Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-28
Want an Injunction Against Early
Hammering
From the Philadelphia Inquirer.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.
One of the most remarkable law suits OF
which there is any recent record Is that
which lately engaged the attention Of
Baltimore court. 1t was brought by some
people living in the fashionable quarter of
the city, and themselves belonging to what
is called the smart set, and it's object was
to secure an injunction to restrain a car
penter, who in some way or other had
established a shop in the neighborhood,
from working at his trade at an hour
earlier in the morning than the petitioners
were willing that he should.
They complained to the court that this
inconsiderate carpenter, not having tho
fear of fashionable society before his eyes,
and either not approaching or unfeelingly
ignoring the fact that people whose attend
ance at social functions requires them to
be up until late at night or perhaps until
early in the morning, need to sleep late in
order to renew their exhausted energies,
would begin business at so matutinal an
hour as Z am, and by the saving and
planning and hammering and boring in
which he and his assistants engaged, would
produce a variety of loud and cacophonous
sounds which would arouse the petitioners
from their peaceful and refreshing slum-
bers and make further sleep impossible.
And so they begged the court to order that
this obnoxious carpenter postpone his &C.
tivities until after o'clock at the earliest.
1t is hardly necessary to say that the
court refused to do anything of the kind
but that 1t should have been asked shows
in an impressive and striking manner to
what degree selfshneSS in some people is
developed and how far some favorites of
fortune inclined to presume upon the
advantages they enjoy. These fashionable
and affluent persons who were annoyed and
Inconvenience by the noises proceeding
from the carpenter shop in their vicinity
did not hesitate to try their best to rob
their Industrious neighbor of his time and
to Interfere with his pursuit of an en-
tirely legitimate and highly essential occu-.
patton. They had no just cause for COM
plant. Those who live in a city must in
return for the many advantages which they
make the best of the various discomforts
and drawbacks of which an urban resi-
dence is the unavoidable occasion. They
cannot expect to find the seclusiOn of the
cloister the quiet of the country in q
crowded center of business activity and
such irrational idea they have only to
blame themselves when they are disap-
pointed.
There are things which may and do form
a reasonable basis of complaint City dwell
ers are not required to stand for everything
in the way of noises and nuisances. There
is a limit. and when that limit has been
passed. resort to the protection of the
law is not only justifable, but praise
worthy. Thus If the carpenter whose saw
ing and hammering so much annoyed the
Baltimore fashionables had insisted upon
maintaining his activity by means of re-
lays throughout every hour Of the twenty
four the case would have been different.
Then the application for an Injunction
might have been more favorably CONSIDER
but conform to the prevailing pracucs
among the great majority of people, ana y
his neighbors didn't like 1t their remedy
was to move away.