The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-07-02
NEEDLESS NOISES.
A Disturbing Element OF Life in
the Big Cities
Changing Bells and Rattiing Carts Make
Nervous People Miserable = The
Need of Mechanical Inven-
tioDS.

tions.
The British Medical Journal some
months ago. in an article calling at
tention to the effects of the noise of
cities on the nervous system, sets forth
in detail some OF those noises and sug-
pests means for their extinction or
amelioration without sacrifice OF the
industries which produce the various
kinds of din. 1t is pointed out, Tor ex-
ample, that the railway companies and
factories on the continent use horns
of not unpleasing sound In place OF the.
hideous steam whistle. ne church
bells of England are compared with
those of other portions OF Europe, TO
the disadvantage of the former; and 1t
is held that in an age when every room
has it's clock and every adult his watch.
the frequent bell-ringing throughout
the dav. which now otfends the peace
of Christian folk, seems unnecessary.
At night there are the shouting,
screaming and singing people about
the streets to cheat decent well folk OF
their rest. and worse yet 70 retard the
curative process OF sleep in the case Of
those who are IL. With the dawn
comes the rnilhrnan and his rafting
cans. The catalogue, so far. OF dis
trrbances for the London citizens ears
is about the same as with rs, says the
Boston Transcript IN London they
have other nuisances which are not
known here. With true English con-
servatisrn. the knocker IS still used, and
this continuance. long banished from
American front doors, IS vigorously
plied by the postman or anyone else
who has certain right TO demand
speedv attention TO his signal. They
have found in England. as ~e have
found here, that with every new con-
trivance for mans comfort or conTen-
fence there is introduced the poison OF
n new noise. The din of the bells on
/ the street cars has been stopped on
Sundays by municipal order, but it is
heard on other days, and is none the
less irritating because it is raised amid
the rattle of every sort OF vehicle. A
recently added noise in American cit
ties is the buzz and whirr OF the trolley
on the electric railroad wires.
| + is common expression. and a
common belief. too, probably, that one
| grows used to all these noises. That Is
/ a fatal blunder As one whose sense
/ of smell is dulled by familiarity with
! the poisonous effiuvia of tobacco may
! be nauseated by an excess OF the odor
/ in close room as quickly as though
/ the senses were still acute, so one VINO
fancies himself proof against the
Notwithstanding effects of noise may
/ after long living amid din continuous
or irregular, suddenly find himself the
victim of as fine case of shattered
nerves as a neuropath would like to
! have in hand If the insidiousness OF
! din and racket were once generally
recognized there would be a demand
upon the inventive capacity OF me-
| chanics to devise means of prevention.
/ 1t is because this recognition and this
! demand are not general in certain
cases that the complaints Of the sensi-
! tive are met by the query: How are
you going to help it?'' propounded with
the air of submitting problem inpos-
sible of solution. But when it Is re-
| called what wonders have been accom-
plished on steam railroads in the way
of stopping or at least of lessening
noise, there is nothing unreasonable
| in hoping that some of the distracting
noises of our city life may be scattered
through the kindly Offices Of In
| genious men. For instance, there Is
| the rattle OF wheels over pavementS;
much of that can be prevented by set
ting the tires over inner tires OF rub
| Der. while for some light vehicles the
| pneumatic tire of the bicycle is posi-
| Bile. Poor wheelwright's work Is re-
| sponsible for much of the rattle caused
bv draws and express wagons A
frightful din is made BY wagons load,
ed with metal rods or pipe laid in as
though the several pieces were only sc
many logs of wood; TO prevent tins
noise it is only necessary TO separate
each piece with a block and each STRAIT
urn with strips of wood. OF course, al
preventive means of noise will cost
money. hut In many cases the first cost
Will be all. Il those who are RESPONSE
BILE for the persistence IN the noisy
WAYS of accomplishing much of the
work of life cannot be convinced o.
their lack of humanity public opinion
may yet crystalline itself into LAWFUL
it is a mean sort OF civilization thai
has TO be stirred to a performance o.
duty toward ones neighbor by statute:
and police regulations.