STANDARD TIME

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 44, 20 February 1918, Page 3

STANDARD TIME

PUTTING ON THE CLOCK

APPROVED BY CIVIL ENGINEERS

Some little time ago the question of altering the standard time for New Zealand received some attention at the hands of the Wellington Philosophical Society, which body issued a brochure ■on the subject. This was brought under the notice of members of the Now Zealand Society of Civil Engineers, and mention was made of it at yesterday's conference of the latter organisation.

Mr. E. W. Holmes (Engineer-in-Chief to tho Public Works Department), in the course of his remarks on the subject, said the question "was one which from many points of view vitally affected the interests of 'engineers. What Dr. Adams, the Government Astronomer, proposed was the adoplion of the meridian of Greenwich as New Zealand mean time. The Astronomer could gradually advance the time, so that no one would notice it —say, a minute a weekj and inside a year the object would be achieved without anybody being any the wiser. To advocate the advancing of the clock for one hour during a certain season, and putting it back again, might be too violent a change. Why should not, he asked, 12 o'clock or noon be made the middle of a man's daily operations? Why should a man not commence his work at 7.30 a.m., work till 11.30 a.m.. and then again from 12.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. ? Let them have the noonday hour, and divide the day into two equal parts. Mr. Evan Parry, Chief Government Electrical Engineer, agreed that a real advantage would be gained by advancing the clock half an hour. He referred to the various phases of lighting, and power, and claimed that from an industrial and economic point of view benefit would be reaped by the proposed alteration in the time.

Mr. W. H. -Morton, Wellington City Engineer, referred to the comparatively recent threatened shortage of coal, and the- request to the city corporation to economise as much, as possible in that commodity. After very careful consideration, he had come to the conclusion that, apart altogether from doing away with extravagant lighting, the ' only way the request could be complied with was by reducing the peak of the load in both the tramway and lighting departments. Between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. both these stations with the existing machinery were loaded to the fullest extent. People had been asked to close their offices earlier then, but there had only been a half-hearted response ; not sufficient to give any clear indication of the possibility of solving the question in that war. At that time they were not able to do with a lesser number of tramcars, but the experiment gave an indication that less power was required. The saving from .less lighting was not problematical, but in regard to the tramways it was a matter for consideration whether some people getting away from work earlier might not delay their homeward journey. He thought that such would be the case, and held that, in view of the great economy which would ba effected, conference should give all the support it could Ho tho proposal to alter the standard time.

Mr. Staveley (Wanganui) held that the proposal would save £150,000 per year in lighting alone. j Mr. Morton drew attention to the fact that Brisbane, Sydney.. Melbourne, and Hobart- had all had different times, but had been brought in'tc* line with no evil effect upon, anyone.' "They just got up a bit earlier, and did not know it." . ! ■ ■

Mr. 11. F. Toogood reminded conference that opposition, as of old, would come from the agricultural section of tho communityi

Mr. L. Birks (CanterburyJ said they should keep in view that they were not asking any new thing. What they were asking was not in the interests of the engineers alone; it was really the proposal of the sportsmen. It was no new innovation they sought, every isolated sawmilling and bush camp had adopted it as a matter of public convenience. Eventually, on the motion of Mr. S. A. R. Mair, conference passed a motion affirming the desirability of having New Zealand mean time twelve hours ahead of Greenwich mean time instead of-llhr 30min, as at present.