FORCED DAYLIGHTSAVING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 279, 14 August 1918, Page 7

FORCED DAYLIGHTSAVING

THE NEW HOURS

AND THE TRAMWAY SERVICE

For many years cwtain people have been unsuccessfully hammering away at Parliament to get through an effective Daylight-Saving Bill, whereby work would commonco and ceaso earlier than at present. Now, however, necessity in the form of a harassed tramways manager, struggling with supor-congestod laaltic, which creates dangerous peak-load intervals-, metaphorically waves his hands and Bays: "If you don't spread tho traffic tho overloading of oars; will stop and tho fares will increase. The alternative is— spread your traffic! What are von going to do about it?' Tho Mayor applies to tho Government, to release tho Civil'Servants'half an hour earlier of an evening, and set them .going lialf an hour sooner in the mornings. The. Government sees and feels the spur uf necessity, and lo! the thing is done. In other words, tho Service yesterday commenced work at 8.30 a.m.. and knocked off -at 4.30 p.m. Eighty-three per cent, hated the idea of taming out of the warm blankets half an hour earlier than visual on a' rainy winter's morning, and they found the morning preposterously long. Still at 12.30 p.m., when the luncheon adjournment came, everyono was eager to dash into tho sunshine, particularly as the offico staffs had been perturbed and knocked out of stride by the victory clamour, which was curiously exhilarating to one ;uid all throughout the city. It was at 4.30 p.m., however, that compensation came. It seemed curious in tho middle of winter leaving tho offico in daylight—in many cases getting home in daylight—with the prospect of a long evening beforo a slack fire that smoulders sullenly, and sometimes won't eyon smoulder. Yet tho prospect of extra long evenings is an alluring one, and tho Public Service, if :t is capablo of recognising a - good thing when it sees it, ehould bo very happy under tho new conditions, particularly a month or two later when the summer bowls, tennis, and pricket commence,'

Mr. M'Gillvray. tho traffic manager, states that-'a .difference was distinctly . noticeable in the incidence of the tramway traffio yesterday. As a- rule thero are densely packed cars arriving in Cour. tenay Place from tho outlying parts of the city and suburbs between 7.45 a.m. and 8 a.ml, and again between 8.45' a.m. and 9 a.m. Yesterday these oars ware not nearly so crowded. The 8 o'clock cars weira not affected to any extent, but those arriving in Courtenay Place a little later than 8 a.m. were found to contain a fail' number of passongers, instead of being half empty, and instead of the 8.45 a.m. to 9 a.m. cars being grossly ovor-crowded as has been the rule for a year past, they were just comfortably filled, so that the strategy of the tramways manager appears to have borne good fruit. The alteration in the traffic at midday consequent upon putting forward the lunoheon time by half an hour was not 60 noticeable,. but at 4.30 p.m. the cars leaving Lambton Station began to fill up promptly when opposite tho Government Buildings, Public Trust Office. ..and Railway Building, and the loads of Civil Servan they rushed to their homes served to relieve tho 5 o'clock rush to some considerable extent.