Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-03
'HAVANA'S NOISES
ARE TO Be HUSHE[
Mayor Opens Campaign TO
Quiet to Settle Nerves
of PopuIace.
By the Associated Press.

~ VIC AssOCIdtCo EEebbs
HAVANA, August 3.-Havana, the
city Of never-ending sounds, is to be-
come city Of quiet. It's ever-present
voice, made up Of shouts Of CANINE.
calls Of newsboys, cries Of fruit vendors,
droning Of bead peddlers, chant Of lot
terry ticket sellers, changing trolley ca
gongs and honking automobile hornE,
must go under the soft pedal.
Mayor Mariana Gomez has thus de-
creed. The maddening orchestratior
of the city, he declares, disturbs nervou
systems and shortens lives. He realize
that the city cannot be hushed over
night, but he says 1t can be done by de-
greeS under DEGREES That will enforce
fines upon those who insist upon max
ing themselves heard above every on
else.
Part Of Quaint City.
The voice Of Havana has been as
much part Of the quaint city as its
Prado and the marble benches that line
it. The voice is one Of Wagnerian VOL
ume, with q tone base Of gongs, bells
and horns, punctuated by the warning
yells Of cabbieS and accented by loud
speakers placed in the doorways of
stores and theaters. The whole Is
themed by the squeaking Of wagons and
the shrieking Of peddlers, whose high
pitched cries stand out over the dia-
pason Of the city's roar like the soprano
notes Of the Valkyries In Wagner's i'm
mortal work.
Chief contributors to the Babel are
the ran1shackle jitney buses, known
here as "gua-guas." There are big,
comfortable buses, too. that would do
credit to any community. but the fare
on them is 10 cents. The jitneys still
get the nickels Of the workingman and
those who prefer to risk limbs and
necks at the price of half fare. The
downtown streets are damned with
"gua-guas" and the atmosphere made
hideous with the souawking Of their
bulb horns. The drivers yell at pedes-
TRANS and at the drivers Of other buses
as they race for strategic corners.
Horse-Drawn Vehicle.
The "gua-gus" was once a creaking.
horse-drawn, sedate vehicle built on the
lines of the old-fashioned street car
Entry to the rattan seats was from the
rear and progress was slow, but com
Portable.
But with the first sale Of second
hand cars in Havana the old-time
wagons disappeared. Often the bodies
Of the horse-drawn cars were divorced
from whifhetrees and given lodging be-
hind piecemeal engines.
This method Of construction has led
to some veritable massacres. The sub
Erb Of Mariana is still talking about a
srnash-up which occurred when the
driver Of one of these machines. with
Is passengers aboard, raced up q long
hill past another jitney, turned to shout
defiant taunts at the defeated driver
and crashed head-on into an approach
ing street car. One passenger was killed
and Is injured.
Two weeks later another pair Of lit
neys raced on the Central highway.
The road was wet, but the driver Of the
rear machine started to pass the other
on a curve. A touring car speeding
from the opposite direction reduced the
flimSy bus to kindling wood. Two pas
sengers were killed and four badly
hurt.
So If the mayors campaign for quiet
results In a reform Of the jitney buses,
forcing the drivers to use their horns
less and what driving skill they possess
bit more, the public probably viii bach.
the city executive to the limit.