SILENCE TO REIGN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 57, 2 December 1946, Page 5

SILENCE TO REIGN

NO MORE 8 A.M. SIREN MORNING WAIL CEASES Henceforth the arrival of 8 a.m. will pass unmarked by other than the chiming of the dining room clock, or, in many homes, the familiar voice of the IZB announcer, exhorting everyone at large to relieve their indigestion, clean their shoes, drive away headaches etc. by the use of one or other of the many tested and proven products the qualities of which grace the ether at 8 a.m. Yes, these will still mark the passing of the eighth hour after midnight, but the familiar siren, upon which so many Whakatane residents have relied for years now, to set their watches

by, will be no more.

'-Owing to the number of complaints which have been constantly' received, the sounding of the siren at 8 a.m. each morning will be discontinued entirely. This announcement has been made by the Secretary of .the Fire Board, who states that it has been alleged that the siren has >a disturbing effect upon invalids and elderly people, and that the Board has no . desire to cause injury to anyone. The siren will, however, it was intimated, be sounded on Saturday mornings only,' for the purpose of testing. In passing, it is interesting to note,, that the Kopeopeo siren, which is sounded direct from the exchange, was put into operation in 1938, and has sounded regularly each morning without interruption, since that date. The other one, above the Fire Brigade building, * which is also to be discontinued, was installed some years prior to 1938.

Some people, we cannot help feeling, are bound to be left snoring in bed! 1 ,