Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-04-03
SETTING THE CLOCKS AHEAD.
Some Confusion i'm the Average
Mind as to the Change in
Clocks.

| we ma that there is still much
confusion in the average mind as
to the change in clocks. First OF
all as to the date. 1t went into eff
feet on Sunday morning, the last
day of March and not on the first
day of April. You should have set
your clock or watch ahead one hour
before going to bed last Saturday
night, and then you would arise &C
cording to schedule. In the Mt. Yer
non Record we find the following
statements.
Some of the brethren are unable
still, to figure out how setting the
clock back will give more daylight.
Of course they will find out, but one
OF the mistakes they make is in as
Stunning that the clock is now in &C
cordance with the sun, here in Iowa.
AS a matter of fact the clock is
nearly half an hour behind the sun
in this part of the country. We can
remember, as boy in southern
Iowa, how We used to have two sets
! of time in town. The town clock
was set according to actual time, or
sun time, while the railroads went
entire system. The difference, az
we remember it, was between twenty
minutes and half hour. Later the
town clock was moved ahead a half
hour, and this whole section OF the
country came to accept the system
of time used by the railroads. -
which there is no change In time IN.
til full hour has been gained. But
II we could lose half hour by an
arbitrary change in those days we
should be able to get it back and
gain half hour the other way now
by an equal arbitrary change"
Now comes the editor of the Ce-
dar napids Republican and he says
that the Mt. Vernon editor is NOV
ing in the wrong direction.
If he sets his clock back one hour
he will be two hours behind time on
Sunday morning. The clock is to
be moved ahead and not back. This
is, of course, only slip on the part
of the editor, but others are not
clear in their minds about the mat
ter. The clocks must be set ahead
for the hour of daylight is 10 be
gained in the morning. Instead of
going to work at eight the world
will go to work at what is now sew
en-but will be eight after the
clocks have been advanced.
AS to the old railroad time. to
which reference is made, it may be
stated that that was simply Chicago
time, so far as Iowa was concerned
The railroads could not run by sun
time for each community for II o.
clock by the sun comes later as you
move westward. 1t is IL o'clock
midday in each spot as the sun
crosses that spot. For convenience
the railroads hereabouts adopted
Chicago time which was twenty odd
minutes faster than Iowa time, vary.
ing with the distance westward from
Chicago. For a time the people
tried to keep two sets of time, Their
own and the railroad time, which
led to much confusion.
Then congress acted in the matter
and established what came to be re.
garded as standard time. This stan,
dard time was for stretches of about
one thousand miles the earth being
$4,000 miles around it and the sun
going around it, as it appears, once
a day every thousand miles and a
little more was one hour. This time
for each thousand miles was set by
the time the sun crosses the middle
of the area. East of that middle
the time was slower than sun time
and west it was faster than sun
time.
The new order simply advances
the beginning of our days by one
hour. 1t will be noon when the sur
stands at exactly IL o'clock in the
center of each time strip. We viii
get up earlier and we will go tt
bed earlier. To begin with man!
persons will not fall in line with it
but gradually they will succumb fol
trains and factories will run accord
ing to the new style.
The theory Of it is that our eve
Inings will end earlier and we viii
not burn lights as We do now, fol
instead of going to bed at nine w
will go to bed at what is now eight
which means by daylight, which
saves the lights. But that Their
will be a saving of a million tons o
coal in the country is not so clea
to us.