Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-10-04
FIERCE NEIeHBoRHooD WARS.
Big Battery of Pianos and Other
Queer Methods of Retaliation.

1
| Queer Methods Of Retaliation.
All London has been laughing at
the vendetta waged between Ealing
neighbors each of whom has spent
much time and some money trying to
annoy the others.
The trouble originated in the crow
ing of three cocks. To drown the noise
and incidentally to "get even" with
the owner of the birds. the next door
neighbor invested in a 120-guinea mo-
tor-driven piano and set it playing
the melody of Chirgwin's "Blind Boy
over and over again.
This got on the nerves of yet anoth-
er resident, who dwelt opposite, and
he cou.itered with a huge gramophone
which ground out Tchaikovysky's
1872" overture, and other equally
noisy tunes. other residents, unwil-
| ling to be left out of it, but unable to
afford electric pianos or empower
gramophones. bribed organ grinders
to play outside the respective houses
OF course the small boys for miles
around got to hear of the free con-
cert. and trooped into the neighbor-
hood Extra police had to be called
| in to preserve order and so high did
local feeling run that at one time Sc
rious breach of peace was feared.
CuriouSly enough these vendettas
among neighbOrS are not uncommon
| and some have been carried to even
more extreme lengths than the Ealing
one. There was. for instance, a case
| tried in the law courts some little
| time back in which it was proved that
a man, in order to annoy his next
door neighbor, and thereby crafty his
grievance, had actually bought no
fewer than ~ pianos, which he in
stalled in his house, and kept going
for IS hours out of the "a, hiring re-
| lays of players for that purpose.
Another similar lawsuit involved
the calling of more than 100 Witness
es, and both the parties to it were
made bankrupt, neither of them be-
| ing able in the end to meet the costs
of the action. In this case one neigh
Dor had started a blacksmith's shop
| in his back garden-which was in a
select. residential neighborhood-out
vi SHtcI Spllt, anu TIE OllleI Ildu re-
| taliated by burning evil-Smelling
chemicals, and in other equally OBJ
| jectionable ways.
| In yet another case of the kind
which occurred i'm London only last
year, one neighbor exploded a small
bomb in the letter-boX of another with
whom he was at variance. The eX-
ploSiOn. which took place in the mid
| die of the night, wrecked the entrance
| hall and alarmed the whole street.
| NeighborS have sometimes gone to
the extreme lengths of erecting more
or less costly buildings in order to
spite one another. Not infrequently
these have taken the shape of tall
towers intended to overlook each 9TH
er'S property. One such exists at
King Cross. near Halifax, and anOth-
| er. associated with the name of DraX,
at Warcham, in Dorsetshire.
At the present moment, one of
| Americas most exclusive summer re-
sorts is agitated over the conduct Of
the plebeian freehOlder of a residence
in street known locally by the sobri-
quet of "Millionaires' Avenue" Be-
cause his ariStOcratic n1ighb0rs con-
spred to boycott him. he has convert
ed his fine mansion into a lodging
house for negro trampS.
| When Charles Crocker, the San
Francisco multi millionaire, fell out
with 4 German neighbOr, he bought
| up all the land adjoining the latter'S
house. and then had a fOrty-fOot high
wall built around it. The unhappy
| TeutOn. condemned by this Stratagem
To live as it were at the bottom of n
well. shut out from light and air, re-
taliated by blowing horns. and firing
off small cannOns at frequent inter
walls.
Eventually. both grew tired of the
vendetta. and removed elsewhere. but
| the enormously tall wall remained,
! and was one Of the sights of san Fran
cisco until the earthquake tOppled it
| down.
| Some years ago a well-tO-dO York
shire squire was annoyed by the clang-
ing of Il bell i'm a new factory which
had been erected near his house, and.
after lengthy and expensive law pro-
| ceedmgS. he obtained an injunction.
restraining the mill-owner from ring
| ing it. The latter thereupOn took what
| is. perhaps one of the most remark
able rcvcngeS of the kind on record.
knowing that his victorious adver-
| Sary. besides being Il noise hater was
also Il diSScnter. he caused 4 church
To be built right opposite his residence
and lowered il with 4 full peal Of
bells. which he took care should be
rung as frequently and as loudly as
possible This was the final and the
master stroke. for il has been held
that no injunction can prevent bells
being rung in Il duly-liCcnScd place of
worship. and the CreStfallen loser in
| the curious contest had to sell his
cherished home and live elsewhere.
From Il Yorkshire village also
comes the amusing story of The cam
tankeruuS old gent. who annoyed at
the persistent piano pounding of q
mcighbOI opposite, bribed Il cobbler
and Il carpenter To set up business on
either side OF the tOO-energetic muSi-
clan.
For some time the latter put up
with the inccssant hammering. but
was eventually driven To brbe them
with the promise Of a tcn-pOund note
apiece to move to other quarters.
The offer was accepted. and few
days later the Cobblcr put in an ap-
pcaranCc to say that he had fulfilled
his part of the bargain. and To claim
the reward. Next day. the Carpenter
did the same. and he. too. asked and
received tn" stipulated sum.
| Just as he turned to go, however.
after p0Ckctimg the money. it occur
red to the muSiC-lovcr To ask whittier
he had moved oh" was the diScon
critcd reply. | have changed houses
with my friend. the cObblcr.'
| 1t turned out that they had been
put up to the dodge by tn" mrighbUr
uppOSitc. who was the original nSti-
gator Of the bother. and To whom they
had naturally appealed in view Of the
new ana tempting offer they had re-
ceivcd.-PcarSun' Weekly.