Evening star., 1941-05-29
Nationwide Daylight
Saving Proposed by
|ckes to Save Power
Aluminium Is Called
Greater Need Than
Night Baseball
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Secretary of the Interior Ickes
today advocated daylight saving
time on a Nation-wid scale. and
suggested that America may have
to resort to restricted use of cleo
tricity and institute "gasless
Sundays" to meet shortages Of
power and oil.
The statement came as an off,
cial of the Federal Power Commits
sion foresaw a power emergency.
perhaps the most serious in his
tory" and revealed studies were
being made on means of divertins
power from civilian TO industrial
uses. to prevent interruption Of de-
fense production.
Daylight saving. Mr.. Ickes said.
could be instituted by an act of
Congress, to save substantial
amounts of power.
In mentioning the possibility Of
priorities In the use of power, the
Secretary said restricted con-
sumption might easily include
night baseball. and he commented:
Its more important to make
aluminium than TO have night base
ball"
The power shortage, he said
might "be met by moral suasion,"
through civilians voluntarily re-
strcting consumption.
Oil Problem Transportation.
Turning to oil, Mr.. Ickes told his
press conference the problem was
strictly one of transportation and he
foresaw a possibility of restricted
use, especially on the Eastern sea-
board.
In this connection, he advocated
oil pipe lines from the South to the
East, where severe shortages Of oil
are feared because of the transfer
of one-fifth of the American tanker
fleet to British service. He advo-
Gated priorities on materials used in
making pipe lines and Oil tankers,
to hasten their construction.
Mr.. Ickes said an effort to build
the pipe lines had been blocked in
the Georgia Legislature by the rail-
roads very shortsightedly."
T. r. Tate of the Federal Power
Commission told of the study to
conserve power.
Mr.. Tate expressed hope. however,
that any restriction in the use of
electricity would not include the
"lightless nights" and darkened
great white ways Of World War
years.
Sees Critical Situation.
Under the unlimited emergency"
proclaimed Tuesday night, President
Roosevelt has absolute sway over
the Nations power facilities. He
may take over power houses, dams,
conduits and reservoirs; require
temporary connections of facilities
and such interchange, delivery and
transmission as may be required"
Mr.. Tate, who is director of the
national defense power staff in the
Power Commission, predicted: '1t
we are going to double airplane pro-
duction, quadruple tank production
treble powder. small arms ammuni-
ton and rifle production and
multiply output of machine guns
and other materials, then by the
end of 1941 the power situation will
be critical indeed"
Every recourse is being exhausted,
he said, to meet such a situation.
Meanwhile, he expressed conf
dence that the unprecedented energy
shortage in the Southeast, where
drought curtailment of hydropower
threatened maximum operation of
the great aluminium industries, had
been licked, temporarily at least.
by "the greatest co-ordinated effort
ever undertaken in the power in
dustry" and by response of the
public to an appeal for voluntary
economy in the use of electricity.