Why the Country Is Better Than the City, Part Four Thousand

0 Conversations

Why the Country Is Better Than the City, Part Four Thousand

Do you remember a few years back when people in New York City caused a panic by asserting they'd seen a tiger loose in the streets? And it turned out that the 'tiger' was a raccoon? The garden variety 'trash panda', as it's known in those parts, caused quite a stir.

Back in 1939, a curmudgeonly writer by the name of Charles Driscoll was writing a column called 'New York Day by Day' for the Waterbury, Connecticut, Democrat. As it happened, the police in Flatbush (a part of Brooklyn) were called out when a number of people claimed to have heard loud noises – noises which remained unexplained. Of course, Driscoll, who didn't like cities, had to jump in and make mock.

It was probably a UFO, but we'll never know.

Article Transcript: When atmospheric conditions are right, mechanical sounds, such as wheezing of a locomotive that is standing on a switch and leaking a little steam, can be reflected and deflected and carried great distances. On snappy winter nights in the country I have heard clearly the noise of trolley cars in a town five or six miles away. For weeks I was annoyed in the evenings by a bussing sound in the air, and it turned out to be machinery at a large hospital, several blocks away.<br/> The mass hysteria caused in a small section of Brooklyn by 'mysterious' noises in the air would not occur in any small community. The folk would simply comment when meeting next day, 'Don't you think that noise was pretty loud last night?'<br/> But crowded populations have a tendency to become excited about any kind of mystery. It never mattered where the 'mysterious sounds' came from, and they had often been heard before. War talk, Men from Mars, and general boredom bring out the police and pull crowds into the streets. From the Waterbury Democrat, January 23, 1939, p6
Literary Corner Archive

Dmitri Gheorgheni

10.07.23 Front Page

Back Issue Page


Bookmark on your Personal Space


Conversations About This Entry

There are no Conversations for this Entry

Entry

A88032404

Infinite Improbability Drive

Infinite Improbability Drive

Read a random Edited Entry


Written by

Credits

Edited by

h2g2 Editors

References

h2g2 Entries

Disclaimer

h2g2 is created by h2g2's users, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the Not Panicking Ltd. Unlike Edited Entries, Entries have not been checked by an Editor. If you consider any Entry to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please register a complaint. For any other comments, please visit the Feedback page.

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more