DAYLIGHT SAVING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 209, 2 September 1911, Page 9

DAYLIGHT SAVING.

VIEWED 'WITH FAVOUR. ESPECIALLY IN ATHLETIC CIRCLES There are no two opinions as to how the daylight saving proposals are received in athletic circles, and should the voice of the North be taken on the proposals pnt forward to Parliament, there is not the slightest doubt that Mr. Sidey's scheme would be embodied in a statute that would be looked upon as a genuine godsend to this and future generations. Naturally, i n the Antipodes the conditions favour the proposals, and there can be no question of inconvenience to the individual. Mr. Ridey proposes in the New Zealand Standard Time Act to add an hour of daylight during the summer months, and to meet this it is proposed" that from the hour of two in the morning of the last Sunday in September in each year until the hour of two- in the morning, of the last Sunday in March in each year standard time shall be one hour in advance of New Zealand mean time, and from the hour of two in the morning of the last Sunday in March in each year until the hour of two in the morning of the last Sunday in Scptemb-r in each year standard time shall be the same as New Zealand mean time. This would mean that by advancing the clock the afternoon's work of most employees of the city would end at four p.m.. while the clock would point to five. An hour extra would have to be worked in the morning, but this would be in time that is for the most part lost. Standard time at present remains so fixed that i'or nearlv half the year the sun shines upon the land for several hours each day. while the average mortal remains in a room from which all the golden blessing is rigorously excluded. There then remains, at the conclusion of work, only a comparatively short period of declining daylight.

| A gentleman prominently connected , with the great summer pastime, cricket, was loud in his praise in favour of the proposal, when spoken to by a •"Star" reporter this morning. Cricket, he said, would naturally tvmefit more than other sports, and the benefit to be derived from its adoption, consequent on the extra facilities for practice, would snon be greatly felt. The great drawback in Auckland, as well as other pirts nf New Zealand, are the few opportunities afforded for gaining proficiency in sport, and naturally has been in some parts a waning interest in the pastime. The extra open air life afforded would make for health and strength of body and mind, and seven or eight hours icr week would have no inconsiderable bearing on the constitution. A great factor in favour of the scheme would be the extra facilities afforded for putting in daylight parades in connection with the territorial forces. In the transition stage from the volunteer system, some imagined hardship exists in the minds of those finding themselves compelled to put in a required amount of drill. This wa.s noticeable when an agitation was raised by the sporting bodies, on the ground that the paradr* which would be called for Saturday would interrupt all club matches. With ample time under the daylight saving proposal it VCuld rest with the officers commanding »mits to fix these half day parades to suit the convenience of the territorials, for the liefence authorities are genuinely concerned so as m>t to make the necessary drill irki-ome. In business circles the opinion generally expressed wa* that great benefr would arise, and once th" scheme bad got firmly under way any idea that an early start was being made would fall away.