The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-02-19

During the last few weeks there has
been an unusual amount of slcighriding
in an about North Adams, and in con-
nection with it the tin horn nuisance has
assumed proportions well nigh intelera-
bic. Not load of any class, old or
young, pretends to 90 through the
streets of the village or over the country
roads, night or day, on pleasure eXcur-
sion without raising a din with tin horns
calculated to unsettle the nerves of all
unwell and delicate people, and pain all
ears not attuned to the thunder of
freight trains and the reverberating
howls of Bedlam. This practice of blow
ing tin horns, which has in the last few
years become an established accompani-
ment of pleasure excursions, is as foolish
on the part of those who engage in it as
il is diSagreeable to others, and should
be stopped at once and forever. 1t is an
outgrOwth and cheap and overgrown i'm
itation of the tally-ho bugle, itself of
English origin and nothing to brag of in
this land of democracy, where one man
is supposed to he as good as another,
whether he rides in a tally-ho and has
his inconscquential arrivals announced
by brass-buttoncd bugler or bumps
along on a hemlock board spanning the
sides of farm wagOn-bOX. From a
small beginning the tin horn nuisance
has grown to be a subject of frequent
and lust complaints. Those who indulge
in the practice pay no heed to the com
fort or feelings of the POI ulace, but re-
gardlrss of time and place, go on blow
ing their inharmOnious and rasping
blasts to the end of the journey. At all
hours of the night families and neighbor-
hoods are reused from Slumber, and fire.
Gucntly with serious effects i'll cases of
sickness. In more than one instance
this winter harm has been done in this
village by the blowing of horns at un-
seemly hours near houses containing sick
persons. No one for moment believes
those guilty of this OiienSe would will
ingly annoy any one or do what they
considered wrong. but the foolish Gus
tum has become so thoroughly estab-
lished, that without cOnsiderIngits folly,
and possible injurious consequences,
wcll-meaning and otherwise sensible peo-
pie practice and uphold it. One would
think the American people had a mania
for tin horns. People who under other
circumstance would do nothing undigni-
fed, will get into u four-horse sleigh,
convert themselves into bellows and set
tie down to the splitting of tin horns as
if it were the chief end of life.
There should be n reform in this mat
ter. The custom has lost its novelty, and
it never had any other excuse for exist
ing. 1t is undigniiied on the part of
mature persons, and children may be
trusted to make noise enough without
the aid of tin borns The jingle of bells,
the squeaking of the runners over the
frozen snow, and the sound of merry
voices in speech, laughter and song make
music natural and unexcelled, both fOT
excursionists and for those to whom ii
may be waited by the winds of winter.
The tin horn nuisance should be buried
beyond resurrection, and if this is not to
be, its dcvotees should consider the
rights and comforts of others and at the
least refrain from disturbing the peace
during the hours when the majority OF
people are enjoying or seeking the resi-
and quiet to which they are entitled by
tture and by law.-North adams Tran
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