, 1873-06-08

CITY FU1sANCEs.
The TRIBUNE gave some account, fe"
weeks since, Of cage in Paris in which the au-
thorities took official cognizance Of the piano
nuisance. l. single gentleman, occupying
bachelor apartments, had applied for protection 1
against tho incessant drumming and banging OF
the piano by young woman who lodged in un-
comfortable proximity, and whose musical per-
severance tortured him, as he thought, be-
yond the measure Of his sins. The Par1s
Justice, who possibly knew how it was
himself, prescribed certain hours IN which
young and Industrious pianists, lodging IN
houses where thin partitions prevail, may prac-
tiye the scales to their hearts content and other
hours when mans inalienable right to eat and
sleep in peace shall not be trampled down By
musical amateurs who abound in all Large cltles-
It may have been this liberal application Of the
common law which prompted resident OF q
London suburb to apply to the Hamnersmith
Police Court for protection against the screech-
ing of q peacock at untimely hours of the mcrn-
ing, fron7 the precincts Of q neighboring back
yard. II anything under the Bun could be main
tanned in q court Of justice it is that peacocks
notes are shrill, piercing, discordant, and vie
beyond description, aud that it is the habit Of
this fowl to indulge his musical villainy at even
more unseemly hours than the amateur pianlsts.
It devolved upon the complainant, however, to
prove this, and the result showed that there are
two sides even to the argument on peacoek's
vocal attractions. The complainant set up that
he had an invalid wife whom this saw~hling
bird vas killing by inchea~ The attending
| physician was called and testified that tho
| screeching OF the peacock, which began about
o'clock in the morning, Was really inturlng hls
patient. Per contra, the defendants counsel
contended that the sight Of 80 handsome bird
was conducive to health and longevity. One
witness expressed himself delighted with the
! musical achievements Of the peacock, and the
| defeudapt's daughter stated that she and her
sister were accustomed to wake up at the first
sound of the peacock's voice, and then j" turned
round and went to sleep again" Tie Inference
from this is that peacock's song il
I a sort Of natural soporibc equal
to hops or hydrate of ch1ora1. The Magistrate
finally dismissed the case. II re should take
only the result in the Paris case and that IN the
london case. tie conclusion would be that per-
sistent and vigorous drumming upon piano is
| greater nuisance than apeacocks voca1lzation.
| This is possible but the London Magistrate
seema to have been convinced that there was
good cause for the complaint against the pea
cock, and he only refused to suppress the melo-
| dious bird because he could find no statute or
precedent that would justify such action.
Peaoocks and pianos are not the only metro
politan nuisanccs which cannot well be abated,
and Paris and london are not the only cities
where they prevail: George Eliot Says that
cock CROWS early in the morning just as II, for
sooth, the sun had got up On purpose to hear
him. This is sample Of the characteristic con
ceit of all early-riso7s. It has been condensed
into the proverb that the early bird catches the
worm. It is also significant Of the arrogance
with which the staple metropolitan nuisances
assert their impertinent and irrepresaible char
acteristics. There ID the musical enthusi-
ast, who scrapes and scratches on his violin OF =
Sunday morning when he ought to 60 to church
and let his neighbor stay at home in peace and
ouiet, No neighborhood is complete without q
dog that bays at the moon, or cat that gathers
in select party of acquaintances for . midnight
concert, or goat that brings his perfumery OF
pokes his pertinacious nose into your backyard.
II there are none Of these, there is sure to be a
steam whistle two squares distant, or 3 next
door parrot that provoingly learns to call you1
servants or your children, or mocking- g-bird thaf
vicious1y initiates cat-cal1s and the yelping o1
dopa. and sings best at midnight The inevitable
hand-organ has Of late years been supplemented
; by email troubadours who scrape violin u
about the same position and manner they wouls
saw stick of wood and twang on harp after
l fashion that would set David raving mad Th
number OF peddle1s-the rag-man, the hsh-man
the orange-man, etc.-who make early mornln
hideous, increases with the growth OF every city
and they cultivate monotony that extends
all the various trades and to all quarters Of th
globe. When the cry Of Fresh fish 1" is hear
> at o'clock in the morning, mispronounced
| that 1t 8Qu1QA 04!cl 9GOAs VAAD A@H! AAAA"7E
: inc himself in New York, London, Paris, Q
t Berlin: It sounds alike in all languages and a
l. cities. There is sort Of tradition about il
handed down q long line Of generations and di
: fusing itself wherever thepernicious custom oil
tains Of driving around carts and feedin
/ horses on the new trees you have set ont alon
|, your sidewalk. II sancho Panzn. who sai
8 !. God bless the MAJ who invented sleep
y had lived in city with its variations On piano
pescocks, iddles, hand-organs, hnrps, dog
= cats, parrots, pets, goats, peadlera' stean
It whistles. ct id genus omne, he would have rehl
d iously cursed the metropolitan Macbeths vi
g murder sleep. II there is any excuse for pr
family OF taking the law into ones OWL hands, Il
., most severe moralists will admit that it is to
re- found in that class Of puiaances Of which t
al | z:.~. oooa and the T-1nfnn peac0ck CT