The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-02-10
ACOUSTIC
A science Not Well Understood by
Architects.

New Orleans Times-Democrat.
The literature of acoustics is very de-
hcient in exact data remarked a local
architect, speaking of the problems in
volved in the designing of theaters and
public halls. "Of course, we nave made
a tremendous advance in the last fifteen or
twenty years, and good acoustic properties
are no longer a mere question of good luck,
but the law governing sound waves is still
so full of mysteries and contradictions that
We can hardly lay claim to nave mastered
more than its rudiments. There is nothing
stranger, for example, than the open air.
Listen for a moment to this" AS the archi-
tect spoke he threw open one of the end
windows of his office and looked down into
a court at least fifty feet deep. Hi Char
ley!' he said, in an ordinary conversational
tone, and in a moment a big man in his
shirt sleeves peered up from one of the
lower offices on the opposite side. What
dye want?' he called, forming O speaking
tube of his hands. He was evidently MAX
ing some effort, but his voice was barely
audible. Nothing particular" replied the
architect, still speaking in his ordinary
voice; Just wanted to know whether you
were therei Thanks Goodbye! Now,
there's a trick i discovered by mere acct
dent" he continued, after he had closed
the window. Il happened TO find out that
my voice would carry down the right-hand
edge of that easement, and thence on down
the side of the wall TO some point where ii
is mysteriously DETECTED across the court
and pitched into my friends office.
Why ii should do so / don't know.
The phenomenon is attributable. of
course, to some chance arrangement of OBJ
structions, like mirrors rejecting a ray of
light from one to another, but i nave never
taken the time and trouble to figure it out.
Strange to say, the ordinary voice can't
be heard from the lower window to the
upper, and when L move half a foot away
from one certain spot 1 get out of the
carrying channel myself. / seem to have
struck some narrow track through the air
over which the vibrations move with par
ticular facility. In almost any small ROOM"
the speaker went on. sit is possible TO To-
cate what might be called an acoustic
center where all sounds are heard with
extraordinary distinctness. Some time ago,
when I was spending a week in Alabama
looking after some construction work, the
bed in my room at the hotel was so sit
uated as to bring my head almost exactly
into this acoustic focus. i didn't suspect
what was wrong, to begin with, but on the
first night of my stay / was greatly an
noyed by the loud ticking of my watch,
which was lying on the mantelpiece, and
changed its position several times without
relief. Finally 1t got on my nerves and
clothing and put IL into my valise. That
deadened the ticking. but meanwhile a lot
of other noises-local noises. belonging
strictly to the premises, had joined IN
the chorus-such things as the gnawing of
mice. the cracking OF castings, the sitting
of rubbish between partitions, and similar
small sounds 10 be heard Ia any old house.
1t was very trying and i was on the point
of leaving the hotel. when / discovered that
tireiy out of the zone of hubbub. 1 gave
the old four-poster bed q slight push. and,
for the balance of my stay, enjoyed a
season of peace and quiet"