Whatever the National Recovery Act may do in the way of bettering business, it has had one visible effect on the city streets that habitues have not been long in noticing. Heretofore the official closing hour in downtown Williamsport has been 6 o’clock.

Under the hour agreement which went into effect a couple of weeks ago and which practically every merchant in the central business district is living up to, the doors are shut tight at 5 o’clock, and between the hours of 5 and 6 o’clock the streets resemble those of quiet Sunday afternoon in the big city.

Where the lighted stores used to present scenes of activity as belated shoppers made last-minute purchases, now all is dark, and silence reigns behind closed doors. All the bustling and scurrying has been moved up an hour, and 5 o’clock now sees the clerks wending their homeward ways along crowded sidewalks and on loaded buses.

During the summer there is no doubt that the extra hour is much appreciated by clerks who have sweltered throughout a long day. However, when winter comes the gentlemen who have to pound the pavements for news in the early evening are apt to miss the cheerful glow of the lights and the busy counters.

However, the quiet streets are probably part of a new American life, a life in which it is to be hoped that the tempo is slower and the path less crowded. And if better business is on the way, the lost hour will not be regretted.