UNSEEN CLOCKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24696, 27 August 1941, Page 6

UNSEEN CLOCKS

BLACK-OUT DIFFICULTY LOW-POWER LIGHTING A TRIAL SUGGESTED City clocks the familiar faces of which are no longer of any use to the Dune.din public at night because of the black-out. may soon again be illuminated. this time with low-power green lamps if a trial proves that glow can be reduced to such an extent that the clock faces cannot be observed from the sea. Clocks in Auckland have been lit in this way for some months, and when the suggestion was put to Mr G. T. Edgar, city electrical engineer and lighting controller, he said a trial would be well worth while. One of Dunedin’s difficulties, which differ from those of other cities is that the Town Hall and Stock Exchange clocks can be_ seen from the sea. Any illumination during the emergency period must, therefore, avoid serving to make the clocks act as beacons to any possible sea raider, whose look-out might observe them through powerful glasses. There is no doubt, however, that some lighting, which would make the clocks visible for no more than a couple of blocks at street level, would be appreciated by the public. Cost of Black-out

Anything done to restore lighting in the clocks at night should not be taken as an indication of relaxation of the black-out regulations. Already 4500 street lights from Port Chalmers to Mosgiel, including the city and all its suburbs, have been fitted with blackout shades, at a cost of approximately 2s 6d each. The Macandrew Bay district is at present receiving attention. The sky glow over the city, which could once be observed with ease from Taieri Mouth and Middlemarch. has now disappeared. Reports by the naval authorities state that the glow can no longer be observed at sea, but people whose homes face the sea. and especially those living in the hill districts, are still, it is stated, not giving all the co-operation that is desired. There are 250 wardens engaged nightly on the checking of black-out faults, but it is felt that double the number could be employed. Prosecutions Pending

“Some people apparently think the restrictions are lifted for the week-end; which is absurd.” said Mr Edgar yesterday. “ Whether or not people on Saturday and Sunday use different rooms from those used on the other nights of the week it is difficult to sav. but the fact remains that more offences are committed on those nights than on any other. People living around the hill areas should be particularly careful, but there are some who are not playing the game, and at the moment three prosecutions under the regulations ' are pending.” , Mr Edgar said that the residents of St. Clair and Anderson’s Bay were the worst offenders. He appealed to them to take all possible -precautions at night against permitting any chink of light being seen from their windows facing the sea. All the black-out measures adopted in Dunedin, as elsewhere in New Zealand, were designed, to blanket the location of the city from l sea raiders, and in the event of an emergency the safety of all might be endangered by one thoughtless citizen.