New-York tribune., 1920-11-25
The DioboIical Rooster
4 Call 10 Battle for Insomniacs
Reused bu Croping

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Now that the election is happily
over we can consider some of the cues.
tions of ordinary living. And among
them the question of unnecessary noises
is one of the most urgent, especially for
suburbanites, who have as many of them
to endure as the city dwellers have. The
worst of these is the backyard rooster,
and. save for those who sleep through
the horrors of his nexr-midnieht racket
1t is the most injurious to health.
Rooster growing has the queer distinc.
ton OF being an all-or-nothing affairs
it either does not disturb at all or ii
disturbs past bearing. The people
who "love to hear them" are without
compassion for those wretched beings
who are driven by them to the point Of
dangerous insomnia The torment OF tha
victim is augmented by the laughter Of
the immune, as we'll as by the obstinaoy
of the owners of the beasts. And it 4
torment!
To be reused regularly at 8 o'clock ia
the morning, or even earlier, by q
violent, raucous sound breaking in upoa
the dead quiet of the small hours. and
to realize that if you sleep again yoa
Will be startled awake again, is not .
thing which human nerves can bA
easily trained to endure. Every nightt
experience increases the effect; and
hnally the victim almost entirely losest
the power to sleep either before or after
the Growing, and the utmost he cat
hope for in the whole night is abouJ
two or three hours sleep induced bN
sheer exhaustion. This ruins his dayS
and makes him all but incapable If
either work or play. He breads ,h9
mere annoyance of the daylight growing
and other noises. He grows nervous and
weak, but is scorned and ridiculed untif
the state of his mind equals that of hi4
body. There is no physical depression4
short of severe illness, equal to that OF
insomnia; and nothing that leads more
directly to melancholy.
1t may be said that these sufferers ard
IN the minority; that it IS not wortit
while to consider the few who ar4
tortured in this way. But a minority Of
sufferers outweighs large majority of
those who do not suffer No city has th4
right to refuse the protection of ths
law to any one person whose health and
efficiency are seriously affected by the
selfshness of others.
who steals my purse steals trash.
But he who tilches from me my nights
sleep
And makes me poor indeed"
Chicken raisers know the ways Of pre-
venting these nusances, by closed DOORS
proper construction Of night quarters
etc, and they can at least be limited to
few weeks in the course of year.
If the owner believes that the com1ors
Of fowl means more than the WORE
and wellbeing of man or woman, he
edu db ieaSt SnOILSu tHe IiHic VI 49,
victims torment, for most of the
time the noise is totally unnecessary
In any case, towns of a certain szs
should pass ordinances forbidding thess
nuisances within the city limits. rms
is done in all places where the citizens
are properly protected. In these dsya
of difficult housing problems, 10 %
forced to choose between moving AMI
losing ones health and energy is httl'
short of tragic The subject deserves
serious consideration, and those IN SYM
pathy may write to
AN OUT-OF-TOWN SUBSCRIBERS.
P. o. Box At, East Orange, \. a
Nov. 5. 1920.
A Word for the Future