A blissful silence falls over the town

[rug]

Sep 15 2013
by PZ Myers

The Curse of Morris is no more. Last month, someone cut the wires to the cheesy carillon located in the cemetery just north of me, and the chimes no longer ring out every goddamn quarter hour. The obnoxious ass, Ted Storck, who is responsible for these horrible things wrote a letter to our local paper and also mailed me a note in which he accused me or my amoral atheist buddies of having done it.

Cutting cemetery chimes was a savage act

I hope the person(s) who used a hatchet to chop the wires going to the chimes at Summit Cemetery is happy with himself or herself. Those chimes brought comfort to many folks at burials, as well as those visiting the cemeteries at other times. The chimes are maintained by the veterans posts of Morris, and the repair cost will mean less money to assist those in need, both veterans and others. The chimes were placed there to honor those who served our nation. You dishonored their service by your savage act. You even cut the wires we use to turn off one speaker to the northeast when there are no burials in that area, so if we can’t afford to repair that wire, all four speakers will be left on even when there are no burials in that area, but burials in Calvary and areas to the south. When there are burials, as the hearse enters the cemetery, the bells toll and then after the service, hymns are played.

Be proud of yourself; I’m sure your mother and father would be proud of how they raised you.

The mortality rate in Morris must be tremendous, because those hymns were played every quarter hour, starting in the early hours of the morning, so there must have been 50 funerals a day. Maybe the reason they’ve gone silent is that everyone is dead now?

Storck is such a dishonest fraud. No, I and the other residents of this neighborhood would have no objection at all if the chimes were played for funerals, or for the special ceremonies the local veterans have there; that would be entirely reasonable. The constant din is not. And for Storck, that arrogant carpet-bagging out-of-towner, to insist on subjecting others to a level of noise he can’t hear is unconscionable.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/09/15/a-blissful-silence-falls-over-the-town/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freethoughtblogs%2Fpharyngula+%28FTB%3A+Pharyngula%29

A moment in the life of PZ Myers.

[cbayer]

1. Welcome to the epitome of first world conflicts!

One of the towns we frequent has a chime tower that rings every 15 minutes. There is a hilarious story about how Mrs. Wrigley built this just to annoy the writer Zane Grey, who had built his home in the area. He then bought a piece of land and erected a military machine gun (not functional) and aimed it right at the tour.

Both are still right where they were built and I like the chimes, but others hate them.

[Jim__]

2. You like the chimes, but you only visit the town.

Depending on how loud they are, chimes every 15 minutes could drive people crazy.

[cbayer]

5. I find that I no longer hear them after the first day or two, but

I've never heard anyone complain about them.

Then again, maybe it's a volume thing.

Anyway, of all the problems in the world, chimes seem pretty insignificant.

[rug]

3. Not far from me, in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, is one of Zane Grey's former homes.

It's run by the National Park Service as a museum. They have some of his dental instruments on display.

[cbayer]

4. He was quite a character.

He really pissed off Mrs. Wrigley because he built his house in a place where she could see it and ruined her otherwise flawless view.

Their feud is legendary.

[Rob H.]

6. I'd be glad if I were him, too

since this has been going on in the cemetery a block from his house starting at 4:30 in the morning and repeating every 15 minutes all day long during the warmer part of the year in Morris starting six years ago. Surprised Morris doesn't seem to have a noise ordinance, though.

[cbayer]

7. Thanks for providing more info. I can see his point more clearly.

4:30 AM is way too early and patriotic/religious music every 15 minutes is over the top.

If they just played that little tune that marked the 15, 30, 45 minute and one hour marks, that probably wouldn't be so bad.

[AtheistCrusader]

8. I would be raising hell with the city over noise ordinance.

If they refused to provide redress, I would start blasting GWAR at the same times, audible at the same distance.

[2ndAmForComputers]

11. But, you know, if PZ Myers is in favor of it, it HAS to be a bad thing!

[MineralMan]

9. The church I attended while in High School was right across the

street from the school. Each day, at noon, speakers in the church steeple rang out with carillon music from a 78 RPM record changer in the minister's office. Always a hymn tune. Classes at my school let out at 10 minutes past the hour, so we all got to hear this on a daily basis. Some classrooms were just across the street from the church.

As a very, very active young lad in that very church, my responsibilities meant that I had a master key for the church. I helped maintain the pipe organ and also did other volunteer work in the church when it was normally unoccupied.

As a foolish prank, one day, I slipped into the minister's office and interleaved some rock and roll 78 RPM records between the carillon records in the stack on the record changer's spindle. One I definitely remember was a Little Richard record, although I cannot remember the title. Then, I relocked the minister's office door and went about my normal chores.

A few days later, while sitting in a classroom across the street from the church, the Little Richard record dropped, regaling everyone with some rock and roll just before the lunch period.

That record was removed, of course, but the another of my records played a few days later. That was the last time rock and roll came from the church steeple.

I kept my silence for years after that, and was never apprehended as the villain in the prank. The chimes rang on.

[rug]

10. I. Ron Butterfly

[2ndAmForComputers]

12. Gotta love the fanatic dick's bullish attitude.

&quot ...)repair cost will mean less money to assist those in need, both veterans and others."

Two select answers from the comments:

"Good to see you have your priorities straight, Mr. Storck." Ouch.

"Then they won’t be fixing the bells? Or are the bells more important than the needy?" Double ouch.