The Wrangell sentinel., 1929-07-11

to say with much feeling; Next year We must see to IL that things are kept qulet outsIde the nall dur ing the program. US a dlsgrace! We are all worked up over Ine sLac- cato interruptions, and We mean lU Go something that snaII put an emu to the annoyance at sucn a time oI noise-makers ana tIre-crackers, put We forget or are careless and the next year the same LnIng occurs and once more we are rlIed ln spirit.
 TnIs year was no exception. 4 woman oI naLIonal importance gra- clousIy consented on a lew minutes notice to give a talk aItnougn ner stay ln Wrangeu was snOrL ana Sue thereby mlsseu sightseeing Lo some extent, aud at times, sne couIo scarceIy De heard TOT tue cannonau- ing ouIslde, some or Il as cIose to tue entrance or the haII, seeming ly, as II Is posslDIe 10 get mILn a bunch or crackers. The program committee requested busy man, wno mad aIso Deen a SICK nlan Io4 LIIne, 10 prepare tue Inuepenuence Lay auuress anu ne was InLerrupLsu constantly by the noIsemaKers out slde despIte the Iact that Lne gen tleInan presiding asked that an ar- tempt De maue to preserve QuleL tor tIme. A chorus 0eYoLeu an evening lo strenuous practice oL songs tnaL WouId pay their part Ill the celebration ana mad all accom- paniment Iou0er than any drum aud ot no rythmic value. It has been so year alter year. 1t Is not fair to those who take part. IL IS not Iair 10 that percentage Of resi- dents who feel that there IS more to the Fourth or JuIy than mere nolse.
 The children are entitled to tneIr good times, their fire-crackers and their noise-makers, but are we clti- zens So indifferent to the real spir- it of the day that we cannot take time to suggest that for one hour, the noise be taken away from the again, it seems as IL 1t is considered smart to disturb those who wish to attend the program, for special ef- fort Is made to shoot as near the door of the hall as possible. And not only children are the offenders. Surely, there was no need to prac- tice a saxophone solo in the imme- diate vicinity of the hall at that particular hour of the day, and yet that is what happened also!
 We are not fair to children when we permit them to grow up indif- ferent to the rights of others. We are all wrong when we permit them to think only of their own fun. If we are to enjoy any form of enter tainment outside of the silent pie lures { and the talkies are coming when we must listen as we'll as see) we must begin to train them to some respect for music and speech. Whenever the excellence of an en- tertainment such as was given by the Westminster Glee Singers on the night of the Fourth is marred by children clicking 8 pistol in time to the singing, by running up and downstairs, by talking between themselves in a loud voice, and by play, there is something wrong, and the grown-ups who were quite as noisy in other ways in the balcony should forfeit all right to attend ance as well as such young folks. The lovers of good music, of patri- otic speech, of national airs have some rights.
 Let us do something about it next time. Let us define a zone that shall be kept free from fire-crackers for a time on the morning of the Fourth. Let us teach our young folks that unless they can listen quietly to good entertainment, they would better remain outside for their play. Let us keep them seat ed with us where we can in some measure control their restlessness. Iat ua try t0 eo-onprata with fhosn who would like to see a Wrangell audience appreciative and respect ful instead of guilty of disrespect and rowdyism.