SET CLOCKS AHEAD ONE HOUR SUNDAY

Time "springs forward" one hour Sunday morning as the most of the United States goes on DayLight Saving Time.

The official switch occurs at 2 a.m., Sunday, but most people will opt to set their clocks and watches AHEAD one hour before going to bed Saturday night. Of course, there will be some who forget, and wonder why they're late for church Sunday morning.

While changing clocks and watches Saturday evening, Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Gene Hindman, Scott City Fire Chief Les Crump and Jackson Fire Chief Gary Niswonger remind citizens in their communities to also change batteries in their home smoke detectors.

The first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October, when Daylight Saving Time ends, have been designated as "Fire Safety at Home Day - Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke Detector Batteries."

The fire chiefs note that 80 percent of the homes in America now have smoke detectors, but as many as half of them are not in working order because the batteries are old or missing.

"Smoke detectors are one of the best forms of life insurance you can buy," said Hindman. "But they are worthless unless you

have operating batteries in them."

Not everyone will make the transition to fast time on Sunday. Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa remain on standard time year-round. Some counties in Indiana, along the eastern and central time zone boundary, will switch to fast time, while others remain on slow time.

Daylight Saving Time has been around since the 1800s, when it was observed on a patchwork basis in parts of the United States. It was formally observed in this country during World Wars One and Two in order to conserve energy and resources.

In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act that mandated nationwide observance of fast time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. The act was amended several years ago to move the start of daylight time up to the first Sunday in April, after an earlier attempt to start daylight time on the first Sunday in March failed.

While most people support and enjoy the extra hour of daylight that fast time provides in the evening, others do not. Farmers argue livestock must continue to be fed and milked according to Sun time, not man-created daylight saving time.

In the past, there have been attempts in Congress to make daylight saving time a year-round thing. During the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, President Richard Nixon signed into law a bill that temporarily placed the entire nation on Daylight Saving Time starting Jan. 6, 1974.

It was estimated going to fast time during the winter months would save an equivalent of 150,000 barrels of oil a day, with only a minimum of inconvenience.

On Aug. 14, 1974, Congress approved a bill to end fast time on the last Sunday in October, but resume on it Feb. 23, 1975. But objections were raised about children having to go to school in darkness during the early morning hours of winter, so the bill was later amended to begin Daylight Saving Time on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October. Thus ended the first attempt at year-round Daylight Saving Time in the United States since World War Two.