| Show THE 0 THE bells bellis 0 ONE aie ase of the topics of the times in the east evist is the ringing of big bells balls AU an enemy ringing has rated ha has hab plenty of means and anut declares he will ex 1 end his hid money freely treely in putting down the nuisance the right or the wrong ot ol bell ringing la Is thus made a subject for considerable discussion cus sion it is argued that though bells on churches and other sacred edifices have been in use for many hundreds of years bell ringing is not part of divine worship and therefore the suppression of we the custom would not be an infringement of religion and in proof of this is cited the fact that many congregations have no beila bells at all we do not think this argument very sound the roman boman catholic church b baptizes aitz es and blesses its sacred bell beli a and nd th they ey are used as signs and sig big nals for certain services ser eer vices vicea prayers and ceremonies it the catholics consider bell ringing a part of their divine worship it makes no dafler difference to them if Prote Protes protestants stants tanti do not each denomination and every individual must be the I 1 ludge judge as to what is his or its religion that cannot be determined for them by oeners A catholic has as much right to call the ringing of bells a part of his re religious worship as a protestant Prota stant has the singing of hymns or the playing on organs but there Js is another phase to this thia controversy and that is the right of any church to eake inake itself a public nuisance religious Belig lous loub rights must be preserved within a certain limit when that is transcended the liberty claimed becomes subversive of the rights of others and may be legally restrained in crowded cities the clanging of 0 bells may become an intolerable nuisance and be positively injurious to the sick and supersensitive super sensitive every hour of the night in certain cities there are church chimes disturbing the rest of light sleepers and doing much more harm than good on sunday morn mornings inges toos too in places where there are many churches each with its own bell or dells delis of peculiar tone the discordant noises dolse es of each sect calling for people to come to its house of worship are worse than the clamors of hacklen and hotel keepers at railroad depots and are in our opinion destruct destructive ivo of that serenity and holy quiet which flold apu pervade the sabbath day people e ii regard bell ringing as aa part of their religion ii u nr ir eo deemi right in their minds and no onedas one has hab the right to say itis 16 ia not a part of the religion of such indi duals visuals vi A man may define denine his own creed but not that of others against their content consent but the bell beli ringing devotes devotee must not infringe upon the rights of his bis neighbor lie he must not disturb the peace repose or worship of other persons whether they do or do not believe as he be klieves ll leves ieves therefore it will be found tl that thai where people who are annoyed by the tho clanging of bells even if they are rung tor for divine worship and appeal is made to the courts the nuisance may be legally abated and the publio public relieved of phenuis the nuisance mr schultz the new york fighter of unseasonable bell ringing has the sympathy of a good many citizens citizen Bs and if he perseveres he will no doubt succeed providing that he doea does not become as fanatical la in his warfare as some people are in main kalning and supporting the disciples of noibe noise and discord discoid |
