The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-07-24
NOISE IN A BIG T
PROGRESS FROM BAReARIsM MAY Be
MEASURED BY NOISE.

There always comes a period in the
history of progressive community when
a desire to keep down noise begins to
show itself In the primitive stages Of
culture-the sa:age, the barbarian AMI
the Sc OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES passion for noise
is always strong. All savages and bar
ba .ians owe to make all the row they
cal Their JOY and sorrow both express
themselves in yells. walls and shouts
and the beating ana blowing Of loud re.
sounding instruments. more especially
the drum and the horn. The noise of
primitive sa.vage warfare almost equals
that Of tae sunpowder engagements OF
modern arms, although it was, as we
might say, almost wholly manual or
vocal
The din of a barbarian funeral. too.
was and is something appalling. The
practice of hiring nourners to make a
loud lament on sucl, occasions has come
down almost to our own time among
tho Celtic Irish. All African travellers
describe the noise Of little merrylnaking
in an African village rs something which
no civilized llan easily forgets. Those
who have passed an evening at a Chinese
thrater have probably never in their
widest dreams thought it possible to
produce plays with musical accompani.
ments of such awful shrillness and in
tersity.
In fact. it is hardly an exaggeration to
say that the progress of : race in civ.
ilization may be marked by q steady re-
duction in tine volume of sound which it
produces in connection with its deaths,
births. marriages. feasts. merrymak-
ings. its wars and peaces, trade. com
ture Of all kinds it acquires the less noise
it produces. There is no surer sign, in
fact. of an upward movement of the
tribal soul than the appearance of a de.
sire to get along with less uproar. When
its leading men begin to ask themselves
whether this or that could not safely be
done with fewer yells or smaller drums,
it shows that it is becoming self conscious
and is feeling the throbs of a new life.
After this ONE a change in the charac-
ter of the musical instruments. a general
lowering of the tones of the voice. the
substitution at funerals of the silent tear
for the half maniacal "keen." and the
exaction of silence in military drill.
In cities this mental and moral growth
is of curse Isplayed in the repression
Of street cries. Of street music, of all
noises made for mere amusement, such
as beating of drums. and blowing of
horns, and pnrposeless and persistent
shouting and yelling. These IRE but
rad az tn ,x, efapc nrl ,v.n l.,,o la l..
taken them in New York. The next and
most important one. the reductionof the
noise made by the ordinary and le.iti-
mate street traffic, we are only begin
ming. Its Importance has been recoc-
nized III the modern world parl ,assu
with the increasing interest in and care
for public hygiene.
There is no modern city health board.
and indeed no modern city doctor. who
is not well awar of the evil effects of
incessant noise in the vast and i~ncreaa-
ing multitudes who in al the treat cities
now live. one might say. by their wits.
but, more accurately. by their nerves.
The amount of mental operations which
require silence. or at all events an al.
proach to silence. for their healthfuiness
i'll cities ike New York. London or
Paris. carried on by merchants. brokers,
bankers. b~ookheepers. preachers, profess
ors. architects. designers, e~ngravers.
painters. students. judges. lawyers, ed
ministers. is something enormous
and grows with all our material growth.
The performance of this work in the
midst OF tremendous uproar of any kind
OF course greatly increases the expendi- |
ture of vital force which accompanies |
all mental esertion. Consequently the |
reduction of city noise is now one of the
most important elements in all city re-
forms.
In New York we have as yet only |
made a beginning on it by the introduc-
ton of the asphalt pavement. but this is |
being rapidly extended and must pro-
duce a marked effect in sound reduction |
before long. What this pavement does
to lessen noise in the streets in which il |
exists everybody who has passed along |
them OF lived On them knows. It makes |
in cabs or carriages ard 10 |
facing on the street comfortable |
and makes sleep in umDer nights with
open windows an easy possibility-facts
which are really q complete answer TO
all the complaints Of slipperiness.
Better far that an occasional horse
should come down than that the nerves
Of thousands of hardworking men and
should be continuously set on
by chatter which is all the more
wearing for being intermittent. In Lon.
don the hard grinding, soul penetrating
noise Of the New York stone pavement
mas been suppressed, or rather has been
converted into a subdued, con-
on or boom by means of wood,
and macadam, and though
horses fall much on them all humanity
York Post.
4 Tribute n Horses.
In view Of the fact that more thar half