How the Railroads Introduced Time Zones

Time  zones, a novel concept in the 1800s, were created by railroad officials who convened meetings in 1883 to deal with a major headache. It was becoming impossible to know what time it was. The underlying cause of confusion was simply that the United States had no time standard. Each town or city would keep its own solar time, setting clocks so noon was when the sun was directly overhead. That made perfect sense for anyone who never left town. But it became complicated for travelers. Noon in Boston would be a few minutes before noon in New York City. And Philadelphians experienced noon a few minutes after New Yorkers did. And on and on, across the nation. For railroads, which needed reliable timetables, this created a huge problem. Fifty-six standards of time are now employed by the various railroads of the country in preparing their schedules of running times, reported the front page of the New York Times on April 19, 1883. Something had to be done, and by the end of 1883 the United States, for the most part, was operating on four time zones. Within a few years, the entire world followed that example. So its fair to say the American railroads changed the way the entire planet told time. The Decision to Standardize Time The expansion of the railroads in the years following the Civil War only made the confusion over all the local time zones seem worse. Finally, in the spring of 1883, the leaders of the nations railroads sent representatives to a meeting of what was called the General Railroad Time Convention. On April 11, 1883, in St. Louis, Missouri, railroad officials agreed to create five time zones in North America: Provincial, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. The concept of standard time zones had actually been suggested by several professors going back to the early 1870s. At first, it was suggested that there be two time zones, set to when noon occurred in Washington, D.C.  and New Orleans. But that would create potential problems for people living in the West, so the idea eventually evolved into four time belts set to straddle the 75th, 90th, 105th, and 115th meridians. On October 11, 1883, the General Railroad Time Convention met again in Chicago. And it was formally decided that the new standard of time would take effect a little more than a month later, on Sunday, November 18, 1883. As the date for the big change approached, newspapers published numerous articles explaining how the process would work. The shift only amounted to a few minutes for many people. In New York City, for instance, the clocks would be turned back four minutes. Going forward, noon in New York would occur at the same moment as noon in Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities in the East. In many towns and cities, jewelers used the event to drum up business by offering to set watches to the new time standard. And though the new time standard was not sanctioned by the federal government, the Naval Observatory in Washington offered to send, by telegraph, a new time signal so people could synchronize their watches. Resistance to Standard Time It seems most people had no objection to the new time standard, and it was widely accepted as a sign of progress. Travelers on the railroads, in particular, appreciated it. An article in the New York Times on November 16, 1883, noted, The passenger from Portland, Me., to Charleston, S.C., or from Chicago to New Orleans, can make the entire run without changing his watch. As the time change was instituted by the railroads, and voluntarily accepted by many towns and cities, some incidents of confusion appeared in newspapers. A report in the Philadelphia Inquirer on November 21, 1883, described an incident where a debtor had been ordered  to report to a Boston courtroom at 9:00 on the previous morning. The newspaper story concluded: According to custom, the poor debtor is allowed one hours grace. He appeared before the commissioner at 9:48 oclock, standard time, but the commissioner ruled that it was after ten oclock and defaulted him. The case will probably be brought before the Supreme Court. Incidents like that demonstrated the need for everyone to adopt the new standard time. However, in some places, there was lingering resistance. An item in the New York Times the following summer, on June 28, 1884, detailed how the city of Louisville, Kentucky, had given up on standard time. Louisville set all its clocks ahead 18 minutes to return to solar time. The problem in Louisville was that while the banks adapted to the time standard of the railroad, other businesses did not. So there was persistent confusion about when business hours actually ended each day. Of course, throughout  the 1880s  most businesses saw the value of moving permanently to standard time. By the 1890s standard time and time zones were accepted as ordinary. Time Zones Went Worldwide Britain and France had each adopted national time standards decades earlier, but as they were smaller countries, there was no need for more than one time zone. The successful adoption of standard time in the United States in 1883 set an example of how time zones could spread across the globe. The following year a time convention in Paris began the work of designating  time zones worldwide. Eventually, the time zones around the globe we know today came into use. The United States government made the time zones official by passing the Standard Time Act in 1918. Today, most people simply take time zones for granted and have no idea that time zones were actually a solution devised by the railroads.

Managers and Performance Evaluations Ethical Dilemmas

Managers and Performance Evaluations: Ethical Dilemmas Performance evaluations serve the purpose to enlighten subordinates about what they should be doing better or differently, (Culbert, 2012). However, they can often become problematic and raise serious ethical issues that would threaten the well being of the employee, manager, and company in general. There are several ethical issues which can present themselves in performance reviews which can be even further augmented by social issues going on outside the context of the company, and such ethical dilemmas can have a serious impact on the health and productivity of contemporary businesses working within an ever-increasing competitive environment. The issue of imposing a managers supremacy over the employee can become a major ethical issue. Essentially, performance reviews can often be seen as intimidation aimed at preserving the boss authority and power advantage (Culbert, 2012). The authority figure of the manager can often be abused, causing the employees to suffer at the hands of individuals who are over-reaching their power within the workplace. This is an ethical issue because it is allowing for a growing animosity and discrimination against employees based on the power-hungry bias some managers may exhibit. In addition, the single mind of the boss then takes authority over a wide plethora of individual employees with a variety of personal characteristics and traits. Essentially, this places the person inShow MoreRelatedEthical Performance Evaluations1180 Words   |  5 PagesEthical Performance Evaluations Organizations have a commitment to employees to provide an evaluation based on performance that is being performed the position held. Managers include the aspects of responsibilities, strengths, and weaknesses of performance that are presented on a daily basis by an employee. Managers face moral and ethical issues that require critical decisions to be made. Using ethically responsible management practices and facing social issues during performance evaluationsRead MoreEvaluation Of A Employee Performance Appraisal909 Words   |  4 PagesManagers have always had to make tough decisions in the workplace, but one of the most challenging aspects of their job is the employee performance appraisals. Evaluating an employees’ performance, if done right, will be an objective as possible process. However, the naturally subjective aspects of the evaluation process are what pose many ethical dilemmas. This process customarily comprises of giving constructive feedback to an employee s o that they are better able to improve their job performanceRead MoreEthical Principles1475 Words   |  6 PagesAn Analysis of Ethical Principles in The Evaluation The term ‘ethical’, as I have come to apprehend it, is not just conforming to putative standards of conduct, but dealing with what is good or bad and with moral duty and obligation. Thomas A. 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According to authors Trevino and Nelso n, (2004) states, â€Å"a set of moral principals or values, or the principals, norm, and standards of conduct governing a group or individual.† On the other hand, three ethical criteria determined in this discussion like obligation, moralRead MoreProfessional Ethics Essay861 Words   |  4 PagesCh 4: Professional Ethics 4-28 Cases a. This presents an ethical dilemma for Barbara, because she is faced with the decision as to what actions or behavior would be appropriate for this situation. Barbara’s ethical dilemma necessitates deciding whether she should communicate her findings to the client for adjustments or to disregard them as instructed by Jack. b. Six-Step Approach: 1. | Relevant Facts: | | * The accounting firm for which both Barbara Whitley and Jack

Juan Ponce de Leon Free Essays

n Juan Ponce de Leon was born around 1460 in San Tervas de Campos, Spain. He was the first Spanish explorer to arrive in Florida. In 1493, Ponce de Leon and Christopher Columbus sailed together on Columbus’ 2nd voyage to America. We will write a custom essay sample on Juan Ponce de Leon or any similar topic only for you Order Now They had settled on an island named Hispaniola, which is present day Dominican Republic, where Ponce de Leon had become governor at. In 1506, he had discovered an island close by named Borinquen, and during his time here, he found lots of gold.Once he made this discovery and took most of it, he left the island of Borinquen. In 1508, he was ordered by the king of Spain to return to Borinquen to colonize it. Later on, he had renamed this island Puerto Rico. He became the island’s governor for two years until he was replaced with Columbus’s son by the king. He was hurt by what the king had done, so he decided to go sailing again. This time it was in the north direction towards Florida. As usual, he was searching for new valuables and land. Along his journey, he was introduced to a fountain of youth. This was a magical spring that Indians believed whose water was able to make old people look young. Ponce de Leon searched many areas in hopes to find the treasures and the fountain, but failed to do so. In 1513, he landed on Florida’s east coast and claimed this land for Spain.Since he was the one who discovered this piece of land, he was entitled to name it and named it La Florida, or â€Å"Place of Flowers. † After, he decided to sail down the coast where he had experienced rough currents and named this area Cape Canaveral, meaning â€Å"Cape of Currents. † Then he went down the east coast of Florida to arrive on an island that had lots of turtles. He named it Dry Tortugas, because no water was present on the island and â€Å"tortugas† which means â€Å"turtles† in spanish. How to cite Juan Ponce de Leon, Papers

Water Conservation Issue in Agricultural Community †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Water Conservation Issue in Agricultural Community. Answer: The farming industry is facing various kinds of problems environmentally. The basic problems are related to water, soil, weather,sunlight. The increasing demand for water consumption globally has threatened the biodiversity and water supply. Although it is true that along with the population and economic growth, the demand for water has also grown. However, there are more major causes affecting the growth of plants in agriculture community. Water conservation is not the most important issue facing the agricultural community today. It is expected that if there is no measures taken for water conservation then there will be a huge scarcity of water in the future. The essay discusses about the major issues affecting plantation in agricultural community that are more important than water conservation. They try to hi-light that the agricultural community will face a huge scarcity of water if appropriate measures are not taken from now onwards. Atmosphere plays a vital role determining the agricultural success. Most of the crops depend on the weather to provide them with life-sustaining energy and water. If the weather is not suitable for the growth of crops then it can negatively affect the livestock and crops. The climatic changes including rainfall, storms and drought highly influence the agricultural productivity. According to Teixeira an extreme weather condition with enhanced green house effect can result to drought or torrential rain can affect the soil growth for a large scale. It also mentions that intense rain can reduce the capacity of soil for water consumption and create suitable condition for fungal infestations on leaf, tuber crops and roots. The sudden changes in temperature effect the plant growth. Imbalance in rainfall, snowfall or heat can give birth to bacterias that damage the crops (Eitzinger).Crops also get rotten due to the excess temperature changes taking place. According to Peltreand Clment the dr ought that had occurred in Canada has affected 27000 farmers and 6 million cattle. The article shows how the farmers are getting affected due the dry temperature. Soil is the basic need for plant growth. Plants respond to the soil condition and sends signals to the shoot to modify the plant structure based on soil condition. There are various types of soil like sand, clay and silt. Depending upon the plant requirements, they grow on the soil. Soil is a major threat for agriculture nowadays as soil pollution and deforestation is leading to soil erosion. According to Osman acids like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are contaminating the soils. Human activities as if acid drainage and mining are damaging the soil and making them unfit for plantation. Acid are killing the micro organisms present in the soil, which enhances the crop growth and agriculture. According to Thomaz South Americans believed in slashing and burning agriculture that led to washing of nutrients from the soil. They followed this method and left the soil to recover, but in such cases the soil taken a huge time (50 years) to regains it capacity of growing crops. Thus, soil i s a major factor for plantation and steps for soil conservation must be taken to prevent soil degradation. It is obvious that if there is no soil there cannot be any plantation. Along with weather and soil, water is also another major factor for crop cultivation. Although water conservation is not the most important factor for agriculture as water is available from rainfall and water bodies but sometimes water conservation can save the farmers in the period of crisis. Water conservation can be a saviour during droughts and water scarcity. The growing industry and agriculture is intensifying the limitation of water supply. Water conservation is a major way out for agricultural community to save water for their use. Water consumption helps the farmers to save money as during the crisis period many times water is supplies in exchange of money. Water conservation minimizes water pollution. It also saves energy that would be used to pump or treat the water (Abdulai, Awudu, and Wallace). Thus, it can be concluded that water conservation is a issue faced by the agricultural community but there are few other important issues which influences the agriculture field in a huge scale. The weather and soil condition plays a vital role for crop growth. The weather condition determines the favourable time, quantity and quality of crop growth. Due to global warming, the weather condition is effecting crop growth. At the same time, soil is the bed for plantation. Favourable soil condition is the most vital thing for plant growth. Soil pollution and contamination are making the soil unfit for cultivation. Crop cultivation will end if the soil conditions are not made suitable for crop growth. Although water is a major factor for crop cultivation and waterconservation, is a saviour in a crisis period but there are few more important factors at threat and are becoming a major issue for agricultural community. References: Abdulai, Awudu, and Wallace Huffman. "The adoption and impact of soil and water conservation technology: An endogenous switching regression application."Land Economics90.1 (2014): 26-43. Eitzinger, J., et al. "Sensitivities of crop models to extreme weather conditions during flowering period demonstrated for maize and winter wheat in Austria."The Journal of Agricultural Science151.6 (2013): 813-835. Osman, Khan Towhid. "Soil pollution."soil degradation, conservation and remediation. Springer, Dordrecht, 2014. 149-226. Peltre, Clment, et al. "Repeated soil application of organic waste amendments reduces draught force and fuel consumption for soil tillage."Agriculture, Ecosystems Environment211 (2015): 94-101. Teixeira, Edmar I., et al. "Global hot-spots of heat stress on agricultural crops due to climate change."Agricultural and Forest Meteorology170 (2013): 206-215. Thomaz, Edivaldo Lopes. "Slash-and-burn agriculture: establishing scenarios of runoff and soil loss for a five-year cycle."Agriculture, ecosystems environment168 (2013): 1-6.