El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-24

OF echoes The apartment IN question,
which is of great size, and the most
important architectural feature of the
recently finished white marble annex,
at the south end of the capitol. is in
tended particularly for caucus purposes
and any such trouble with its acous-
tics would destroy its usefulness.
Furnishing Important.
Elliott Woods. the superintendent
of the capitol, believes that the furnish
ing of the hall-a job that is now be-
ing tackled-win do away with the
echoes. But it is not surprising that
anxiety should be felt about the mat
ter, because congress has suffered
much Inconvenience from such causes
in the past 1t will be remembered that
the chamber formerly occupied by the
house of representatives was rendered
almost impossible for legislative pur-
poses by the echoes which beset it.
Though considered in its day master
piece of architecture it was extraOrdi-
nerily bad acoustically-so much so,
indeed that members sitting in certain
places could not make themselves heard
by the speaker, while the merest Whis-
pers were in some instances carried
with distinctness over long distances,
exposing, it is said many a political
secret.
There Quincy Adams Died
Adams died, while a representative in
congress. is known today as Statuary
hall, and the statesmen assembled in
IT are voiceless figures of marble and
bronze. But, on any day of the year.
one may see professional guides in the
act of exhibiting the echoes to stran-
gers, who always find them interesting
as a curiosity They have two princi-
pal foci, about fifty feet apart, and
goI
of these points is distinctly audible
at the other.
In the days when this historic cham
Der was built, nothing worth mention
ing was known about acoustics. It's
defect in this respect was considered
merely an unfortunate accident. But
IT gave rise to a great deal of COM
plant, and architects and other experts
were called upon to suggest means !
whereby the trouble could be remedied.
This was as far back as 1921. One
plan proposed was to lay flat ceiling |
of lath and plaster over the whole /
hall on a level with the cornice. An |
other idea was to make the ceiling Of I
glass.
Now, some complaints of the same :,
kind have been made in regard to the |
present chamber of the house On |
which account il was that two sum-
mers ago, Prof Sabine OF Harvard, who
IS one of the only two men in this
country who really know anything
about acoustics scientifically, spent a
week in Washington, Investigating the
subject He made a thorough test Of /
the great hall, choosing the time be-
tween midnight and daybreak, when
the city was asleep, for his labors. He
decided that the criticism had no ba-
sis whatever in fact and that the
chamber was one of the best in the
world acoustically. If there was any
erouble, 1t was that the members
themselves made too much noise.
Gallery of Sound Waves.
Visitors to the capitol are usually
taken up to the gallery that runs
around the top of the rotunda, just be-
meath the great picture representing
the apotheosis Of George Washington,
to listen to the whispering echoes
there. Sound waves run around the
curved wall, following it so that an
utterance of the voice scarcely audi
BILE close at hand, can be heard with
distinctness clear across on the oppo-
site side of the gallery
The occurrence of a similar phenom-
enon at the cathedral of Girgenti, in !
Sicily. many years ago, gave rise TO
scandals. 1t SO happened
that one of the confessional boxes was
placed in the focus Of an echo. The
focus was $50 feet dis
tant. and one day somebody made the
accidental discovery that by standing
In a certain spot he could hear the
whispered words of persons confess
ing their sins. In this manner many
things were revealed which might
better have remained hidden; but after
q while the priests found out what was
going on, and moved the confessional
Nest Wonderful Temple.
Acoustically speaking, the most re-
markable building in the world is the
Mormon tabernacle at Salt Lake City.
When it is empty the fall of a pin
is audible at any point within its walls,
and the almost imperceptible sound
made by rubbing the hands together
may be heard from one end of the place
TO the other. Almost equally wonder
full. it is said is the abbey of St AL
bans. in England, where the ticking of
a watch may be plainly distinguished
the whole length Of the church
Synagogue Useless.
1t appears then, that the form of a
building may so affect sound waves
as to conserve and utilize them to the
greatest advantage for speaker or
singer. This is matter of frequent !
observation But, on the other hand, |
one sound may produce several echoes
from different directions, which, re-
again and again at different |
intervals, distract the hearers. Such |
was the case with a magnificent syna- ! !
gogue recently built in New York City. !
II is Of such shape as to be practically j
one great dome. Its beauty is beyond I
criticism; but it was filled with such !
harsh and discordant echoes as to be
rendered almost useless. 3
Experts by the dozen were called in .
to advise. One idea suggested was 7
that immense numbers of wires, ar J
-anged parallel, should be strung across I
he synagogue, high enough above the
heads Of the congregation to be in i
Visible. yet serving to break up the OBJ :
ectionable sound waves However, f
he scheme finally adopted was much ,
more simple, and consisted in cover 7
ng the walls with a fibrous Material .
Ipon which paint was laid. This has
killed the echoes entirely
Acoustics An Infant Science. $
The science of acoustics is still in | /
Is infancy, and the planning of a hall '
or music, theatrical representations &
II legislative purposes, is always large I
y a gamble in this respect If echoes