TO REFORM TEE CALENDAR

Shannon News, 27 January 1928, Page 1

TO REFORM TEE CALENDAR

Thirty days lias September, April, June and November. . . Js this cherished memory of our . early days to go to the sc.rapheap? It seems a thousand pities; but an astonishingly large number of otherwise pert’ectably respectable persons st-em to have arrived at the conclusion thai this is its irrevocable destiny. It was inevitable that among our own multitudinous reform organisations there should arise a “fixed calendar” league, but it is surprising, and not a little, disquieting, to l'earn that calendar reformers are springing up all over Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. The cornerstone of the new timeedifice they are striving to erect is the twenty-eight day month. The first day of every week under this scheme would be Sunday, and every week-day would'recur on its four fixed monthly dates. Obviously, under this scheme, by chopping off the two days from the four months which under oiir present Gregorian calendar have thirty days and three from the seven which have thirty-one, wo shall have twenty-nine left over and thirty in leap years. The only thing to do with • these superflous days is to make another month of twenty-eight of them. This extra month the reformers propose to sandwich in between our present June and July under the optimistic denomination of “Sol.” There remains the difficulty of the odd twenty-ninth day. That problem is disposed of by dropping it in at the end of the thirteenth. month, calling it “Year-Day” and making it a general holiday. Every fourth year the other extra day would appear between June -28 and Sol 1, with the title of “Leap-day.” The scheme would solve the puzzle of Easter, which at present varies between March 22 and April 25, by fixing it definitely for the third Sunday in April, the fifteenth, which would automatically fix Whit Sunday for June 8, Christmas would fall on the last Sunday in December, the twentysecond, and this and , all other holidays would perpetually bo joined to week-end holidays.

It is claimed by the reformers that the twenty-eight day month would benefit the commerce of the world to the extent of at least £500,000,000 a year, would be a boon to labour, save waste, simplify calculations, and confer innumerable other blessings on all sections of the community—except, perhaps, the almanack makers, who with a system of uniform weeks would be superfluous.