EXPLANATION. -The white spaces indicate the amount of moonlight each night. Thus, January 7, February 6, etc., the time of full moon, when for two or three nights in succession moonlight lasts all night; January 14, February 13, etc., when the moon rises at or near midnight or when the latter half of the night has moonlight; January 22, February 20, etc., the time of new moon, when for two or three nights there is no moonlight; January 29, February 28, etc., when the moon sets at or near midnight, or when the former half of the night has moonlight. The number of asteroids discovered up to present date is 423. A number of these small planets have not been observed since their discovery, and are practically lost. Consequently it is now sometimes a matter of doubt, until the elements have been computed, whether the supposed new planet is really new, or only an old one rediscovered. It is supposed that a Centauri, one of the brightest stars of the Southern Hemisphere, is the nearest of the fixed stars to the earth. The researches on its parallax by Henderson and Maclear gave, for its distance from the earth, in round numbers, twenty billions of miles. At the inconceivably rapid rate at which light is propagated through space, it would require more than four years to reach the earth from his star. -Whitaker. The Moon. THE mean distance of the Moon from the Earth is 238,850 miles; its mean sidereal revolution round the Earth is 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11. 46 seconds; its mean synodical revolution, or the period from new moon to new moon, is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 2.87 seconds; the eccentricity of its orbit is 0.0549, and its diameter is 2,162 miles. The Earth being taken as unity, the density is. 61; mass, 1-81; volume,1-50, and gravity, 1-6; that is to say, the Earth would weigh as much as 81 Moons, is 50 times larger, and a pound of matter at the Moon's surface would, if transferred to the Earth, weigh 6 pounds. Periodic Comets. 6.5 2.07 10. 405 Halley Easter Sunday. A TABLE SHOWING THE DATE OF EASTER SUNDAY IN EACH YEAR OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 1807-March 29. 1827-April 15. 1845-March 23. 1885-April 5. 1886-April 25. 1808-April 17. 1828-April 6. 1848-April 23. 1867-April 21. 1887-April 10. 1888-April 1. 1809-April 2. 1829-April 19. 1849-April 8. 1869-March 28. 1889-April 21. 1810-April 22. 1830-April 11. 1850-March 31. 1811-April 14. 1831-April 3, 1812-March 29. 1832-April 22. 1851-April 20. 1870-April 17. 1890-April 6. 1891-March 29. 1853-March 27. 1872-March 31. 1892-April 17. 1893-April 2. 1894-March 25. 1875-March 28. 1895-April 14. 1856-March 23, 1817-April 6. 1837-March 26. 1838-April 15. 1857-April 12. 1876-April 16. 1896-Apri' 5. 1897-April 18. 1878-April 21. 1898-April 10. 1839-March 31. 1859-April 24. 1840-April 19. 1860-April 8. 1879-April 13. 1899-April 2, 1900-April 15. 1818-March 22. 1819-April 11. 1820-April 2. The Ancient Hour. THE early Egyptians divided the day and night each into twelve hours, a custom adopted by the Jews or Greeks probably from the Babylonians. The day is said to have first been divided into hours from B. C. 293, when a sun-dial was erected in the temple of Quirinus, at Rome. Previous to the invention of water-clocks, B. c. 158, the time was called at Rome by public criers. In early England one expedient for measuring time was by wax candles, three inches burning an hour. The first perfect mechanical clock was not made until about A. D. 1250. Day began at sunrise among most of the Northern nations, at sunset among the Athenians and Jews, at midnight among the Romans, as with us. Legal Holidays in the Various States. JANUARY 1 NEW YEAR'S DAY: In all the sylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South SEPTEMBER 9. ADMISSION DAY: In Cali JANUARY 8. ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE fornia. FEBRUARY 12 LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY: In Con- FEBRUARY 15, 1898. SPRING ELECTION DAY: In Pennsylvania (from 12 o'clock noon). FEBRUARY 22. WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY: In all the States (including the District of Columbia) except Iowa and Mississippi. FEBRUARY 22, 1898. MARDI-GRAS: In Alabama and the parish of Orleans, Louisiana. MARCH 2. ANNIVERSARY OF TEXAN INDEPENDENCE: In Texas, APRIL 6 CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY: In Louisiana. APRIL 6, 1898. STATE ELECTION DAY: In Rhode Island. APRIL 8, 1898. GOOD FRIDAY: In Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee. APRIL 19. PATRIOTS' DAY: In Massachusetts. APRIL 21. ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO: In Texas. APRIL 26. CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY: In Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. MAY 10. CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY: In North Carolina and South Carolina. MAY 20. ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: In North Carolina, MAY 30. DECORATION DAY: In Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington, and Wyoming. JUNE 3. JEFFERSON DAVIS'S BIRTHDAY: In Florida and Georgia. JULY 4. INDEPENDENCE DAY: In all States and the District of Columbia. the JULY 24. PIONEERS' DAY: In Utah. NOVEMBER 1. ALLSAINTS' DAY: In Louisiana. NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION DAY: In Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, in the years when elections are held in these States, In 1898 the date is November 8. NOVEMBER 25. LABOR DAY: In Louisiana. NOVEMBER 24, 1898. THANKSGIVING DAY: Is observed in all the States, and in the District of Columbia, though in some States it is not a statutory holiday. DECEMBER 25. CHRISTMAS DAY: In all the States, and in the District of Columbia, Sundays and Fast Days are legal holidays in all the States which designate them as such. There are no statutory holidays in Mississippi, Kansas, and Nevada, but by common consent the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are observed as holidays in Mississippi, and Decoration Day, Labor Day, and Arbor Day in addition in Kansas, ARBOR DAY is a legal holiday in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the day being set by the Governor; in Texas, February 22; in Nebraska, April 22; Montana, third Tuesday in April; Utah, April 15; Rhode Island, first Friday in May; Idaho, on Friday after May 1; Florida, February 7; Georgia, first Friday in December. Every Saturday after 12 o'clock noon is a legal holiday in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the city of New Orleans, and in Newcastle County, Del., except in St. George's Hundred; in Louisiana and Missouri in cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants; in Ohio in cities of 50,000 or more inhabitants; and June 1 to September 30 in Denver, Col. In Connecticut banks close at 12 noon on Saturdays. There is no national holiday, not even the Fourth of July. Congress has at various times appointed special holidays. In the second session of the Fifty-third Congress it passed an act making Labor Day a public holiday in the District of Columbia, and it has recognized the existence of certain days as holidays, for commercial purposes, in such legislation as the Bankruptcy act, but, with the exception named, there is no general statute on the subject. The proclamation of the President designating a day of Thanksgiving only makes it a legal holiday in those States which SEPTEMBER 5.1898. LABOR DAY: In Alabama, Old English Holidays. THESE holidays, with their names, had their origin in medieval England when the State religion was that of the Church of Rome, and they are still observed generally or in some parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. JANUARY 6. TWELFTH DAY, or Twelfth-tide, sometimes alled Old Christmas Day, the sam as Epiphany. The previous mening is Twelfth Night, with which many social rites have long been connected. FEBRUARY 2. CANDLEMAS: Festival of the Purification of the Virgin. Consecration of the lighted candles to be used in the durch during the year. FEBRUARY 14. OLD CANDLEMAS: St. Valentine's Day. Jun 94. MIDSUMMER DAY: Feast of the Nativity of John the JULY 15. ST. SWITHIN'S DAY. There was an old superstition SEPTEMBER 29. MICHAELMAS: Feast of St. Michael, the NOVEMBER 1. ALLHALLOWMAS: All-hallows, or All Saints' of the dead. NOVEMBER 11. MARTINMAS: Feast of St. Martin. Old Martinmas is November 23. DECEMBER 28. CHILDERMAS: Holy Innocents Day. Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, and Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, are observed by the Church. Mothering Sunday is Mid-Lent Sunday, in which the old rural custom obtains of visiting one's parents and making them presents. Opening and Closing of Navigation. ON THE HUDSON RIVER AND THE ERIE CANAL, AND OPENING OF LAKE ERIE 809 802 251 April 30, 1824... Dec. 4. 219 238 243 241 April 21, 1827 269 April 1, 1828 230 May 10, 1829 242 May 5, 1830 230 May 8, 1831 241 April 27, 1832 238 April 23, 1833 240 April 6, 1834 268 May 8, 1835 216 April 27, 1836 April 20, 1837... Dec. 9. 234 May 16, 1837 April 11, 1838... Nov. 25. 228 Mar. 31, 1838 April 20, 1839... Dec. 16. April 20, 1840... Dec. 9. 228 April 27, 1840 April 24, 1841... Nov, 30.. 221 April 14, 1841 April 20, 1842... Nov. 28. 222 March 7, 1842 May 1, 1843... Nov. 30. April 18, 1844... Nov. 26. 222 Mar. 14, 1844 April 15, 1845... Nov. 29. 228 April 3, 1845 275 April 16, 1846... Nov. 25. 234 April 11, 1846 263 May 1, 1847... Nov. 30. 214 April 23, 1847 292 May 1, 1848... Dec. 9. 223 April 9, 1848 219 Mar. 25, 1849 282 April 22, 1850... Dec. 11. April 15, 1851... Dec. 5. 235 April 2, 1851 April 20, 1852... Dec. 16. 239 April 20, 1852 April 20, 1853... Dec. 20. 245 April 14, 1853 May 1, 1854... Dec. 3. 217 April 29, 1854 224 April 21, 1855 May 5, 1856... Dec. 4. 214 May 2, 1856 223 April 27, 1857 273 273 283 294 May April 28, 1858... Dec. 8. 225 April 15, 1858 April 7, 1859 April 17, 1860 224 April 13, 1861 259 May 1, 1862... Dec. 10.. April 15, 1862 May 1, 1863... Dec. 9... April 3, 1863 8. April 13, 1864 May 1, 1865... Dec. 12. 226 April 26, 1865 May 1, 1866... Dec. 12. 226 April 28, 1866 229 April 21, 1867 217 April 19, 1868 218 May 1, 1869 213 April 16, 1870 1 220 May 5, 1874... Dec. May 18, 1875... Nov. 30(byice) 11660 April 1, 1871 202 May 6, 1872 5... 5. 215 April 18, 1874 297 May 12, 1875 211 May 4, 1876 214 April 17, 1877 237 Mar. 24, 1878 212 April 24, 1879 216 Mar. 19, 1880 Mar. 3, 1824... Jan. 5, 1825... A Ready Reference Calendar. For ascertaining any Day of the Week for any given Time within Two Hundred Years from the introduction of the New Style, 1752, to 1952 inclusive. which refer to the same Tuesday 2 Wednesday 2 Thursday figures at the head of the Wednesday 3 Thursday 3 Friday Thursday 4 Thursday 5. 1 Friday 1 Saturday 2 SUNDAY 2 Saturday 4 Friday 4 Saturday 6 7 1 SUNDAY 1 2 Monday 2 3 Tuesday 3 4 Wednesday 4 5 6 7 8 SUNDAY 8 5 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday 9 10 16 17 table of Days. For ex- Friday ample: To know on what Saturday 6 Wednesday 6 Thursday day July 4, 1898, will SUNDAY 7 Monday Thursday 7 Friday Monday 8 Tuesday 8 Friday 8 Saturday fall look for 1898 in the Tuesday 9 Wednesd. 9 Thursday 9 Friday 9 Saturday 9 SUNDAY 9 Monday table of Years. The let-Wednesd. 10 Thursday 10 Friday 10 Saturday 10 SUNDAY 10 Monday 10 Tuesday 11 Saturday 11 SUNDAY 11 Monday 11 Tuesday 11 Wednesd. 11 ter c is attached. Look Thursday 11 Friday Friday 12 Saturday 12 SUNDAY 12 Monday 12 Tuesday 12 Wednesd. 12 Thursday 12 for the same letter in the Saturday 13 SUNDAY 13 Monday 13 Tuesday 13 Wednesd. 13 Thursday 13 Friday 13 table of Months and in a SUNDAY 14 Monday 14 Tuesday 14 Wednesd. 14 Thursday 14 Friday 14 Saturday 14 parallel line under July is Monday 15 Tuesday 15 Wednesd. 15 Thursday 15 Friday 15 Saturday 15 SUNDAY 15 Tuesday 16 Wednesd. 16 Thursday 16 Friday 16 Saturday 16 SUNDAY 16 Monday the figure 5, which di- Wednesd. 17 Thursday 17 Friday 17 Saturday 17 SUNDAY 17 Monday 17 Tuesday rects to column 5 in the Thursday 18 Friday 18 Saturday 18 SUNDAY 18 Monday 18 Tuesday 18 Wednesd. 18 table of Days below, in Friday 19 Saturday 19 SUNDAY 19 Monday 19 Tuesday 19 Wednesd. 19 Thursday 19 20 Tuesday Saturday 20 SUNDAY 20 Monday which it will be seen SUNDAY 21 Monday 20 20 Wednesd. 20 Thursday 20 Friday 21 Tuesday 21 Wednesd. 21 Thursday 21 Friday 21 Saturday 21 that July 4 falls on Mon-Monday 22 Tuesday 22 Wednesd. 22 Thursday 22 Friday 92 Saturday 22 SUNDAY 22 Tuesday day. 23 Wednesd. 23 Thursday 23 Friday 23 Saturday 23 SUNDAY 23 Monday Wednesd. 24 Thursday 24 Friday 24 Saturday 24 SUNDAY 24 Monday 24 Tuesday Thursday 25 Friday 25 Saturday 25 SUNDAY 25 Monday 25 Tuesday 25 Wednesd. 25 Friday 26 Saturday 26 SUNDAY 26 Monday 26 Tuesday 26 Wednesd. 26 Thursday 26 Saturday 27 SUNDAY 27 Monday 27 Tuesday 27 Wednesd. 27 Thursday 27 Friday SUNDAY 98 Monday 28 Tuesday 28 Wednesd. 28 Thursday 28 Friday 28 Saturday 28 Monday 29 Tuesday 29 Wednesd. 29 Thursday 29 Friday 29 Saturday 29 SUNDAY 29 Tuesday 30 Wednesd. 30 Thursday 30 Friday 30 Saturday 30 SUNDAY 30 Monday Wednesd. 31 Thursday 31 Friday 31 Saturday 31 SUNDAY 31 Monday 31 Tuesday 31 This improved calendar was made for THE WORLD ALMANAC by Arthur Cunningham, of Columbas, O. 23 24 27 30 |