SOME FAMED ECHOES.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, 17 September 1903, Page 3

SOME FAMED ECHOES.

Buildings and Out-of-Door Spots That Furnish Them. .., . BrmarkaMc Phenomena. That HaT* A.tti'tt£Cc<l Ctirlomlty Seeken from All Parts of the World to Tali Continent. In this couotry there are maiiy •well-known buildings noted for their [echoes, and of these perhaps none is more remarkable than the tabernaole in Salt Lake City. When .this hall is empty and quiet, the ring - of a pin failling on the floor can be heard, from all points and even the feeble, rasping- sound produced by rubbing-the hands together is perfectly audible from one end of the building to the other, says Pearson's Magazine. A befeter known, but really less wonderful, example of audibility within a building is found in the national hall of statuary in the capitol at Washington. The phenomena manifested here, which are genuine mid interesting enough, have been SKXruewhat overstated. 1 have spent a long- morningin this hall studying the matter critically ami having- obtained due permission have questioned the various groups of visitors while being placed in chosen positions by the guides to hear the marvelous reverberations of sound. The guides certainly make the most 10-f their opportunities for impressing visitors—but when a guide retreats to a distance to whisper you may observe 'on -.approaching him with due icaution that liis whisper is of the "stage whisper" sort and calculated .to carry with great distinctness underbuy conditions. The chief acoustical pe'ciipr.-'.lies of the chamber arte ckarly due to the fact that the roof, which is partly domed, is not symmetrical with respect, to the floor, so that a complex reverberation is the consequence. Natural echoes unsurpassed in wonderful i-ifi'i-t are hot far to seek in America. Probably Irish Killarney itself - 7 :ies not hide swsty more striking iM.-h- es than lurk within the famous Colorado canyon, and it would be rash to .assert that these are quite the iiv;\t wonderful to he found among th« rocky retreats of the far west. ravines being the recognized haunt of echoes, it may be taken for granted that many exist in the great gorge c-f Xiagara, and anyone journeying to the falls by this" approach will be weill rewarded by stopping afiiEn.spiration point, walking forward- [to the edge of the cliff, and here waiting till the first train, on n earing ihe level crossing, blows its whistle. All the deep glen takes up and oarrriea on the warning shriek. The musical chord blown so con*stantJly by railway engines often meets with a beautiful response fnoon the surrounding country. This is verjj noticeable round the lake of Genera, Wis., when the listener is standing on high ground and trains are threading their way through the woodland below. These effects axe due to tn# nearne«s> of extensive pine forests* t<j the railroad tracks. - ; I ■Many who visited Wadesbono, W. C, to observe the total eclipse of the sun from the observation station there last year noticed that the organrliba piping of the trains, when two milea distant in the broad, wooded valley, below, would give place, without sensible break, to an echoing reply, which slowly and softly died away like the wild notes of some gigantic harp. ,yj The man vjfho praises what-it* Bpf> tends to purchase and enumerates the faults of what he means to aaU is honest enough to feel lonesome ids this dizzy old world.—Chicago D«Hy ; News. i "Yes," said the superstition* m*n, "I believe it's, lucky to pick up a pio, don't you?" "Not if you pick it up bj sitting down upon it," promptly replied the flohoolmaatter.—Philadelphia Record. The Purchasing Limit.—Mr. Steinsen (our latent millionaire, after hid third fruitless stalk)—" Now, looli here, you rascal 1 If you can't haya the brute* tamer, I'm &g - 1 don't »aok you!"—Punoh, ~>....:"«