early as March 24. Furthermore, during World War II England set the clock ahead by two
hours, making Double Summer Time. During the same period, beginning Feb. 9, 1942 at 2 P.
M., the United States had War Time, a year-round setting ahead of the clock by one hour.
Prior to that, some parts of the United States observed Daylight Saving Time during certain
periods in certain years, but other localities refused to accept or ratify it; and even in those
where it was legally authorized, many refused to abide by it. Even though a record of the
vagaries of time observance is attempted in a volume called World Daylight Saving Time, by
Curran and Taylor, the only safe way to record an event is not only to state in what kind of
time it was recorded, but in addition to give its equivalent in Greenwich Standard or
Universal Time. In most other countries the problem is still more complicated. All of Mexico
is -6h, except part of Lower California, which is -8h. Some adopt a time meridian that
involves a half-hour adjustment, like Hawaii, which is GMT - 10h 30m. All of Russia adjusts
to a time unit which is the virtual equivalent of permanent daylight saving. Bolivia is -4:33
and Venezuela -4:30. In addition, there is for some Middle European countries an adjustment
of the date itself from the old-style to the new-style calendar, and the impossible
determination whether time was given in apparent Sun time or Solar Mean time, or whether
some arbitrarily selected meridian became the basis for the standard time of the country.
The important factors for the astrologer to establish are: (1) the exact equivalent of a given
moment as expressed in Universal Time, in order therefrom to compute from the Ephemeris
the exact position occupied by the planets at that precise moment; and (2) the exact
equivalent of the same moment in Local Mean Time for the place where the event occurred,
wherefrom with the aid of the sidereal time of noon or midnight on that date, and of Tables of
Houses for the Latitude of the place, to calculate the Midheaven position, the Ascendant
degree, and the intermediate cusps of the Figure. Universal Time is variously called World
Time, Greenwich Civil Time, Greenwich Standard Time, or zero zone time.
An ephemeris calculated for other than zero meridian is a simplification that is of doubtful
value, in that it introduces the possibility of confusion on the part of those who work by
formulas rather than by a comprehension of the elements involved. In using an ephemeris
calculated, let us say, for 75° W. Long., one bases his calculations on that time meridian,
instead of the zero meridian, correcting zone time to local time by subtracting 4m for each
degree of longitude W., or adding it for each degree of Long. E., of the 75th meridian.
Army and Navy Time. Just as the Navy has long since abandoned the traditional method of
"boxing the compass" and instead indicates direction in degrees from 1 to 360, so both Army
and Navy have abandoned the twelve-hour clock in favor of the 24-hour clock, which begins
at midnight as 0000h, is 1200 at noon, 1330h at half-past-one, and so on until 2359h, which is
one minute before oh of the next day. Thus A.M. and P.M. become no longer necessary in
connection with the time of day or night. The public will be slow to demand 24-hour clocks
and watches, but indications and efficiency point to the probability of their eventual general