Twenty-eight minutes past seven
This vast mass of information was simply the outcome of the personal experience of the leaders , and of their trusted friends , but no detail which could by any possibility be of use escaped being committed to paper , and the result was in many cases a positive knowledge of future events , which , to any one unacquainted with the system , must have appeared little short of miraculous . `` What time is it in Boston ? '' inquired the president , rising and going to the writing-table . `` Twenty-eight minutes past seven , '' said Y , producing an enormous three-dial time-piece , set to indicate simultaneously the time of day in London , Boston , and Washington . `` All right , there is plenty of time , '' answered X , writing out a dispatch on a broad white sheet of cable office paper . `` See here -- is this all right ? '' he asked , when he had done .