Comment on last posting

[Chris Carrier]

Comments on the last posting to the mailing list:
 
I can confirm that British Double Summer Time began on Easter
Monday in 1945, at the request of religious leaders, who didn't
want the change made on Easter Sunday because it might interfere
with attendance at services.  (Source: London Times, 1945 Apr 2.)
 
I was under the impression that Northern Ireland observed BDST on
the same dates that the rest of the UK did, but that the Republic
of Ireland remained on GMT+1 (BST) all year long during WW2
whether or not the UK was on BST or BDST.
 
I just called the AT&T operator to get the time in St. John's,
Newfoundland and was quoted GMT-2:30.  This would be Newfoundland
single, not double, DST.  So if they were advancing 2 hours
instead of 1 in 1989 (which I find doubtful without confirmation)
they are no longer doing it.
 
A call a few days ago to our friends at AT&T got me a time quote
for Beijing and Shanghai, of GMT+8.  I presume from this that the
PRC is no longer into seasonal time changes, and that the whole
nation is on GMT+8, which works out in practice to standard time
on most of the coast, DST in Chungking, 2*DST in Urumchi (Urumqi)
3*DST in Kashgar, and DST in reverse in Manchuria.
 
Also I remember hearing that Inuvik was on MST w/DST in the early
1970s, then switched to PST w/DST, then switched back to MST
w/DST in 1979.  Also find it hard to believe an Arctic location
would have used DST in peacetime before the late 1960s;
unfortunately I don't have precise info available.