County men, whose nautical education was limited. The pnrser had posted his usual daily bulletin of latitude, longitudo aud distance run since the previous noon- always an interesting episode in the history of a day on a long voyage - dated, we'li say, Monday, the löth. The next day it stood Wedneaday, the 12th, the 180th degree having been passed meanwhile, and the intervening day duly dropped. The apparent blunder caught the, eye of the eager readers at once. "'Hallo, pnrser, what's this?You'ye made a mistake ; you've dated this Wednesday.' " ' Yes, sir ; fchat's all right.' "'AU right? Why, yesterday was Monday ; here's yotir own bulletin np yet.' " ' Yea, sir. That's right, too. "'Right, too? Where in thunder is Tuefcday?' " 'Knocked out?' " 'Oh, come, now,' said Pike, on the lookout for sailors' tricks on green hands, ' that won't do. None of that with us. Who ever heard of knocking a day out of the week?' "Beta were ñnally made, to be settled at Sydney; andwhenthe pilot boarded them the papers showed the purser to be right, and that it was the 16th, say, in Australia, w! ile Pike was a day behind in his almanac. On the return trip from Sydney to Panama, on reaching the 180th degree, bulletins were posted ' Suiiday, the 5th,' and the next day the same. Here was another fuss; the John Bulls on board were especially disgustod. " ' All 'umbng ! 'ïwo Sundays ! The Captain's a very clever man, no doubt, but that won't do, you know. No Yankee tricks on us!' " Tho Captain insisted, with the intimation that that was the time when his notes feil due, and he was ready to meet them. So, you see, honest Jack has a real time in his mind, and means what he says when he promises to pay his debta if presented ' where two Sundays come together.' " "Well," said Mrf. P., "the middlc of the Paciñc Ocean is a good place to go into liquidation.