The desirability of using a uniform standard of time, independent of local time, was recognized at a very early date. The differences of local time arise from the use of solar motion as a time-measurer. We call the time noon when the sun is opposite the meridian of the place where we are living, and in consequence of the sun's motion from east to west, the more easterly of two places will have the earlier time, the difference in hours being exactly l-15th of the longitudinal difference in degrees. In other words, 15 degrees of longitude correspond to a time difference of one hour. Peculiar difficulties were encountered in this country on account of its vast longitudinal extent, and the inconvenience became very serious with the extension of the railroad and telegraph systems.

The movement which resulted in the adoption of the present time system may be said to have originated in a report on the subject by the American Meteorological Society, which was submitted at a meeting of the General Time Convention held on Oct. 13, 1881, proposing a single standard for the whole country and suggesting the hour theory as an alternative proposition. The matter was referred to the secretary, Mr. W. T. Allen, and communications were invited from parties interested. The proposal to fix one standard of time for the whole country was supported by many competent authorities; but, although there was much to recommend it from a scientific point of view, it was found to be impracticable on account of the many discrepancies which would occur between time by the clock and solar time. The system which found most favor, and was finally adopted, proposed the division of the country into four time sections, each of 15 degrees longitude (7 1/2 degrees or 30 minutes on each side of the meridian), commencing with the 75th meridian. Inside each of these sections time was to be uniform, the time of each section differing from that next to it by exactly one hour. A scheme was drawn up in accordance with these principles, and at a meeting of the convention held in April, 1883, the following resolutions were adopted:

(1.) That all roads now using Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Toronto, Hamilton, or Washington time as standard, based upon meridians east of those points or adjacent thereto, shall be governed by the 75th meridian or Eastern time (4 minutes slower than New York time.)

(2.) That all roads now using Columbus, Savannah, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Jefferson City, St. Paul, or Kansas City time, or standards based upon meridians adjacent thereto, shall be run by the 90th meridian time, to be called Central time, one hour slower than Eastern time and 9 minutes slower than Chicago time.

(3.) That west of the above-named sections the roads shall be run by the 105th and the 120th meridian times respectively, two and three hours slower than Eastern time.

(4.) That all changes from one hour standard to another shall be made at the termini of roads or at the ends of divisions.

The advantages of this method of reckoning time are obvious. Every town, instead of regulating its business by its own local time, uses the time of the nearest of the standard meridians, and the difference in time in actual use in any two cities will be an exact number of hours, instead of a number of hours, minutes and seconds. A traveler, therefore, wishing to reset his watch, need only change the hour, without paying any attention to the minutes. Having proceeded, e. g., from New York to any town within the Central time zone, he has simply to set his watch one hour slow of New York time, and need not compare it with any of the local clocks.

Standard Time In The United States, Variation Of Time In Different Countries. Note. - Hours of the night, 6 p.m. to 5.59 a.m., are in dark type.

Trains in Great Britain, Belgium, Holland, and Spain run on Greenwich (West Europe) time; in Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, and Servia, on Mid-European time (one hour fast of Greenwich); in France at 5 minutes behind Paris time (see below); and in Roumania, Bulgaria, and part of Turkey, on East European time (two hours faster than Greenwich).

Outside clocks at French stations show Paris time, but inside clocks - by which trains are worked - are 5 minutes slower than outside. Thus there is only 4 minutes 20.6 seconds difference between English and French railway time. - Cook's Continental Time Tables.