BELLS AND NERVES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 108, 8 May 1908, Page 2

BELLS AND NERVES.

The reported action of the Mayor of a French commune/ who, it is said, has forbidden the local cure to ring the vow >.:>..-..a boll for more than three minute 4 cL,/, 'is warmly commended, by. The Hosp.uui. We lead :—"lndeed, an even more complete prohibition would not be unwise. The church bell has, of course, its poetical and. sentimental associations, and at, one time it doubtless had its practical value. But in this age of cheap clocks and watches it is no longer necessary, and for those who live in the immediate neighbourhood it is ofttimes a considerable nuisance. It remains, however, as an example of the essential conservatism of the British people, and we can hardly hope that our protest here recorded will silence it.

•■• , • • What justifies the introduction of the subject in these columns is the disastrous effect produced by tHe ringing of church-bells upon the comfort and welfare of many invalids. Every medical practitioner is familiar with instances that fall I within this category, and occasionally j the experience is a very painful one. A sleep that would be most beneficial, that might even possibly turn the issue between life and death, is prevented or rudely broken by the^ fierce clanging which issues from a neighbouring steeple, or, by what is not uncommon, the ear-splitting, discords of neighbouring steeples. If the nuisance cannot be altogether suppressed, it should at least be temporarily suspended on the veto of anyone living in the neighbourhood. There are many unnecessary noises, and the church-bell is. one of them."