Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, MAY 6 1907. THE SILENCED SIRENS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10964, 6 May 1907, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, MAY 6 1907. THE SILENCED SIRENS.

When the Borough Council By-laws Committee 6et to work with scissors and paste to adapt from the rules governing otlier.! municipalities a set of model bylawjs'of Gisborne, they evidently were actuated with a, desire to have the local form of municipal administration as uptordate as possible, and with) that object clauses were embodied making it a punishable offence to 6ound any. steam whistles or sirens within the borough limits. Such a provision may have become necessary m Wellington and. other large centres, where the multiplicity of factories, tlie* constant arrival and departure of steamers and the running "of trains may, with the unrestricted use of steam whistles, have been liable to promote a great deal of unnecessary noise offensive to tlie ears of the more sensitive and highly-strung section of the public. Tlie noises of a great city wonderfui. and varied, .iave been described as the buzzing of a million bees m a very complex hive, and discussion lias frequently arisen ih London and elsewhere as to whether 'the* cpnstaht clang and jar of sounds dots not have a very . prejudicial effect upon the meiTtaf systems of the inhabitants. The inharmonious effect of, the simultaneous blowing of one huhdred.Gteam whistles and liooters, m Wellington, for instance, to signalise tlue arrival of the luncheon hour, could not but be more or less distressing to persons of nervous temperament, and therefore Wellington ' lu;s thought fit for good and proper reasons to place a ban over tne use of factory and steamer whistles. Gisborne, however great its aspirations, is yet a long way behind Wellington m regard to the numher of its manufacturing enterprises, and the opportunities that occur for the use of steam, whistles, and \t would probably be many a long day before these increased m such number arid extent as to become-any-thing Ijke"!-^ public nuisance. We must say frankly, like the lady correspondent who- wrote- to lis last week and complained of the absence of the signal for dishing up the midday meal, that we miss the factory whistles and consider no good T purpose Las been served by their abolition. How many people there -were who were aroused from their beds by that 6 o'clock whistle of the freezing works, and obeying its call 'were prompted to pr__erve healthy - .mbits of early rising. Others wlio were able* to resist its appeal and rolled over for a longer nap. • were peremptorily reminded an hour later by the 7 o'clock blast that it Avas really time to think about .getting up and setting out to business, whilst the laggards at 8 o'clock- got a still further reminder of the rapid* chase of time. Then at 12 o'clock and 5 o'clock the whistles fulfilled an equally useful purpose m notifying the close of periods of the day's' activities. The town -was quiet enough before, but now with the silencing of the whistles, wliich served to- remind us that we have a few important industries m the* place, it is liable to be considered dull and dismal. We are glad to hear the merry calls of the whistles and the hum and ratt'e of machinery, and Gisborne with its lac tories giving vocal evidionce of their existence Avould 1 bo much more likeV to impress the visitor as a busy, prosperous town than Gisborne under the new bye-law with, only the town clock's faint tintinr*a_ulation_ to register the call of time. The chimes of the ciock are ciiute inadequate to serve the whole municipality, being heard at only a very limited distance from ;'*ho Post Office, varying according to AVind and weather, Avhilst the sound of the 7 o'clock 'whistle at the timber yards reached from Wainui to Te Hapara,' and thus performed much more general service. The new Council Avould do Avell io consider whether thc 'ojieration of the bye-hiAV sliould not he suspended for some years until Gisborne has arrived at the stage ot industrial development when the discord of its factory sounds actually becomes offensive to the ..public ear. ■'■.-•.- ' - : ■