PUTTING LIGHT INTO DAYLIGHT

NZ Truth, Issue 1216, 21 March 1929, Page 1

PUTTING LIGHT INTO DAYLIGHT

SIDEY'S SCHEME PROVES POPULAR WINNER

The Parable of The Plot Between Daylight And Time

Not concerned with that half-hour the sundial; takes its cue; riot from Mr. Sidey, but from the sun. It is always up to Standard.

Hitherto Unwanted, Half An Hour Is Now Public Idol

ONCE upon a time there lived m the land of hours some pigmies called Seconds, who had some elder brothers," greater m stature and much longer of life, known as Minutes. , Now, the. queer, part about these Minutes was that they were known by numbers, .instead of names, principal among which was..T,hirty, who has so much to do with this story. Now Thirty was for ever getting into trouble m the human world. People played battledore and shuttlecock with him to such an extent that by the year- 1928, he was homeless. Nobody wanted him • very much, although many people said he would be useful as an extra hand m the summer time. Not a f^arm hand, though. In the year 1784, a very learned man named Benjamin Franklin used a number of long words about Thirty, when he talked about him m connection with a plan or what he called "An economical project for diminishing the cost, of light,'.' but England m those d^ys didn't like the look of Thirty, so he was told to run. away and play trains. Well, ' Thirty and his relatives had many a tussle with Darkness and Daylight during the next hundred years or so, but although Thirty did his utmost to be on the side of Daylight, the human* folk would have" none of him, and Darkness won, for a lpng time, too. Then came, the Great War. Early one. morning, Thirty was doing his chores with the other Time folk, 'when he sa,w Daylight beckoning to him from the hill -tops. Wriggling m and out of the hour glasses, Thirty scrambled away to the place where Daylight's finger-tips were just discernible on the. brow of the hill. "What would you?" asked Thirty. "Not , now, not now," was the answer. ''Meet me after I sign off, tonight." ; ' ; Thus it came about that when Darkness nodded its greeting to 'the northern hemisphere, Thirty and Daylight stole away, and, under the bland coverlet of Night, planned how they together might intrigue- the interest of humans. Far into the night they whispered. Long and deeply did they plan. Throughout each of the next seven working days did Daylight excel itself, what time Thirty breathed, into tne ears of German politicians, into the ears of peasants on the Hhine, to soldiers who strutted along the Linden-, until one pleasant afternoon it was announced that Daylight and Thirty were to be joined under J a scheme df companionate marriage, so to speak.

Sh-sh-sh-sh. ' Have you seen it? Have you seen the hidingplace ot that elusive little wisp of a "thing"; of. its mysterious adventures around the sun-dial, and its caperings inside the alarm clocks, where it played the very dickens with the works ? Its cayortings with the sleepy little djins of darkness; its wooing of the daytime seconds, its adventures^ up the Pole. Sh-sh-sh-sh.

Throughout the summer time these two should be" united. The Reichstag had seen visions of much more work being accomplished m the vineyards ahd manufactories; the doctors said that abundant good health should ensue; fishermen were able to add at least one more fish 'story a week to their repertoire; good should redound to everyone. -..■"'.'. All -these things came about, pleasure and good health lay crow-

ing m the cradles, and all was Well, despite some grumbling from the rural districts. Bye and bye, these offspring grew up, and they, too, travelled about, .spreading the news of physical fitness and national well-being, until even America ' took tho advice of these children, which is remarkable. New Zealand, too. Although there were loud mutterings from the gatherers of buttermilk and wheat, (T. K.

Sidey, Who had listened attentively to the whisperings 'of Daylight - and Thirty, and for vlong had been their ardftnt mouthpiece, at length persuaded his countrymen that all would be well .. with them. .And it was so. Meanwhile, Thirty was very -busy indeed on - the treadmill of Time, each _ day adding the number of minutes from which it received its title to the major spring of Day, weighing it down so that the people might not be cheated of the .benefits. ■''..-'.'• Tinkering with alar.m clocks pleased _ Thirty mightily, especially on those ■ t first nights when, with one foot press-' 3 ing heavily on the accelerator, the 1 other was juggling with the indicator 3 dial of the alarm,, chuckling loudly under cover of tho din from the beaten j arm, as it awakened some rural sleeper . just half an hour before his customary time of rising. - ' . { . • ' Thirty had a twin brother of the same name (whicf) is a most tin- 7 usual thing), but ''"the- ancient manuscripts of Time say little or . nothing about this other, save that he attempted to achieve a purpose similar to that of his twin, but with no apparent success, m the majority of instances. Mr. Sidey often spoke of him, but New Zealand; did not regard him witii much favor, so he disappeared,, although he has been cited as a partnerwith his brother m other countries.. The Sun doesn't like these two.. He is called: upon to do his best, all the time,;, which is a' very difficult thing, since even the most good-natured of qjieery souls must have a liver, attack occasionally. ■■ ■ ' : But Thirty has saved Daylight from many' a defeat, scattering the approaching little spirits, of Darkness.' sweeping them with - the lashes of delay, making cricketers smile arid sportsmen rub their -hands m pleasured The heads of oUr garden sundials are whirling m retrospect— -reeling with the memory of high jinks between the sunlight and- its shadow,, the shadow that was ever pursued" by th** mischievous Thirty, while Time held its breath and Daylight pushed Darkness from its vantage-point ' i Summer Tjme is gone from us. < Thirty is directing his flying feet 1 towards the hemisphere of the norths 1 there to find his bride who has sped i 'before him, to woo and win her that 1 together they may again whisper into the ear's of sensible people, encouraging, j them to spread the news of benefit arid i health among, their countrymen. ; ( Will these companibhates return next 1 year to. New Zealarid?.. Most assuredly, 1 they wi11., ... ]