The Yellowstone journal., 1893-08-03

Toward ketluctng IT,
There always comes period i'll the
history of progressive community when
"A desire to keep down noise begins TO
show itself In tine primitive stages of
rnlinre--the savage, the barbarian ant.
the s. mibarbarian-the passion for noise
is always strong. All savages and bar
barans love to make all the row they
ca. Their joy and sorrow both express
themselves in yells. walls and shouts
and the beating and blowing of loud re-
sounding instruments. more especially
the drum and the horn The noise of
primitive savage warfare almost equals
that of the gunpowder engagements OF
modern arms. although it was. as we
might say almost wholly manual or
vocal
The din of barbarian funeral, too,
was and is something appalling. The
practice of hiring -nourners to make
loud lament on such occasions has come
down almost to our own time among
the Celtic Irish. All African travellers
describe the noise Of little merrymaking
in an African village as something which
no civilized man easily forgets Those
who have passed an evening at a Chinese
theater have probably never in their
widest dreams thought it possible to
produce plays with musical accompani-
ments OF such awful shrillness and in
tensity
In fact. it is hardly an exagyeration to
say that the progress OF race in civ
ilization may be marked by steady re-
duction in the volume of sound which it
produces in connection with its deaths
births, marriages, feasts, merrymak-
ings its wars and peaces. trade. COM
merce and manufactures. The more cul-
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 sonl than the appearance of de-
sire to get along with less uproar. When
its leading men begin to ask themselveA
whether this or that could not safely bs
done with fewer wells or smaller drums.
it shows that it is becoming self conscious
and is feeling the throbs of a new life
After this comes change in the charac.
ter of the musical instruments. genera!
lowering of the tones of the voice the
substitution at funerals of the silent tear
for the half manacal keen" and the
exaction of silence IN military drill
In cities this mental and moral growth
Is of course isplayea IN the repression
of street cries. of street music. of all
noises made for mere amusement. such
a. beating uf drums, and blowing of
horns. and purposeless aud persistent
bna I'm, aud rA1linn h,,Y
rn!inHntarv steps. and we have already
taken them i'll New York. The next and
most important one, the reduction of the
noise made by the ordinary and ieciti-
mate street traffic. we are only begin
ming. Its Importance has been recog-
nized III the modern world parl pass,.
with the increasing interest in aud care
for public hygiene.
There is no modern city health board.
and indeed no modern city doctor. who
is not well aware of the evil effects Of
incessant noise in the vast aud increas-
ing multitudes who in all the great 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 All ap-
proach to silence. for their hcalthfulness
in cities like New York. London or
Paris. carried Oh by merchants. brokers
bankers. bookkeepers. preachers, profess
ors. architects, designers. engravers.
painters. students, judges. lawyers. ed
itors. 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 exertion. 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 y.s only
made beginning on it by the in, roduc-
ton Of the asphalt pavement, but this is
being rapidly extended and must pro-
duce . marked effect in sound reduction
before long. What this pavement does
to lessen noise in the streets in which it
exists everybody who has passed along
them or lived on them knows 1t makes
conversation in cabs or carriages and in
rooms facing on the street comfortable
and makes sleep in summer nights with
open windows an easy possibility-facts
which are really 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
women should be continuously set on
edge BY clatter which is all the more
wearing for being intermittent. In Lon
don the hard grinding. soul penetrating
noise of the New York stone pavement
has been suppressed, or rather has been
largely converted into q subdued. con
tinuous roar or boom by means of wood,
asphalt and macadam, and though
horses fall much on them oil humanity
9ains.-New York Post.
Trihuto - Horses.
In view of the fact that more than half
the women who drive. and the men. too.