THAT ACCOUNTS FOR IT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 23, 1 December 1939, Page 42

THAT ACCOUNTS FOR IT

Sete AVE you ever heard that many AmeriH cans wear horn-rimmed spectacles fitted with ordinary glass-their sight being excellent? I have. I find it rather hard to believe, but it may be so. Vanity belongs by no means, solely to the woman. And I agree that plain features can be made almost interesting by the addition of this popular disguise. I’ve noticed it in tropic countries and on shipboard. When sun-glasses are discarded, mafy a "distinguished" person becomes definitely uninteresting. But the American Institute of Architects (why Architects?), recently reported that 23 per cent of Americans have poor eyesight before they reach twenty, and 48 per cent before forty. This-it was pointed outindicated the need for better lighting in school rooms. A "monitor of light" has been evolved which automatically turns room lights on just as soon as daylight dwindles enough to make them needed-and which likewise switches them off again when natural light strengthens sufficiently. So there’s no need to worry about the dull day.

But, apropos of all this, here in our country I heard an amusing tale. In a way, I suppose, it was directed against our Education Department, but I think they can stand it. A woman teacher, whom I know, found the lighting’ conditions in her classroom intolerable. Her desk was placed so that the sun hit straight in her eyes, and bars at the windows accentuated the glare. She suffered from endless headaches, and at last complained. An official-I think it was an official-was sent up to investigate. Said our teacher: "It’s extraordinary. I have taught in schools all over Canada and never once come across such bad lighting." He: "O-Canada. Let me see-which way does the sun shine from there?" She: "From the South." He: "O, well-there you are! That accounts for it. We get it from the North!"

Ann

Slade