Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1918-02-22
DAYLIGHT SAVING.
innovation Has Produced Advantages
other Than Saving Of Fuel.

MY FOREMOST surviving impression oil
the day l arrived in England last sum.
mer is that 1t was an unusually long
day. l left Liverpool on an afternoon
train that I had often taken in former
years, expecting to arrive in London
after dark. But the sun was shining
as we approached the city, and j 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 snntime it
was $50.
began to realize what that extra
hour of daylight meant to London when
after dinner l started for o walk The
! unlighted street lamps, the rayless
shop windows and the hardly discerned
walls of the houses made the city
seem 80 uncanny that I quickly found
my way back to the hotel. M
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 in score of ways.
The next morning l breakfasted at
8 O'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 re-
membered that it was not yet o'clock
by suntime.
/ soon became so accustomed to the
changed time that | seldom thought of
it except as was reminded of it by
some advantage l. enjoyed or saw 9TH
ers enjoying all through the summer
and autumn. We played out.ofdoo
games after dinner, or sat in the gar
den instead of returning at once TO
the drawing room or study .:.ia,
i We heard girls chatting on the 9th.
ef side of the garden wall on their way
home from shops and factories in tho
daylight instead of in the dark, as in
former days. We saw workingmon
playing bowls till toward 10 clock in
sunset light. ,. :"
Formerly, when they kept up the
game 50 late as this, they had to mark
the jack with white handkerchief
and sometimes the complaint was made
that it had not been placed fairly. A
walk in the evening on streets of tene
ment houses and in nearby park.
showed fathers and mothers out OF
doors with their children instead OF
being shut into small and badly light
ed rooms.
The public health was evidently i'm
proved by this extra hour of daylight
1t relieved the eye strain in study anC
reading and various kinds of work b,
artificial light.
1t lessened the risk of accidents il
shops and factories, now closing 70
the day when the sun was still shining
1t helped to prevent the congregation
of boys. and girls in dark corners o.
the streets and lanes when the day.
tasks we're done. ISL -
If the attendance at our parish hous,
was reduced or ceased altogether Oh
pleasant evenings, we knew the 1ont
and gloomy nights of winter were com
ing when the warm rooms would agar
be filled. The busy traffic was hushe,
before the day had ended and, thi
,, quiet hour seemed to invite people +
rest and recreation before retiring 70
the night
Personally / valued the change i!
! the morning even more than at night
We usually had breakfast in a summe
' house in the garden. 1t was at tn
same hour as in former years, but tn
! flowers were still waking and dewy
and the birds were singing their mati
! songs. All together and for everybod,
! !. the change came, as walters in restauI
ants used to say American tourist
came, Gas a boon and blessing.
That, however, was in the halcyol
days of peace.
The economic value alone of tn
change proved last season to be SUI
fcient to warrant its continuance. On
hour day less burning of gas an,
electricity in homes and public build
y ings and shops and factories for man,
, millions of people counts for grea
deal in the aggregate.
The physical tone of all classes wa
raised. In the strain occasioned by tn
anxieties and sufferings from war an
sure the morale of the British natio,
p was and III better because of the extr
waking hour of daylight, ..:
5 As autumn advanced of course tn
advantage grew less. On the night o
Oct. | the maids in our house stoppe,
$ all the clocks and set them going on
. hour later This was done by govern
\ mcnt order all over the British Isles
5 Multitudes stored up an hour NOR
4 sleep than usual that might, which b,
S this time they have again parted with
We soon forgot that the change ha,
e been made.
= Last year daylight saving was adopt
4 ed in nearly all the countries of Europe
The time chosen for moving tn
/, clocks forward is Saturday at midnight
E This was done in Italy March "a, il
/ France April /. Germany was the frs
+ nation to adopt this plan of savinI
. daylight England followed the OK
b. ample. Attempts had been made be
fore to introduce il voluntarily in som
p communities, but without success /
is not practicable except by govern
ment decree, but after one summer
| trial il may be assumed as certain tina
!, Britain will never give up daylight
saying,-Rev. A. T.. Cunning, d. D., il
/ the Congregationalist.