AN AGE OF NOISE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 8

AN AGE OF NOISE.

The guest in the hotel who, having- heard the man next door drop a boot, waited in a state oi extreme irritation for the second to fall, and learned after expostulation that his neighbour had only one leg, was too sensitive for any age. ' In this, the noisiest period of history, it is not so much a- question of waiting for noise as of being able to withstand a continuous bombardment. Eecent news from England shows that the noise in streets there is receiving serious official attention. The Home Secretary and the Minister of Transport are trying to draft regulations for the protection of the public, and the London General Omnibus Company is, according to a message to-day, experimenting with, a quieter engine. These movements are of real practical interest to New Zealand, for we have developed in our cities a body of noise which possibly compares quito discreditably with that of the largest cities. The volume of noise, indeed, does not depend on the size of the city. Queen Street at times, we imagine, can be as noisy as any city street, and a couple of motor cyclist fiends, rushing along a suburban" street at night with exhausts open, can fill the landscape'with'a noise as vile and .nerve-wracking as thejworld.has heard.. Why this type is not disciplined we \do not know. London, indeed, with all its' roar of motor traffic, .is to the New Yorker almost a quiet village. The reason is that ttieLondoh motor-driver has a veir welldeveloped'traffic'sense, and realises a sound signal was given to him to use with discretion: But the aggregation^.noise made by engines, . gears. and motor, horns is becoming serious. According to a member of the House of Commons who raised the question ffie otner'day,it : is endangering the lives of sick people and undermining the fitness even of those-in. normal,health! it interferes with 'education, and lowers the efficiency ness. -B"is.estimated that 60 per cent; of it.is. preventable,- and that being so, one may well ask, in : the Question put about one; of .th* world?s worst diseases, «H preventable/ why A licensetb drive a vehicle is n6t; : a license to destroy nerves and murder. sleep.' It may be that a race will be evolved that will adapt itseif to the new environment, but it is more likely that; every country will have to protect' the' peace; of niind. of its citizens by setting drastic limitations \ to : the noise of transport and industry generally^ : ' : ':'<■