[Mr. J. H. WILLIS, a Norwich scientist, writing in _The Morning Post_,
condemns the daylight-saving movement on the ground that too much
sunshine is enervating and that life is more virile in Northern
latitudes.]
Though the daylight-saving measure, which ingenious WILLETT planned
To illume the work and leisure of the toilers of the land,
Has not yet convinced the nation, or unto the mass appealed,
Still without exaggeration it can claim to hold the field.
But of late a man of science--Mr. WILLIS is his name--
In a mood of flat defiance bans the daylight-saving game;
And, relentlessly pooh-poohing the delights of sunny days,
Recommends the prompt tabooing of the cult of solar rays.
All the hardy Northern races are efficient, in his view,
Just because they live in places where the sunlit hours are few,
And, conversely, peoples broiling in the horrid torrid zones
Have no grit or zest for toiling and no marrow in their bones.
There was once a commentator, if I rightly recollect,
Who, discussing the Equator, treated it with disrespect;
But his temperate impeachment, though it showed a mental twist,
Pales before the drastic preachment of the Norwich scientist.
Metaphorically speaking, it's a symptom of the Hun
To be always bent on seeking after places in the sun;
But I'd rather choose to follow what my deadliest foes applaud
Than to ostracise Apollo as an enervating fraud.
No, you don't convince me, WILLIS, with your scientific chat,
And my slangy daughter, Phyllis, says you're talking through your hat;
For, while many drug-concoctors merit death _by sus. per coll._,
I believe the best of doctors is our old friend Doctor Sol.
Hours recorded on the dial, "hours serene," assuage more ills
Than the lancet or the phial or a wilderness of pills;
And if cranks of anti-solar leanings long for gloom, they should
Emigrate to circumpolar regions and remain for good.
* * * * *
Punch's Roll of Honour.
We record with sincere grief the death of Lieutenant ALEC LEITH
JOHNSTON, who was killed in action on April 22nd during the fight in
which the gallant Shropshires recaptured a trench on the
Ypres-Langemarck Road. Early in the War Mr. JOHNSTON joined the Artists'
Corps and saw service at the Front. Later he received a commission in
the K.S.L.I., and a few months ago was in the list of wounded. He has
for a long time been associated with _Punch_, and during the War has
contributed many articles under the titles "At the Back of the Front"
and "At the Front." His loss will be very keenly felt.
* * * * *