Fred could not tell, and so the matter was referred to the Doctor as soon as he was at leisure.
"The scientific explanation of the subject," said Doctor Bronson as he dropped into a chair, "is too long for us to take up in detail. The earth moves on its axis, so that the sun rises, or appears to rise, in the east, and to set in the west. An easterly place gets the sun earlier than a westerly one, and consequently its day begins earlier. For instance, the sun rises in New York an hour and five minutes earlier than it rises in St. Louis; and, therefore, when it is noon in New York, it is only five minutes of eleven in the forenoon at St. Louis by New York time. For nautical purposes most nations take the time of Greenwich, near London, as the basis of calculation; and consequently the time of any given place is said to be earlier or later than that of Greenwich, according as the place is east or west of that city. The hour of Singapore is seven hours earlier than that of Greenwich, as it gets the sun in the east seven hours before Greenwich; New York gets it five hours later than Greenwich—four hours and fifty-six minutes is the exact difference; and when it is noon in New York, it is five o'clock in the afternoon at Greenwich.
"We had sunrise in Singapore twelve hours before our friends had it at home; so that, when our day is ending, theirs is just beginning. I will show you, in a practical way, the difference in time between New York and Singapore. I am about to send a cablegram announcing our arrival, and it may possibly get to New York ahead of the time of its departure from here."
The Doctor and the boys went to the telegraph-office, and sent a despatch to let their friends know of their safe arrival from Siam. As the tolls were at the rate of two dollars and forty cents a word, they confined the message to a single word in addition to the address. Previous to leaving home the Doctor had arranged a code or cipher, by which one word could convey a great deal of information. Persons who have occasion to use the Atlantic or other telegraph cables to any extent make use of private codes, and thereby save a great deal of expense. They subsequently learned that their message went from Singapore to New York in nine hours, and therefore reached its destination three hours before they sent it.
The wind, which had been blowing hard during the afternoon, fell off soon after sunset, and the boys found that the nights of Singapore were as warm as those of Bangkok. The arrangement of the rooms indicated that Singapore was anything but a cool place; but, on the whole, it was not disagreeable, as the cool breeze in the afternoon was quite refreshing, and made the atmosphere clear and pure.
Our friends slept well on their first night in Singapore, and were up in good season in the morning to begin their round of sight-seeing. The Doctor had some business to transact at a banking-house in the city, and so it was arranged that they would devote the time between breakfast and business hours in a stroll along the esplanade and through the native part of the place.
A CHINESE CONTRACTOR.
The boys were somewhat surprised at the many races and tribes of men they encountered in their morning walk. They met scores on scores of Chinese; and they were not ten yards from the door of the hotel before they were accosted by a Chinese contractor, who was ready to undertake to show them the place, furnish them with a carriage, buy or sell whatever they wanted, from a needle up to a steamship, or provide them with servants, tailors, or any other kind of assistance they might need during their stay. He was lightly clad, in consequence of the heat of Singapore, and he carried a fan which he kept in constant motion while proposing his services. Singapore is said to contain from eighty to one hundred thousand Chinese, and they are found in all classes of business. There are Chinese tailors and shoemakers, Chinese peddlers and merchants, Chinese book-keepers and managers for the large establishments where trade is conducted by wholesale, Chinese servants of both sexes and all ages, and Chinese of all kinds in addition to the foregoing. The industry of the race is as marked at Singapore as in Canton or San Francisco; and though always desirous of large profits, if they can be obtained, they will put up with very small compensation when a large one is not to be had.