NEEDLESS NOISES?

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 36, 12 February 1931, Page 11

NEEDLESS NOISES?

(To the Editor.) , Sir, —As is well known, ona of the problems of modern science is the elimination of needless noises from modern life. Investigation has proved that multitudinous sounds in our town and cities to-day are responsible not only for many nervous complaints but they have also been proved tp very materially affect efficiency. One becomes quite accustomed to many loj the ordinary sounds of city life, and it will probably be quite impossible to get rid of them. There are, however, needless noises which could well be stopped by city bylaws. There is the blare of gramophone records and radio. These not infrequently attract crowds and block the pathway. Although my hearing is quite normal, I almost met with an accident today because I failed to hear the sound of a motor horn owing to a loud record close by. Once the Public Library was a place of quiet, but now the radio penetrates its walls, and it is not infrequently difficult to concentrate on serious reading or thought. Another nuisance is the loud speaker and gramophone nuisance in homes. They are quite frequently to be heard far outside the walls of their owners' homes, often well into the night. There, are quite a. few brain workers who consider that the use of^loud speakers and gramophones should only be permitted inside soundproof rooms. -1 enjoy a really good radio programme, and take a delight in listening to good records, but the best of things can be abused and the misuse of _ both radio and the gramophone is making them, to many, an intolerable nuisance. Isn't it about time we had city bylaws to prevent the abuse of what are otherwise delightful means of entertainment? The elimination of needless noises would enable more solid thought, an absolute necessity if we are to overcome the many difficult problems 'which eonfroni ow age.—l am, ettu,

N.M.B.R,