Smyrna times., 1904-02-10
A REMARKABLE ECHO
WONDERFUL SOUND EFFECTS IN A
NEW YORK MONUMENT.

Dig french motor car occupied nv
two men and two very pretty women
whirred up Riverside drive late Sun-
day evening and at Ninetieth street
drew up and stopped at the approach
TO the Soldiers and Sailors monument
1t was long past the hour when the
crowd Of fashionable promenaders
leaves the drive as the party of four
stepped out of the big, vibrating ma
chine and climbed the steps to the
monument
One of the men was a millionaire
well known in the financial district
The other was a great tenor. With
them were the millionaire's wife and q
woman known in half a dozen Euro.
pean capitals as one of the greatest
Operatic coaches living-a woman who
is a constant attendant upon operatic
stars ara a sharer in no small degree
in their musical triumphs.
Ii it had been made during a Sunday
or weekday afternoon, a crowd of
fashionable folk would undoubtedly
have had their curiosity piqued by the
peculiar visit of four such we'll known
PNOBAN' LII W AAOAC d1SllI WAS so Dl-
Zarre and the sounds which soon issued
from the narrow entrance to the glis-
teninS white monument were so
strange that at any but a late night
hour crowd must have quickly filled
the plaza around the marble shaft, A
desire to escape any such annoying in
cidents probably led the visitors to
choose the nighttime for their visit.
The average American is a consum-
mate ass" said the New Yorker as he
guided the small party up the moon
lit steps to the monument. "He travels
to the utmost parts of the world.
spends barrels of money and generally
writes a book or two describing the
marvellous things he sees, when bv re-
naming right at home he could have
seen sights of a similar kind which
would have knocked the spots off the
things on which he has wasted his
patrimony and paragraphs Of superla-
tiveS."
But echoes, signor," replied the ten
or as he grasped the Wall street mans
arm. Echoes such as we have in the
baptstery! Never-eXcept in the old
cathedrals of Italy,
That's just what Americans saw"
retorted the New York man. "Thev 90
into ecstatic raptures over European
mediocrity without knowing that they
live among the greatest collection of
marvels in the world. Listen to this"
The party had reached the door lead
ing to the interior of the monument
a solid cylindrical wall of marble and
granite surrounded slender room
empty save for a half dozen dried
wreaths lying on one corner of the
stone floor. When the whole party had
wormed its way into the monument.
the Wall street man bade them be
very still and with upturned face in
toned a low note. An echo was heard
which riyaled those marvellous re-
verberatiOns which have drawn travel
crs to distant parts of the world and
have been the subjects of brilliant de-
scriptions in the daily press and be-
tween covers. The note seemed instant
ly transformed into a moving ball of
sound. Its journey to the distant stone
ceiling could be distinctly traced. 1t
seemed to be waited upward like a
ring of smoke or a cottony dandelion
seed. The sound decreased until the
note seemed to strike the small, high
ceiling, where it fingered a moment be-
fore commencing it's downward trip.
Gradually increasing in loudness, it
came back TO the floor of the monu-
ment, apparently as loud and as intact
as when it was uttered. The whole
wonderful incident occupied only a
few seconds, but every stage of the
sounds trip to the top of the mOnu-
ment and back was as pronounced and
as easily traced as though it had been
a butterfly or toy balloon.
"Magnificentw exclaimed the tenor in
tones of rapture and surprise. Il never
dreamed such marvellous echo existed
outside the baptistery at Pisa"
His voice made a perfect riot Of
sound within the narrow shaft. Count
less tones going and coming in rapid
succession produced an effect almost
painful upon the ears of the listeners.
At the request of one of the women
the tenor sang very slowly and softly
few phrases Of La Donna Mobile.
The effect was peculiarly beautiful.
Two men seemed to be singing, one
half beat behind the other. AS in the
Wall street mans experiment. each
note could be heard distinctly soaring
aloft to the ceiling and back. At the
return of each note in its original vigor
and fullness the effect of a second
singer was produced. The union OF
the bell-like tones of the beautiful
voice, the wonderful echo and the pc
culiar strangeness of the whole situa-
ton brought cries of delight from the
two women.
Il believe it is as fine as the one in
Pisa" said the woman who coaches
prima donnas, "and to think that we
never even heard of it befOre!'
Peculiar fact" said the New Yorker,
striking C match and illuminating the
dark, cold interior. New Workers
l.. NTrnTur ~