Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-17
Auricular View of LOndOn-Voices and
Sounds of IL Great City.


The London Builder of late date remarks
We once spoke of the voices of old build
ings. The thoughtful wayfarer in this great
city can not fail to be impressed with the
varied and peculiar sounds which form one
of the peculiarities of this teeming city, and
which mingle together and produce a voice
singularly impressive. II may be heard with
solemn effect sounding in the dome of st.
Pauls, and less loudly, though distinct, in
still weather, in quiet hooks in the suburbs.
When the varied materials which compose
this mighty voice are considered, the mind
becomes bewildered in the contemplation of
what for mole than 1000 years has been con-
stantly increasing, and now includes the
mingled tones of nearly 100000 people.
What rolling Of carriages, what clattering of
heavily harnessed horses aid in the hubbub
The measured tread of a detachment of police
the marching and countermarching of SOL
diers the footsteps of thousands the hum Of
| schools, the unceasing rattle of steam engines,
and the roar of furnaces, are among the
details Many evil voices are raised but
| there is also a corrective agency at work, for
| preachers in churches and chapels, professors
| and lecturers are busy; and missionaries who
| in certain districts are as greatly needed as
| they are in the Sandwich Islands, zealously
labor; while lawgivers, judges and magis-
trates, who dispense laws, and the crowd of
| COUNSEL, OAeTClSe tl6lT Important
The mallet of the sculptor; the more homely
but useful working of the stonemason; the
hammerlng of the carpenter, and the chip
| ping of the bricklayer; even the quick tap
| ping of the coffin-maker, all play their part
| in the city voice. Music and minstrelsy, the
hoarse voice of street. traders are there; in
banks and contingencies the chinking OF
| gold adds low but important sound. Go
where you may additions are made to the
4
| the half-starved Spitalields silk-weavers give
peculiar note. Bells toll, others ring joyful
peals, and some send forth old-fashioned
tunes; SO great, however, is the roar of the
| city, that these can not be heard when more
than few yards distant. Memory goes back
to many city sounds which contribute toward
the general whole; the peculiar and rambling
voice of madness; the compressed moan O
suffering in hospitals; the lamentations fol
those who every hour die in this vast hive
| There are, however, more pleasant sugges
tions in it. The language of most civilized
nations and the music Of sunny lands may
| be detected 4 a
In street in Bloomsbury, few hours ago
| we heard the peculiar note Of the Italian bag
pipe. Soon group of shepherds of tn
Abruzzi came in sight, performing the dane
of their native district. Singular was th,
contrast with all around; dusky black hats
trimmed with scarlet ribbons glittering silve
crosses and other ornaments; closely fitting
coats of sheepskin, with the hair turned out
ward; 'knee-breeches Of bright glossy green
like the breast of peacock; goatskin wallets
and water-bottles, the legs covered will
leathern sandals the primitive bag pipe
formed of goatskin, together with swarth,
countenances and coal-black hair, presented
curious picture, the more remarkable from
the circumstance that the costume has re
mained unchanged for more than Thousand
years. The old Romans, whose efigies ar
in the musuem hard by, have listened to tn
same piping; and so the past is welded to tn
present. and note of sound, one componen
of the mighty voice of London, suggests
long train Of thought and makes the worl
populous with the dead. 'sri l'iw ber