Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/76

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STANDARDS 50 STANHOPE of great importance to scientific or man- ufacturing interests and are not to be obtained with sufficient accuracy else- where. The Bureau of Standards, which took the place of the former Office of Standard Weights and Measures, was organized by Act of Congress approved March 3, 1901, with Dr. S. W. Stratton as its first director, who continued in that position in 1920. The scientific work of the bureau is carried on by the divisions of Weights and Measures, Heat and Thermometry, Electricity, Optics, Chem- istry, Structural Engineering and Mis- cellaneous Materials, Engineering Re- search, and Metallurgy. The bureau publishes an annual report of the direc- tor, and from time to time various bul- letins. STANDARD TIME, a system of time- reckoning, chiefly for the convenience of railroads in the United States, estab- lished by mutual agreement in 1883 on principles first suggested by Charles F. Dowd, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y. The United States, beginning at its ex- treme E. limit and extending to the Pacific coast, is divided into four time- sections: E., central, mountain, and Pa- cific. The E. section, the time of which is that of the 75th meridian, lies between the Atlantic Ocean and an irregular line drawn from Detroit, Mich., to Charleston, S. C. The central, the time of which is that of the 90th meridian, includes all between the last-named line and an irregular line from Bismarck, N. D., to the mouth of the Rio Grande. The moun- tain, the time of which is that of the 105th meridian, includes all between the last-named line and the W, boundary of Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. The Pacific, the time of which is that of the 120th meridian, includes all between the last-named line and the Pacific coast. The difference in time between adjoining sections is one hour. Thus, when it is 12 o'clock noon in New York City (E. time) it is 11 o'clock A. M. (central time) at Chicago, and 10 o'clock A. M. at Denver (mountain time), and at San Francisco, 9 o'clock A. M. (Pacific time). The true local time of any place is slower or faster than the standard time as the place is E. or W. of the time meridian; thus, the true local time at Boston, Mass., is 16 minutes faster than E. standard time, while at BuflPalo, N. Y., it is 16 minutes slower, the 75th time meridian being half way between Boston and Buffalo. Local time and standard time agree at Denver, Col., as Denver is on the 105th meridian of the mountain section. In Europe, Spain and Holland first adopted standard time. S-TANDISH, MYLES, an American soldier; born in Duxbury, Lancashire, about 1584; served in the Netherlands; and, though not a member of the Leyden congregation, sailed with the "May- flower" colony to Massachusetts in 1620, and became the champion of the Pilgrims against the Indians. During the first winter his wife died, and the traditional account of his first effort to secure an- other partner has been made familiar by Longfellow. In 1622, warned of a plot to exterminate the English, he enticed three of the Indian leaders into a room at Wey- mouth, where his party, after a desperate fight, killed them, and a battle that fol- lowed ended in the flight of the natives. Standish was the military head of the colony, and long its treasurer. A monu- ment, 100 feet high and surmounted by a statue, has been erected to him on Cap- tain's Hill at Duxbury. In 1632 he set- tled at Duxbury, Mass., where he died, Oct. 3, 1656. STANFORD, LELAND, an American philanthropist; born in Watervliet, Al- bany CO., N. Y., March 9, 1824; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1849, and the same year began to practice at Port Washington, Wis. In 1852 he went to California, where he engaged in min- ing, but in 1856 removed to San Fran- cisco, and there engaged in business, laying the foundation of a fortune esti- mated at more than $50,000,000. In 1860 he made his entrance into public life as a delegate to the Chicago convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. Subsequently he was elected president of the Central Pacific railroad in 1861; was governor of Cali- fornia in 1861-1863; and in 1885 was elected to the United States Senate. In memory of a deceased son, Leland Stan- ford, Jr., he gave $20,000,000 for the founding of Leland Stanford University at Palo Alto, Cal. He died in Palo Alto, June 21, 1893. STANHOPE, the name of a noble English family. James, 1st Earl Stanhope; born in Paris, France, in 1673. He entered the army, served as Brigadier-General under the Earl of Peterborough at the capture of Barce- lona in 1705, was appointed Com- mander-in-Chief of the British forces in Spain, and in 1708 took Port Mahon. After the accession of George I. he de- voted himself to politics, and became the favorite minister of that monarch. He died in London, Feb. 5, 1721. Charles, the 3d earl; grandson of the preceding; born in London, England, Aug. 3, 1753 ; was celebrated chiefly as an inventor, a patron of science, and the avowed ad- vocate of republicanism. His chief in- ventions were an arithmetical machine and a new printing press, which bears