N.Z. STAIN DA RD TIME.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16151, 4 March 1918, Page 3

N.Z. STAIN DA RD TIME.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE I'KESS." Sir,—l noticcd somo time ago the Wellington Philosophical Sr'oeiety recommended putting the clock on half an hour, and now the Society of Civil Engineers has likewise advocated this. This is all very well lor tho -North Island, and tho chief advocates are .North island men, but it a bit rough Oil the Oouui Island. Tho winter is the time we have u think about. To take extremes Uie sun rises 111 June neariv one hour and ten minutes earlier in uisborne than it does in invcrcargill, and the comparison is inteusdied b-y Gisbonie being a mild climate in winter ana Invercar- ' gill the reverse. The proposal would be all very well if New Zoutturn sloped N.W. to S.E. instead of N.E. to t>.\V. as it docs. 1 can seo no sense in taking New Zealand timo fivmi a -Meridian away out to sea. to the oast of Gisborne. It would save a little bother in astronomical calculations, but would create much inconvenience. The sun universally regulates tho day, yet no place in New Zealand would go by the sun. The present system is far better in that it takes the meridian 172min 30sec, t which divides.New Zealand nearly in half. 11' there lie any change it would be better to put the Nortn Island cllocks on a quarter of an hour and tho South Island ones back a quarter of an hour. This would give us daylight nearer apparent or sun or ship's timo for both islands, but I think the present system the bettor. If the clocks be put on half an hour as advocated, it would be advisable to put all the South Island trains and arbitration awards also on . half an hour, so as not to inconvenience the South Island public jnoro than the North Island. Tho express train now leaves JJunedin at S o'clock. This is in daylight, but not much more eo in June," and it necessitates having one's breakfast in part of May, all June, and part of July by lamp-light. Here in Timaru the sun rises in Juno and tho lirst half ol' July at about 7.40 a.m., and is not much above tho horizon at 8 o'clock, breakfast time, aud on a dull morning I light the lamp for breakfast during these months. Tut the clock on half an hour, anrl we ivould have to light the lamp all June and July, and all labourers aUout here in those months who start work at 8 a.m. will have nob only to have their breakfast in the dark, but have to start work before the sun rises, and in Otago and Southland in semi-dark- | ne&s. But of course tliey will liaye tho | satisfaction of knowing that their fellow workmen in the North Island have a balmy sunshine at that hour. Mr Martin is not quite fair when lie said at the •'Engineer's conference •"that Brisbane, tsydney, Melbourne, and Hobart l;ad different times, and brought them into line with no evil effect, but that they just got up a. bit earlier and did nob know it." Tho reply is that the cLimatas in all these places arc milder than Otago or Canterbury, even Hobart. is considerably north of Christehurch, and llobart is only ten minuted west, of tho meridian from which the common timo is taken, whereas Christchurch would be thirty minutes, and Mr Martin should have mentioned that the only towns that , get up a little earlier than they would if the apparent tiino or sun time were i taken at Hobart and Melbourne, whereas .Sydney and Brisbane lie in bed later than they would otherwise do. • Let those who advocate this change try a littlo manual labour in Otago or Southland during June or July, starting -work at 7.30 a.m. as they advocate (instead of S a.m.) in the dark with I the ground aud windows all frozen ' hard, after a breakfast by lamp light, ' and I think the next meeting of tho Wellington Philosophical Institute and Society of Engineers in Wellington will rather advocate putting the clock j back a quarter of an hour instead of ! on half an hour lor the winter months. : There is also another objection, tho i evenings are so light in summer that ; it is not easy, in Otago, to sleep bc- : iore y p.m., that being the timo those j who start work at 8 a.m. usually turn j La, whereas tho proposed system would j delay them till 9.30 p.m. i 1 liave been told that South Africa has altered its timo to correspond with Greenwich, but this means the inhabitants stop in bed an hour longer and sit up au hour later. An argument constantly advanced by I daylight savers is the immense saving iin gas and coal. This, of course, does not apply in ivintor as the greater majority get up by artificial light, and in so far as coal is. concerncd does not apply to cooking, and tho answer in So far as gas is concerncd is that gas is being quickly superseded by electricity, and tho so i7ho have examined the statistics of the Lake Coleridge supply, which is a continuous supply, will notice that the largest amount of electricity is consumed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., when the manufacturers are using it, but from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., when it is chiefly used for lighting, thero is an immense quantity running to waste. I sincerely hope our time will be left alone.—Yours, etc.. 0. H. THTPP. Timaru. P.i>.—l am told Irish time is twenty minutes behind English time and there is more traffic between Ireland and England than between the North and South Island of New Zealand.