THOSE BELLS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 111, 7 November 1910, Page 8

THOSE BELLS.

TO THE EDITOH. Sir,— Tho bells of St.- Peter's Church wakened this neighbourhood at 7 o'clock this morning. They sounded again at 8 a.m., 10.30 a.m., 2.40 p.m., and 6.30 p.m. The 7 and 8 o'clock ringings were for ten minutes each, at 10.30 a full half-hour, at 2.40 twenty minutes, and at 6.30 again a full half-hour — in all one hour and forty minutes of ear-piercing, temper-trying, discordant jangle. In addition to this we had on Saturday afternoon nearly a full hour of these bells, when there is no service at all. I submit this is not fair to the inhabitants of thiß district. A man finishes a heavy week's work and looks forward to a quiet read and sleep after luncheon both on Saturday and Sunday, but no sooner is one settled down when these all-out-of-tune bells are set going, and all hope of rest and quiet is taken away, and that in one's own house, and in a locality where the high values of the land and the heavy rates mean high rents, for which one is entitled to look for decent comfort, and a church is tho very last body from which the infliction of pain ■and discomfort ought to come, for" both pain and discomfort are inflicted by these bells. This has been pointed out in the presß frequently, and in your own columns strong editorial condemnation has been passed on these bells. The church people ia Christchurch manage these matters very muoh better. There the carillon in the cathedral is complete and beautifully in tuno, yet even at such an important Bcrvico as that of Canon Stuart's mission the other day only four minutes of bell ringing was allowed. I was staying' at Warner's Hotel, and heard and timed the bolls. But then Bishop Julius is not only a Chrintian gentleman but also an astute man of the world, who knows that any church that gives the needless pain and offence that St. Peter's does with its bells not only damages itself but also every other church. In Melbourne the law has declared church bell ringing unlawful under certain conditions, and has awarded damages against a person^ ho offending. I sincerely trust it will not be necessary, for this neighbourhood to resort to the law. — I am, etc., BULLER-STREET. 6th November, 1910.