Menace of Snoring

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 78, 20 December 1940, Page 5

Menace of Snoring

F I asked you what was the worst noise in London at present, you would all know; the noise of war; the roar of ’planes, the burst of bombs, the bark of the anti-aircraft guns. But if I asked you what was the second worst noise of London now, I doubt if any of you would guess right. Snoring! Yes, snoring!

It seems odd, doesn’t it? But one Harley Street doctor has recently described snoring as a national menace. The reason why snoring has acquired such importance at the moment is the fact that thousands of people now spend their nights crowded jtogether in airraid shelters; packed in basements, or under-

ground stations or Anderson shelters. The lack of sleep has proved one of the greatest hardships to people in London. At first, they faund it impossible to sleep at all during air raids. Now they are adapting themselves, and learning to snatch a little sleep in the lull between raids. And many have acquired the new habit of even sleeping through raids. Sleep has become very precious; earplugs have been supplied, and many people find with these pressed into their ears, and with perhaps a woollen scarf on top of that, they can deaden the outside noise of war. And to those sleeping in the deep shelters, the sound of guns and bombs comes only faintly, Snoring is nothing new. In war and peace there have always been snorers, some more proficient than others, But it was regarded as a purely domestic matter, to be dealt with by the family, as tactfully as possible. Now it has become a national menace.-

Nelle

Scanlan

"Shoes and Ships and Sealing-wax."

2YA, November 29).