Standard time
In 1870 Charles F. Dowd proposed four time zones based on the meridian through Washington, DC for North American railroads. In 1872 he revised his proposal to base it on the Greenwich meridian. Sandford Fleming, a Scottish-born engineer operating in Canada, proposed worldwide Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute on February 8, 1879. Cleveland Abbe advocated standard time to better coordinate international weather observations and resultant weather forecasts, which had been coordinated using local solar time. In 1879 he recommended four time zones across the contiguous United States, based upon Greenwich Mean Time. The General Time Convention (renamed the American Railway Association in 1891), an organization of US railroads charged with coordinating schedules and operating standards, became increasingly concerned that if the US government adopted a standard time scheme it would be disadvantageous to its member railroads. William F. Allen, the Convention secretary, argued that North American railroads should adopt a five-zone standard, similar to the one in use today, to avoid government action. On October 11, 1883, the heads of the major railroads met in Chicago at the Grand Pacific Hotel and agreed to adopt Allen's proposed system.
Elgin National Watch Company Observatory
Prior to the creation of time zones, cities had substantial differences in the standards of time—in Wisconsin alone, over thirty-eight times were used at a given moment. In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt finally demanded that the United States Bureau of Standards encourage precise timing across the nation. In 1910, the Elgin National Watch Company decided to respond by building its own observatory so that the timing in its watches would be scientifically accurate. Dr. William W. Payne of the Goodsell Observatory was named the first director. Sidereal time was determined on Riefler Clock No. 220 by measuring the position of the stars in the night sky based on the position of the telescope (which could only move north-south along a meridian line). Eleven vertical wires were inside the telescope eyepiece. An astronomer would press a button every time a star appeared to cross one of the wires, which would send an impulse to the clock. This was compared with the solar time observed on the Riefler Clock No. 224 and results published by the "American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac". The result was a clock that was accurate to the hundredth of a second. In the factory, the sounder audibly ticked off the seconds so that workers could set the watches accurately. After the opening of the observatory, the Elgin National Watch Company adopted the slogan: "Elgin Takes The Time From The Stars And Puts It In Your Pocket". The Illinois government also equipped the observatory with thermometers, a thermograph, barometer, barograph, rain gauge, and weather vane. This was intended to provide data on weather to Springfield, but was also reproduced in local newspapers. The company was watchful of humidity, as this could affect delicate processes.