A WARNING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 64, 18 December 1946, Page 1 (Supplement)

A WARNING

NOISE IS A NUISANCE > MENACE OF MACHINERY Mechanical advances of the last few centuries have multiplied common noises several thousand per cent., and many believe that deafness has increased proportionately. Thomas Edison, for one, declared that we’d all be deaf in a hundred years unless drastic steps were taken to curb noises. Certain workers suffer occupational or partial deafness. Printers, road breakers, traffic policemen, car and taxi drivers, boiler-makers, riveters and even typists are but a few examples. In addition, these people' are likely to be short tempered during or immediately after working hours. Psychologists explain this as a form of shell shock. Wars of course bring deafness to thousands of soldiers and, in ; modern times,- to civilians too, through bomb bursts. Current anti-noise campaigns are simply an imitation of something the Creeks thought up long ago As far back as 600 8.C., Sybaris, a progressive Greek metropolis, passed laws against all industrial noises in residential areas. In Athens and Sparta, in 300 8.C., drunks who made too much noise after folks had gone to sleep were subjected to fines and sometimes forbidden the use of the streets for several days. Chariots and horsemen were required to drive as slowly as possible in order to reduce the clatter. And peddlers were prohibited from hawking wares except during late morning and early afternoon.