Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-02-03
CAN'T SLEEP FOR SILENCE.
THAT Us Tus WAY PERFECT STIFFNESS
AfTECrs InosE USED no NOISE.
Tho Stopping OF Cable Made Ono Man
Think Hc Had Conc crazy-rhe
Effect OF New Kinds
OF Noises.


From the Chicago Record
Late one evening a South side man
ahghted from a suburban train and
started toward his home which was sev-
eral blocks q The west lie had been
4 working hard all day and into the hours
OF darkness. Although he tried to dis.
miss rom his mind the problems that he
| longed to his office they were stnl With
! MIN The man was rather worried and
exhausted because he had been under a
| nervous strain 1t is only when a man
/ finishes a hard run that h. begins to
realize how weak and winded he is The
1 runner may lie down and rest, but the
one who has oVertaNc4 his brain finds
himself WHIPPED ON t. further cxertions
4 III spite Of himself This man was
| therefore. painfully awake, alert ana eX-
! CsedihgiN sensitive to the needless in
| dustry IN his throbbinC head when "A
! man is In this condition the sudden noise
/ ot slammed door frighttns him. and
| then he is angry at his own fright The
/ SUtetS were very quiet as the bclaiCd
| Southsider walked homewari. lie
! reached Cottage Grove avenue and
/ started across the street. and then he
\ stopped suddenly, seized with a feeling
| that he had lost his way. or that this
| street which he had crossed and re-
/ crossed for several years was not the
/ same. II was "a Kind ~ dumb terror. and
! he hastened To- tell hims II there was no
cause for It, Was he losing his scnsee2
J Wy should lie halt and tremble ana
I i''i NAltN AlttlIAfI- was I'M" "nltnE some
thing unusual had happened 70 him. and
! ne could not tell what it was.
This Is nervous collapse" he whis-
reryd tp himself. and he hurried TO the
drug store and allowed himself to coll
! lapse on one Of the stools. overcome
by vague fear that he could not Under
stand.
As he sat there the proprietor walked
by him. opened the front door. and after
| listening a moment said. "Well. that
cable hasn't gfuFtgI mn Nst
The cablei That was IL. and the re-
alzatiuu came to him i'm n flash OF the
hundreds Of times that he had crossed
Cottage Grove avenue he had always
heard beneath him the roll and click of
tho moving cable Whether by day or by
night IL had always been the same. un-
I'll this noise had become firmly asspci-
ated in his mind with the crossing OF
Cottage Grove avenue on this night
10 was the absence OF the noise that gave
q shock To his oytrscusitivc and in
ilamed nerves. lie had been tcrrorzed
10y an ominuus silence striking him at a
time and place wherein his instinct told
him there should Doe the clatter Of the
sliding cable. In view OF the eNplana-
tlon the story had tincc Of humnr. but
the man who had the experience did not
grasp the humor at the time.
when the druggist spoke Of the cable
being stopped said he. and 10 an came
to me, ! drew q fun breath Of relief and
realized that / hadn't gone entirely
crazy"
This story. told 10y the sufferer himself
suggested several others. one OF the
listeners said ho had been affected I'm the
same way. but not t. such an extent.
II came To my room late one night ana
began To- read" said he. "hut | was un-
comfortable and HAD au oppressed feel
ing. The silence caused me To- be un-
easy Then I looked UP aud saw that
the clock had stopped. ! started II
again. and when o. began ticking ! felt |
"a I had 70 o. Tho tiIlgiTfr ~ ]
a clock Is something that you never |
hear until IL stops
THAT reminds mo ~ a friend 90 mine |
who is an electrician said another. "Hc |
has a room in an electric light power |
house. As long Hs the machinery is |
pounding he can sleep like tor, hut |
when the machinery stops he Is wax
Cucl In an instant
In the main ofHct of the Western Union
Telegraph Company there are Hfty ur
more telegraph Instruments clicking an |
the time To the unframed ear the noise |
is ilsirdviing. II would seem impossible /
to near one s1uuder uul turn deaf ear |
20 the remainder. That is what the /
operator does, however lie takes tho |
message from the instrument before him |
ana does not hear the dots ana lasl"s |
that are being clicked off ON other sound |
CrS all around HIM The amazed strInE- !
cr hears only "a loud ana angry buzz. /
This is part ~ the town educatiun- /
10 have noises an around you uut not /
hear them. When trains began running |
on tho Alley elevated road, between I
state street ana Wabash avenue, a car /
r.age manufacturer who had number T.
uf wlrEmcn employed at tables next to-
the alley windows decided 10 have them /
moved o. some place where they would F..
not be disturbed. lie supposed that /
when the trains began rushing hy the /
wind aWs and only "a f.W feet from the I
building the men would constantly have .
their attention drawn from their work /
p. Flu a.
running IL seemed that ne was right /
The men would stop work ana watch /
the train until 30 had passed hut in one
short week the novelty Wore off. The
roar Of the passing train became familiar
and was almost uuEUucrd In less han
a month the wurkmen said the train did
not annoy them at all As one ot them
said: we forget there are any trains
passing unless some one speaks of IL
ANY hotel clerk VIII tell You Of the !
trihulatioUs ~ country people who stop
at downtown houses. They cannot sleep /
until the cable ears have ceased their /
rumuing and bell ringing, and then they
are aroused before daybreak by the
market wagons and the early cable cars.
often enough they cannot sleep al all.
The rattle ~ a hanson cab IN the
streets below viii arouse them 10 fun
Wakefulness, and the sound Of some one
Passing through the hallway outside viii
cause them % open their eyes and listen
intrutly for fifteen minutes. Then there
I~ the llthi tI llttSr A NC n rs llFh at ff'4i-
duciye 10 slumbeF. Eut there is another
side 90 this story. a Chicago man who
has lived Al a downtown hotel for years
said ne never awoke before S O'Clock eN-
cept when he was in Chicago.
when he was IN town ne could sleep
for three hours with cable cats, wagons
and newsuoys making all kinds of noises
under his window, but when he was in
the country he was awakened by the
first crow ~ rooster. IIe could sleep
through the noises 10 which he had be-
come accustomed, hut % new kind Of
noise aroused him IN moment. The
farmers cannot hear the fr1Es sing. bur
% the city man the chorus has the vol
umc uf a Thomas concert. The city man
with an office Overlooking La sale street
never hears anything in the street below
unless II be the music IF a brass band
or a maHEole explosion. His country
cousin, however, will be- dazed By that
continuous humble and rumble. His
head viii ache from listening 10 the