DAYLIGHT SAVING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 113, 14 May 1936, Page 6

DAYLIGHT SAVING.

WHAT IT MEANS IN ENGLAND.

(By NELLE M. SCAXLAN.)

LONDON 1 , April 21. With nil appropriateness not always characteristic of our climate, summer time came in on Sunday last with a clay of brilliant sunshine. From 2 a.m. the clocks had leapt ahead one hour. There are still die-hards who make their annual protest against this wise dispensation, but the benefits derived from the extra hour of sunshine and daylight are incalculable. We woke on Sunday to find 8 a.m. looking like 7 a.m. with the long shadows cast by the budding trees suggestive of early morn. But when evening came we dined in daylight for the first time this year. Most of us had one hour less sleep, but we will make that up in September, when we put the clocks back. Otherwise there is no change, no disorganisation. Our day's routine goes on as before. When opponents of the system complain about the impossibility of children sleeping in the daylight evening, they forget that even in England it is normally light until after nine at night, and most small children are in bed at C or 7 p.m. And further north, and in Scotland, it is light till nearly midnight. And one can always draw the curtains or pull down a dark blind if necessary. Protests in New Zealand. I can recall some' violent discussions in the New Zealand Parliament over this subject of summer time. One farmer fiercely asserted that the dairymen were milking at three and four in the morning, but reference to the chart kept in the power distribution stations, a chart like the record of the rise and fall of a patient's temperature, showed that there was very little electric power being used at that hour. In fact it was riot till C and 7 a.m. that all the milking machines seemed to be in operation. Another protested that concrete would not set at so early an hour, and workmen were hampered. And another drew a horrible picture of tjie poor nurses in hospitals "wrestling with their patients" in the heat of the afternoon instead of the cool of the evening. In a country like New Zealand, which knows little of extremes of heat or cold, when compared with the temperatures in which millions of people live and work, these objections seemed very feeble. Human beings are very adaptable, and it is marvellous the heat they can endure and still work, and the cold in which they can carry on. Your mild climate is one of your special blessings.

j Hundreds of Clocks. 3 To put on the clock in England is no small t undertaking. When the offices closed at one i o'clock on Saturday the work began. In - Whitehall, and by "Whitehall" one means all I that area of London which contains the i Governmental offices, there are over 1500 i clocks to be altered. In Windsor Castle alone ■ there are 300 clocks to be put on one hour, and the Royal cloekmakers had a busy day. The Windsor collection of clocks is one of the most valuable in the world. Although a few of the antique timepieces no longer work, the majority keep excellent time. These clocks vary in size from the huge clock in i the Grand Quadrangle, which is wound by a , double-multiplying jack requiring one thousand : revolutions to raise the weights, and the dial of which is seven feet across, to Ann Boleyn's wedding clock, which stands four inches high, and is one of the most treasured in the Castle. It was bought by Henry VIII. from a Frenchman and presented to Ann Boleyn on the morning of their wedding. It is beautifully engraved, and on the weights are the initials "11.A." and true-lovers' knots with the Royal Arms. Round the top of the clock its the motto "Dieu et mon droit," and round the bottom the inscription "The Most Happye." But history tells a different tale. Value of the Extra Hour. Opponents of summer time often suggest that it is just one more device for satisfying the townsman's thirst for playing games, and that if these people want an extra hour of daylight they should get up an hour earlier. But they quite overlook the fact that two consecutive hours are so much more useful than two single hours, one in the morning and one at night. In millions of homes the morning hours are too strenuous for thought of leisure—fires to be lit, breakfast to be got ready, children to be fed and got off to school, and adults ready for work. Then there is housework to be done, a midday meal to prepare, and not until the end of the day may one think of rest or recreation. To these people the extra hour is of great value. To those who work all day in shop and office and factory, and who, perhaps, have to travel long distances to work, the evening is their sole time for healthy occupations, fresh air and pleasure. For those who are independent of the clock, who can plan their work to suit themselves, and who do not have to press a time clock each morning or answer a factory whistle, the adjustment is in their own hands. They may stay in bed an hour longer if they like, and order their day accordingly. But any attempt at piecemeal alteration of time must fail. You are fortunate in New Zealand, where most of your shops close at 5.30 p.m. Here it is 0.30 and 7 p.m., and for many workers it means an hour's journey night and morning to and from their homes. Millions of workers | live ten, twenty and even fifty miles from i their work. And to them this extra hour is a special blessing.

Priceless Possessions. At tlie moment tliere is an outcry in England because investigation lias proved that so many young people are physically unfit. There are drastic suggestions to" meet'this problem, and it all points towards the provision for better facilities for games and recreation. Prevention is better than cure. In England it k a case of cure, but with you it is a matter of prevention. Nowhere in the world are there such excellent facilities for outdoor life as lin the Dominion. Games are cheap, playing [ facilities are accessible, the country and the hills are almost at your door, and for many sea bathing is less than an hour's journey. These are priceless possessions. In this old world they are just waking up to the advantages of keeping the people—the mass of working people—healthy and fit. It is a national duty. International affairs at the moment point sharply towards the stress which other countries are laying upon this feature of life. Competition in trade is keen, and healthy workers are better workers. The shadow of war lies heavily over Europe, and Mussolini and Hitler have given special thought to the training and preparation of youth "for such eventualities. Youth movements in many countries have as their object the increase in physical fitness of the coming generation, as well as being institutions for propaganda and instilling national pride.' At the moment England is at peace, and her prosperity is increasing. but there is grave concern at* the lack of interest in territorial organisations, and the mass of young people who are below the normal standard in matters of health. If it comes to a test of strength, this may prove a vital factor.

One docs not like to think of war, or what a modern war may mean. -It will not be a soldier's war this time, but a sudden and disastrous attack upon cities and civilians. We are hearing much of poison gas, and the horrors of mustard gas. Without causing alarm, there is, however, much time and thought being given here in England to anti-gas measures. And now I see that the latest block of modern flats is advertising itself as "bomb-proof," which is* surely significant.