The Daytime Light Mystery
Citizens flood city hall with calls wondering why electric lights are burning in broad daylight.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Suspended between the earth and sky, a city light employee yesterday and today has been hanging to the side of the big city hall tower fixing up the electric decorations. The weather has spoiled some of the wiring and many of the lamps have gone out and City Electrician Lauzon decided to brighten up the tower. That the workman might see which lamps were not working the lights have been turned on during the daytime and citizens have been much perplexed and have kept the telephone busy asking why. The workman was so small he could not be seen at any great distance from the city hall and the people wondered why the city was getting so extravagant to burn light in the daytime.
“The people wondered why the city was getting so extravagant to burn light in the daytime.”
The confusion over the city burning lights during the day highlights the rapid adoption of electric infrastructure at the time. It serves as a reminder of how quickly new technology can bewilder a public that has not yet normalized the sight of constant illumination.
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