New-York tribune., 1896-06-07
ryyrcESS4RY ciTY NOISES.

Tho d scurdnnt cry IL the strcct-ycnder has
become 80 much n feature OF city life that II
never seems To- occur 20 anybody 10 ask why 1t
should be- allowed. Of course. So long as the
ycul,r takes out his license permitting him
TO cry his wmr,s lie Is entirely within his legal
rights IN doing 50: and even thOs" who are
most annoyed 10y his raucous mutations have
no good reason Ia be- angry with him. lie is
slinply trying - make m honest living IN
lawful way But the wisdom ~ allowing such
men to add 10 the unavoidable din ana clanor
Of the clty i- open 20 serious question. As The
Nrdlcni Record polats out Ia well consld.
erred nriicc IA. erie, OF street vcnd"rs have the
effect of largely increasing the suuerings OF
nervous and sick people. and the nervous ana
the sick form n large class In a city like New
York II would be- bad enough II strect-vcnd.
crs were gifted with pleasant. musical voices,
but that i- far from being the case. "AccOrd-
Ing to the statistics kept 10y the Street-Vender
License Burcnu." says The Record" only
"one man has applied for II permit so far this
season who WAS not the victim OF n severe
"chronic laryngltis. This one IL recorded IA
having only an aggravated cleft palate. Some
"of those who are being rendered deaf by the
"discordant cries may receive satisfaction from
the thought that six weeks in the business
lis the average time for a boy 10 lose his voice
"cnrircly"
Now why should one particular class Of mcr-
chants b. allowed TO make such public nui-
sanccs of themselves? The Record enters its
protest in the name of inyallds and nervous
people. and it confines It's criticisms merely to
the cries of street -vcndcrs But the street
vcnd,rs nrc 10y no means the only, or the chief.
N il IN Tor upryo
people are not the only persons 10 be considered
IN discussing the question of unnecessary noises
The question *, In fact, OF the greatest impor-
lance ana every citizen. whether he is In good
health or not. Is vitality Interested In 1t. For it
Is Il matter Of record that the nervous system
Of civilized man Is ncutcly sensitive to impress
slons thar would have no effect on the primitive
savage. AS the world advances IN culture it
shrinks more and more from all experiences
that affect the nerves such MS pain, grief, sud
den surprise and noise The savage can endure
without fllnchng pain that would be inoerable
to the civilized man. and he would not be dl'
concerted by noises TINT would drive most pco-
pie in civilized life to the madhousc
No will question this; nnd yet strangely
enough. In our cities little effort IL made 10
avoid noise. In most American towns the pave
making as much noise ns possible Tn" recent
adoption OF rubber tires for carriages has shown
what can be done In eliminating the noise Of
vehicles; but nearly nil trucks are nccdcssiy
noisy. They are so loosely put together that
they rattle through the streets like n moving
boiler shop. The same thing is true IN n large
measure Of strcecars. and there are few rail
way trains that are not run with II great deal
more noise than IL nj all necessary The Now
York Central Railroad has set Il good example
In this mntter by ordering for It's yard In this
city noiscless switch-engine But the strange
thing is that public opinion has not long ago
forced every railway company to do the same
thing. In our patient endurance OF evils that
could easily he avoided we are long suffering
people We allow trucks to carry loads of
loudly clanklng iron rails through our streets
when we might just ns well rs not insist on
their being packed so as to De noiseless. And
we permit thousands OF milk-wagons to dis
I turb our morning rest ky noisy tintnnabula-