Christmas Lights in City Are Shining Less Brightly Than in Earlier Years

There are fewer Christmas lights lining the streets of Cambridge, Boston, and neighboring communities this year, but they have not been eliminated, in spite of President Nixon's request that such lighting be ended.

The decorative lights in the Cambridge Common and in Harvard Square will continue to burn from 5 to 9 p.m. every evening until Christmas. Edward VerPlank, president of the Harvard Square Businessmen's Association, said yesterday.

The lights will burn less this year than in previous years, however, when they were on eight hours a night and lit three weeks longer than they will be this year. In addition, the lights this year are new and use half the energy the old ones did, VerPlank said.

There have been similar reductions in Boston, a spokesman from the city's Office of Cultural Affairs said yesterday. While the lights in Boston Common were on last year from Thanksgiving until January 6, they will be lit for less than three weeks this year.