In a world where we are often too busy to glance down at our wrists, public clocks are a boon. Inaccurate public clocks are a menace.

Electric-power means most of them do not even have to be wound up, so excuses will not do.

Missed trains, missed dates or appointments are serious matters yet a faulty street clock does not make a good excuse.

A clock advertising the wrong time is worse than no clock at all. Anyone responsible for a street clock has a duty to make sure it is both working and accurate. The penalty for failing in that duty should be harsh -- at least 30 days and nights at the mercy of a big, old wind-up alarm clock that ticks loudly through the night and then goes off with a piercing din in the wee hours. That's if it goes off at all.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.