The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-08 00:00:00

WEST.4IINSTER PALACE BELLS.

The four quarter bells of the clock tower at
Westminster Palace are now in their places, and
only await the ascent of their ponderous chief to
commence active duties. It was intended to com-
mence raising the great bell yesterday, but it was
found impossible to get the complicated prelimi-
naries all completed, and therefore the raising
'operations must be postponed until the beginning
of next week. :Much, however, has been done in
the interval which has elapsed since our last visit.
The great bell has left its temporary home, and now
presents its huge mouth mortar-wise to the entrance
of the tower. stead of a diagonal, it has been placed
in a perfectly horizontal position, the obtaining
of which without injury to the metal was an opera-
tion of great delicacy and difficulty, requiring two
whole days for its completion. The bell had to be
raised bodily from its solid perch, and its position
changed from the vertical to the horizontal in the
most cautious and gradual manner, as a sudden
knock or fall would have cracked the metal and
rendered it necessary to begin all the work over.
again. It now stands upon the strong cradle
which is to ascend the tower along with it, and as
it stands with about half its length within the
entrance, it presents the exact appearance of a huge
piece of ordnance, seven feet six inches in length,
and nine feet diameter at the mouth. It is ex-
pected that all will be ready for hoisting on Monday
morning next, and that some time on the following
morning it will have been placed in its permanent
position,

As the time required for hoisting may appear
long to those of our readers who are not familiar
with large mechanical operations, a few details
will not be out of place as showing how,a mustnecessarily be exhausted. The crab which has
been constructed is calculated to give 101 lbs. of
power for every pound of force applied to the
handle. As each handle will be turned by four
men, and as each man is expected to apply a force
of 15 lbs. without overstraining- himselc, an aggre-
gate power of 12,000 lbs. in round numbers will be
obtained at each turn of the handle. This force
would seem tremendous, but then it will take ten
revolutions of the handles to wind up one foot of
the chain, and fifty r( v, 1 itions to complete one
complete round of the drum. Five hundred revo-
lutions will cover the latter with chain, when it
must be cleared, and the chain that has been hauled
up transferred to another windlass. As the distance
from the ground to the clock-room is 190 feet, a
good deal of the time is thus easily accounted for,
and then - the bell will have to be restored to
an upright position, fresh arrangements to
be made, and a further haulage of forty feet accom-
plished to the bell chamber. It will be seen, therefore,
that, taking every thing into consideration, 24
hours is not an unreasonable period to allow for the
complete operation. The exact dimensions of the
bells are—great bell, 7 ft. 6 in. in height, 9 ft.
in diameter at the mouth ; weight, 13 tons 10 cwt.
3 qrs. 15 lbs. Of the quarters : Ist quarter : weight,
1 ton 1 cwt. and 23 lbs. ; 2d : 1 ton 5 cwt. 1 qr.
2 lbs. ; 3d : 1 ton 13 cwt. 2 qrs. 131bs. ; 4th : 4 tans
13 cwt. 2 qrs. 13 lbs. The notes of the bells are
respectively—great bell, E sharp ; Ist quarter, G ;
2d, F ; 3d, E (octave to great bell) ; 4th, B ; and
the reading of the chimes is, taking the notes as
represented by the above figures-Ist quarter :
1, 2 3 4 half-hour • • 3,2,f l, 3 • 3d quarter f f f .
__ _ _ .

1,3, 2, 4-4, 2,1, 3-1, 2,3, 4 ; hour : 3,1, 2, 4-
3,2, 1, 3-1, 3,2, 4-4, 2,1, 3, when the great bell
will strike the hour. The latter will of course be
struck on ordinary occasions with a hammer, but
the clapper will be available for the announcement
of great events, such as every loyal Englishman
d9precates. It is expected that in calm weather
Erie sound will be distinct:y heard throughout a
radius of five miles, measuring from the tow cr. It
should be mentioned as an extraordinary proof of
the certainty to which the Messrs. Mears have
brought the manufacture of bells, that whereas
originally the great bell was made first, and the
quarters subsequently harmonised with it ; in the
construction of this bell the maker had to make his
calculations for the required note from the bells
Already made, but so accurate were they, that the
casting brought out the exact note required. Such
a result is, we believe,ltnexampled in the history of
hen-casting•