Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-03-11
A REMARKABLE ECHO
WONDERFUL SOUND EFFECTS IN A
NEW YORK MONUMENT.

erside Drive, Where sound Rolls |
About Like Ball.
A big French motor car occupied by |
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
One Of the men was a millionaire
well known in the financial district
The other was a great tenor. WitA
them were the millionaire's wife and a
woman known in half a dozen Euro
pean capitals as one of the greatest
operate coaches living-a woman who
is a constant attendant upon operate
stars and sharer in no small degree
in their musical triumphs.
If it had been made during Sunday
or a weekday afternoon, a crowd Of
fashionable folk would undoubtedly
have had their curiosity piqued by the
peculiar visit Of four such we'll known
people. The whole affair was SO bi.
zarre and the sounds which soon issued
from the narrow entrance to the glis-
tening white monument were SO
strange that at any but late night
hour a 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
1.-THE average American is 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 book or two describing the
marvellous things he sees, when by 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-
hves."
"But echoes, signor," replied the ten
or as he grasped the Wall street mans
arm. Echoes such as we have in the
baptistery! Never-except in the old
cathedrals of Italyr'
THAT'S just what Americans say"
retorted the New York man. '"They 60
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 a 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 babe 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
ers 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 dandefon
| seed. The sound decreased until the
note seemed to strike the small, high
ceiling, where 1t fingered a moment be-
fore commencing its downward trip.
Gradually increasing in loudness. it
came back to the floor of the monu-
i ment, apparently as loud and as intact
as when it was uttered. The whole
wonderful incident occupied only q
few seconds, but every stage Of the
i sounds trip to the top Of the monu
ment and back was as pronounced and
n easily traced as though it had beer
butterfly or a toy balloon.
''Magnifcenty' exclaimed the tenor iI
tones Of rapture and surprise. Il never
dreamed such q marvellous echo existed
outside the baptistery at Pisa"
His voice made a perfect riot o.
sound within the narrow shaft. Count
less tones going and coming in rapit
succession produced an effect almos
painful upon the ears of the listeners.
At the request of one Of the womel
2 the tenor sang very slowly and soft!
J q few phrases of LA Donna Mobile
The effect was peculiarly beautiful
Two men seemed to be singing, one 1
! half beat behind the other. As In tn
: Wall street mans experiment, eacl
note could be heard distinctly soarin
\ aloft to the ceiling and back. At tn
return of each note In its original vigo
= and, fullness the effect Of seconl
II singer was produced. The union Q
c the bell-like tones Of the beautiful
!; voice, the wonderful echo and the pr
3 euliar strangeness Of the whole situa
ton brought cries of delight from tn
o. two women. s Es$. ss4
81 believe 1t is as fine as the one /
: Pisa" said the woman who coache
Z prima donnas, "and to think that "
8 never even heard Of 1t beforeT
Peculiar fact, said the New Yorke
. striking match and Illuminating th
DARK cold interior New Yorker