The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-02-20
DAYLIGHT SAVING.
Innovation Has Produced Advantages
Other Than Saving of Fuel.


Ny foremost surviving impression of
the day | arrived in England last sum-
mer il that it was an unusually long
LAY. | left Liverpool on an afternoon
train that | had often taken in former
wears. expecting to arrive i'll London
after dark But the sun was shining
as we approached the city, and | was
looking from the windows of my hotel
on the busy streets before the twilight
had begun to fade. The clock on the
neighboring church tower noted the
time as nearly $50. BY suntime it
was $50.
] began to realize what that extra
hour of daylight meant to London when
after dinner | started for walk. The
unlighted street lamps, the rayless
shop windows and the hardly diseerned
walls of the houses made the city
seem so uneanny that | quickly found
my way back to the hotel.
OF course the cities and towns of
England will again be as brilliant by
night as ours are when the fear of
zeppelin raids is past, but the gain of
the daylight hour in summer will still
be measured III score of ways.
The next morning | breakfasted at
clock, which is early for London.
When after it | sailed forth the tide of
business was flowing swiftly. The air
seemed fresher and the people more
alert than | had expected. Then l re-
membered that it was not vet s o clock
by suntime
! soon became SO accustomed TO the
changed time that ! seldom thought of
il except aS / was reminded of it by
some advantage / enjoyed or saw 9th
crs enjoying all through the summer
and autumn. We played out of door
games after dinner, or sat in the gar
den instead of returning at once to
the drawing room or study.
We heard girls chatting on the 9th
er side of the garden wall on their way
home from shops and factories in the
daylight instead OF in the dark, as in
former days. We saw wor kingmen
playing bowls till toward 10 clock in
sunset light.
Formerly, when they kept up the
game so late as this, they had to mark
the jack with white dkerchief,
and sometimes the complaint was made
that t had not been placed fairly. 4
walk in the evening on streets of tene-
ment houses and in nearby parks
showed fathers and mothers out of
doors with their children instead of
being Shut into small and badly light
cd rooms
The public health was evidently i'm
proved by this extra hour of daylight.
1t relieved the eye strain in study and
reading and various kinds of work by
artificial light.
1t lesSened the risk of accidents in
shops and factories, now closing for
the day when the sun was still shining.
1t helped to prevent the congregation
of boys and girls in dark corners of
the streets and lanes when the dav $
tasks were done.
1t the attendance At our parish house
was reduced or ceased altogether on
pleasant evenings, We knew the long
and gloomy nights OF winter were com
liig-Mtieh- -3arnt- rooms would again
be filled. The busy traffic was hushed
before the day had ended and this
quiet hour seemed to invite people TO
rest and recreation before retiring for
the night.
Personally | valued the change in
the morning even more than at night
We usually had breakfast in a summer
house in the garden. 1t was at the
same hour rs in former years. but the
flowers were still waking and dewv,
and the birds were singing their matin
songs. All together and for everybody
the change came, as walters in restaur-
ants used to say American tourists
came, las boon and a blessing e"
mat, however, was III tho halcvon
days of peace.
The economic value alone of the
change proved last season to be suf-
heIent to warrant its continuance. One
hour day less burning of gas and
electricity i'll homes and public build
ings and shops and factories for many
millions of people counts for a great
deal in the aggregate.
The physical tone OF all classes was
raised. In the strain occasioncd bv the
anXletles and sufferings from war | am
sure the morale of the British nation
was and is better because of the extra
waking hour of daylight.
As autumn advanced of course the
advantage grew less. On the night OF
Oct. the maids in our house stopped
all the clocks and set them going one
hour later This was done bv govern
| ment order all over the British Isles
Multltudes stored up an hour more
| sleep than usual that night. which h,
4