New YORK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 312, 26 September 1908, Page 19

New YORK.

"WHAT DREADFUL NOISES IN MINE EAJSS." New. York seems, to be the noisiest city iii;-tbd world. A "writer;' ill tho / "Daily EspreSs"-' gives, a graphic • description of v/hnt -.vou can'hoar in:an' ordinary, reeidence quarter 'every' day-, - of.: the-.week excepting Sund.ay.:—Before :breakfast-tirb.e.:. th's streets ard'.'inviidccl -a legion of haWk'firs yelling tlidif tvaros with a display' of lung, power I tHat'.far; surpasses anything to-b<B"beard in LoSdotf. -Sotiie of the fish hawkprs carry big horns,/ which :;tbey.' : 'blow.', incessantly. - .Then come, che'.'dealeirK in old rags "and bottles," who puSh' barrows along. Some, of these barrows are equipped with rows of bells, ..which jinglo in>horrible discord.. Soinc' of the hawkers have'-'-bugles and i blow mighty . blasts. as if leading•.a cavalry;charge. ; /In ; ;s6me of 'the-'new districts where there is a ;great. deal of building, going on the Itajian". workmen start early; blasting the foundation rock with dynamite,, and thcro iB-,a;:frequent rdar. and concussion as, if the city were being bombarded.--There: are verj;. few. back gardens irf New York,'; so ,-the_ children havo to play in'the Their shout's add to the other Hoises.v'.'Somctimes peoplo are 'knocked down by.; juvenile roller skaters, and get their bcines broken. Baseball in the streets is another ; amusement of the youtliM" New Yorker,' arid during the season for the game you'are sometimes kept dodging balls flying in"every direction. As you walk to business your' nerves are tortured by the .. .peanut roasters; standing along tho Kerb and presided,'over by dirty Italians. Americans are very- fond of roasted monkey-nuts, or peanuts. To attract customers each roaster is provided with an automatic whistle, which keeps up a oontinual; shrill whistling. Nearly all; tho principal; New; York streets aro still badly: paved with rough cobble-stones, . poetically called" f 'Belgian blocks," and the, jolting, jarring, 'and.clattering of the traffic are enough to burst ono's ear-drums. • , , Innearly every; • street there' is a -tramline,: and; each tramcar is equipped- with'a big gong, which the driver clangs incessantly." in' somo streets there is an underground railway, then a tram-line on the surface, and an <;elevated, railway overhead, each having its -distinct note. There is the tremor of the' .underground traffic, the clanging and clattir.'of the tramcar, and the rush"and roar ofjHhe'.elevated train. .* '• : Being surrounded by water; with a great deal of; shipping, there is au incessant shrieking ; arid - bellowing of steam 'sirens on tho tugs.in .the Now York rivers.. Bo;terHfic i has been the noise fn New Yorls that some; time ago Mrs. Julia IJurnett Rice sta.rted : ari anti-noise orusade". She has succeeded 1 in having a law passed forbidding efceani; tugs making v unnecessary noises,/ although the nuisance still continues.' The New York authorities have also passed laws prohibiting all noises, ilioluding thoso mado by -' trains and motor cars, near hospitals/ Large, signboards are now set tip in the hospital districts bearing tho words; Hospital zone; be'quiet under penalty of the law."