New-York tribune., 1903-01-01
NOISY WELCOME TO 1903.
CROU,DS IN THE STREETS
Mighty Din Of Bells and Horns at
Old Years Last Gasp.

The New Year was welcomed in the most ap-
proved manner. Four great churches rang IN
the change with rich chimes Of patriotic and
rehslous music Twoscore more churches held
watchnisnt services where worshippers pre-
pared themselves for what 1908 has In store for
them For most of the people a holiday mood
prevailed The theatres. restaurants asSf hotels
were crowded The streets were throrzsa uifn
slowly moving, good natured crowds ESPECIALLY
along Broadway. from Long Acre Square soa8n
On New Years Eve practically everybodv 8 s1ly
a mood of jollity. Each person feels Gale .po1
TO contribute some small share of the s,1ise
Thousands Of young women were equippe With
noisy horns. Most Of their escorts. on tn, her
hand. had provided themselves with tn usw
devices for creating a lively disturbance cor
the close Of 1902 has seen several fresh inysn-
tions in the line OF making the weikin ring
One Of these sounds like rusty pulley of an old
fashioned well as the bucket descends. only the
noise is much intensified. and there is arotser
that gives forth throaty human note that II
nerve shattering and heart shaking.
1T MURDERED SLEEP
One pedler. of a literary turn, was selling .
device for making ones self generally obnoxtnus.
which he had named Macbeth" because said
he. 1T murdered sleep" He right. though
subtle The combined detonation of all these
barbaric utterances smote the very sky last
night
The year 1908 arriving and soma hing
must be done about it. Why people insis. on
celebrating the advent OF anything with noise
is psychological puzzle. A boat entering a
harhpr is welcomed with gunpowder The
entrance Of royalty or other persons Of irs-
portance into town is published with cannon
notes. So. when the world has decided that
fresh section OF time has been reached there is
nothing for 1t but to wreak exuberance on bells
and horns. The war mood is expressed with
drum and fife, devotion with a SLOW deep
chested organ. But why is it when people Wish
to emphasize the fact that they taking an
other step In eternity they resort to whirii ig
rattIes? There is much material for a CT rles
Lamb TO write another essay on Street Nc I"
They have changed since his day. and, it o
feared. somewhat degenerated.
The crowd last night proved that il -
Workers only have time enough they can b .gsr
nice. stepped-on foot was felt to no
excuse for impatience. Such CHEEKY nuI ituds
worth being in.
TRINITY CHURCH THE FOCUS
While Trinity was the heart ana rorus CT the
celebration. all New-York was in motion. There
were two distinct movements of the crowd. One
up and down Broadway. and the other was
an ebbing, after the old year had been rang
and blown out of existence. up Broadway to the
Federal Building. then up Park Row to Chat
ham Square, and thence the length Of the Bow
cry where many scattered to the various Ssssr.es
planned for the wee small hours of the first day
of 1908. New Years Eve is the supreme night
Of the year for East Side hops. There is
so poor but takes his girl to one of the three
hundred balls that keep snappily going sill the
dawn breaks
1t was an ideal evening for an outing. A fine
frosty air prevailed. which. by the way.
an unusually good medium for transmitting
sound. The crowd orderly and well dressed
The adjective boisterous must also be added. to
be quite truthful The abandon of such gath
ering on such a night is to be explained by the
resolutions which will go into effect the nor
row. Many feel it is the final effort of the old
man. and that the last word would better be
trihe Iurid il a new leaf is indeed. to be turned
There was much setting Of watches in the ear
lier hours of the evening. For 1t Is only
faith that the chimes are heard. so the proFident
man prepared himself for midnight by an ac-
curateIy revised timepiece. 1t is the custom.
sedulously observed last night. TO greet the
exact moment of midnight with blast uaasual-
Iy strident. When the glad instant did come
there was glorious unanimity of tin and din
that must almost have struck against the stars.
Even Harlem heard and wondered
There little sympathy expressed for 1902
The spirit Of the evening that once voiced
by Alfred Tennyson, when he said:
The old year is dyipg-
Let him die.
And again: