The Waikato Times With which Is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9/ 1929. THE NOISE NUISANCE.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17605, 9 January 1929, Page 6

The Waikato Times With which Is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9/ 1929. THE NOISE NUISANCE.

A campaign has been started in England to secure the elimination of unnecessary street noises. A short time ago a London journal secured gramophone records of the roll and roar of the traffic of the streets of the Metropolis, and it brought these very pointedly to the notice of the Home Secretary and the Ministry of Transport. The Ministers very promptly reached the conclusion that a state of affairs existed in London which was not at all desirable from the standpoint of public health and they decided that henceforth the regulations must be more rigorously enforced'with a view to the abatement of what is undoubtedly a public nuisance- The campaign has the hearty support of the British Medical Journal, which writes: —“Will noise destroy our civilisation, or will civilisation destroy noise. . . . The definition of unnecessary noise presents considerable difficulty, because there are so many varieties of noise. Noise may be pleasant or unpleasant, loud or soft, offensive or inoffensive, and the effect of any noise varies with its quality, rhythm and duration. If, however, a particular noise may be prevented, with due care, if it is made -at times of the day or night when it is most likely to be disturbing; if it is loud, screeching, strident or discordant, or if it is dis-. continuous and unrhythmic, it may be regarded as an unnecessary noise and a public nuisance.” Recently the British Medical Association forwarded to the Minister of Health a memorandum based on a resolution passed at this year’s conference dealing with the subject. It pointed out that the devastating effect of unnecessary noise on the health and efficiency of the

community could not be over-esti-mated. This “plague of noise” has also engaged the attention of the Society of Medical Officers of Health in England, and a suggestion has been forwarded to the Medical Research Council that the efTect of extraneous noises on health is a suitable subject for early investigation and research. So seriously is this modern menace viewed by those directly interested in the health of the people that it is proposed to appeal to the Medical Organisation of the League of Nations to consider the abatement of preventible noise in the cause of humanity. The problem has become the more' difficult to deal with because for too long there has been no real attempt to grapple with it. In consequence the volume of noise has become enormous, and so much license has been permitted that curtailment is likely to be the more a matter of difficulty. What is obviously needed is an awakening of the public conscience—an assertion by the majority of their right to protection against what is really a form of tyranny exercised by a minority and a bringing home to all and sundry of a realisation that the individual is not at liberty to make as much noise as he likes. A healthy popular outcry, reinforced by official authority, is needed for the exercise of a counteracting influence. As the British Medical Association observes: “The pubhc has in this matter been long-suffering to an almost incredible degree. Two main causes have operated to produce this result; the public is unorganised and has no adequate means of voicing its opinions, and the present high peak of street noises has been reached so gradually that many persons have not fully appreciated what they are allowing others to inflict upon them.” It is a serious consideration that the eternal din has a prejudicial effect upon the public health. Street noises destroy the rest of which people have need (even hospitals are not immune from the cruel invasion), shatters their nerves, interferes with their efficiency, and means generally a considerable economic loss to the community. While the position is by no means so acute in the Dominion as it is in the crowded centres of population in Britain, yet disturbing noises, especially during the night hours, are sufficiently, evident here to warrant action by the authorities. This is the age of mechanical development, but the noises that disturb are often caused hv carelessness and thoughtlessness. Inefficiently silenced motor-vehicles and strident horns and electric hooters are objectionable noises, but the ch'.ef offenders are undoubtedly the motor-cycles. The better the condition of any street the greater the frequency of periods of unrest caused by the deafening din made by a peculiarly selfish type of motor-cyclist. The noise question in modern life is unquestionably very ex-j tensive and important, calling for serious attention in a constructive manner. The British Medical Journal writes with restraint when it says; “Unless something is done quickly to check the growing volume uf sound that assaults our ears we may find ourselves deprived more and more of that capacity for sustained wink, for clear thinking and energetic action' which is the mainstay of civilised life.”