A LEAP YEAR ODDITY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10594, 28 March 1912, Page 4

A LEAP YEAR ODDITY.

It appears from a discovery made by Mr W. Nortihwood, of Stourbridge, that the addition oif an extra 'day to iilie month of February this year will vary the normal conditions of life to la greater extent than at first sight la.ppears. It is true that only one •more day is added to the present year, bait the" year 1912, when it is completed, will have contained two more working tfayis than wore counted in IDII. "it ilr.-t i.h? r.zzw.

suiirabilis of 1911 afforded us uot only tan exceptic i;r.l amount cf sunshine, but akx> provided us with one more Sunday thian the ordinary allowance in which to enjoy, it. The rfit- day of the year was a Sunday, and December 31®t was also a Sunday. This gave 53 Sundays in tho ytxir 1011. In the present year, although it numbers 366 days, there are only 52 Sundays. This gives' a total of 314 working days to 1912 as compared with ■the mere 312 that happened in 'l9ll. This means that statistical comparisons between the two years- will need sbmo re-adjustane-sit. Since there will 'be two working days in which io manufacture, export, and import commodities the returns for 1912 will show an increai.se in the proportion of '314 to 312 without indicating any advance in iihe" national prosperity. Tho two more working days will mean two more collecting days for the Exchequer, and critics o? the Governine'nt will bo c<n titled to abate twothree hundred and fourteenth,s from the national revenue before they admit any improvement upon tho figures of the preceding year.