To the Editor of the "Mobrh-CuihA Day NEWS"
Sim—It anything is needed to give IR to my remarks in my recent to your newspaper in connec-
LO miles caused the death by ni 2 be exit is thoroughly in keep-unspeakably foul e A ler an air-alarm over its capital city, with heavy anti-aircraft gun-fire and all. when no enemy aircraft was anywhere near the vicinity, merely to to drive off an enemy attack, would do anything vile and tell any lie. people by supporting tolerating such a Government number some 7,000, the factories of one of the largest British firms in Shanghai have returned to Customs Time since September 1.
This may not in itself be sensational, byt tne reasons given are at least interesting, and have certainly not, to my knowledge, appeared in your columns. A friend of mine in this company tells me that when Daylight Saving Time was introduced a deputation of employees came and registered a protest. This was suspected of being the usual Chinese. dislike of anything new, and was dismissed as such, especially when the spokesman stated that the main objection the employees had was that they lost one hour's sleep. The obvious answer which occurs to the foreign mind was given, namely, that. one naturally goes to bed an hour earlier at night to make up for it. Then came the surprising answer that this was impossible, It appears that in the summer the working-class Chinese do not go to bed by the clock, or by the sun, but by the temperature. Houses, especially at present, are so overcrowded that everybody hangs round the streets until it is cool enough to go to bed. It is, therefore, obvious that as Daylight Saving Time can make no difference to the temperature, it cannot affect the hour of going to bed, but it very definitely affects the hour of getting up!
Moreover, it must be remembered that most Shanghai factories start at 6 or 630 am. and by the time a Chinese has got up, prepared the food for the chow can (the equivalent of the British workman's red handkerchief with white spots), and walked to work, he will have been up since 5 am. Therefore, while in the hot months the disadvantage of D.ST. lies in the temperature at bedtime, now the weather is cooler he gets up in pitch darkness and burns a considerable quantity of light.
This would seem to clarify some of the objections to Daylight Saving Time, and I shall be interested if any other spokesman for the 400 million can refute them, much as I, from my point of view, would like D.S.T. to continue in future years, Shanghai, Sept. 25.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.