The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-07 00:00:00

"BIG BEN" OF WESTMINSTER.

Yesterday evening Mr. E. B. Denison delivered
a lecture at the thee' re of the Royal Institution on
the qualities and capabilities of bells in general,
and that of Big Ben in particular. Every part of
the theatre was completely crowded when Sir C.
Fellowes took the chair at nine o'clock. Behind
the speaker were hung a number of diagrams and
analytical tables of the compositions of the princi-
pal bells in Europe, to which he referred in order
to explain the in 're technical portion of his ad-
dress. After a brief preface, iu which he remarked
that he was not going t.) give them a history of
bells, with which they were very likely quite as
well acquainted as himself, net- to enter into the
question of the musical tone of bells, for he was no
music.an, he went.on to say that, with regard to
the latter point, most people seemed more surprised
at his having made the Westminster bell the tone
he wanted than at a bell of such a size being made
at all. His having got the tone E was, howevsr,
most easily accounted for. For instance, if a bell
was ma he of 30 inches diameter, and it had a cer-
tain tone, every bellfounder knew at once that a
bell of 60 inches would be a tone lower, so that it
was perfectly easy and certain when they had one
hell to know what the tone of another so much
smaller or larger would be, provided the shape and
relative thickness of both were alike. The big bell
was originally intended to have been E flat, its
weight 14 tons, and its thickness 9 inches ; ut by
some accident its weight was raised to 16 tons, and
its thickness to 9 inches -Rths, which raised the
tone from E flat to E. When the bell was first
thought of Professor Wheatstone, Mr. Taylor, and
himself were selected to say what kind of bell was
to be made ; and though at first sight that question
might appear an easy one to solve, it was, in truth,
most difficult. The beilfounders of England, from
one cause or another, were not wilting to undert ike
the task, unless they were furnis'ecl with a design
and full instructions as to what it was to be, and
that was the difficulty which at last led him to be-
come its de=igner. After referring to the popular
prejudice which existed in favour of the sonorous
tones produced by bells of hemispherical shape, but
which he showed were poor, meagre, and deficient
in tine when beard at a little distance, Mr. Deni-
son said his two colle apes and himself at last came
to the unanimous conclusion that nearly all the
bells of modern fabric were failures, and that to
imitate them would be to do wrong wilfully. The
difference between the Westminster bell and other
bells was that it was fatter along the outside of the
sound bow, that it was not cut away at the lip, as
in the case of the Paris bell, but swept on in a con-
tinuous curve. Long-waisted bells, or those which
were almost straight in the side were inferior to those
which were hollow. If a line was drawn from the top
of the Westminster bell to its outer edge, the space
between such a line and its side would be 1-L2th
of the bell's diameter ; while in the outer bells,
especially in that of Paris, it was not a 14th.
Westminster in height was only 2-3ds of its dia-
meter, while the height of the bell of Paris was
5-6ths. Such differences, slight as they seemed to
persons not acquainted with the subject, were really
all important. Great Tom of Oxford Mr. Denison
characterised as one of the worst bells in existence,
while the great bell of Exeter was a decent bell if it
only had a decent clapper. (Laughter.) There was
One bell in the world that was almost perfectly simi-
lar to the Westminster bell, and that was the great
bellof Moscow. That was a most favourable coinci-
dence, for a bell of such a size as that at Moscow
would never have been cast by a nation so well
acquainted with the principles of bell-making if it
had not been perfectly correct in form. The weight
of the Moscow bell was reported to be 193 tons, but
he was certain, from the accounts he had heard of
it, that it must at least weigh 250 tons, and that
another fine Russian bell, which was said to weigh
80 tons, in reality weighed 120, so that he gene-
rally concluded that the Russian bells were really
heavier than they were stated to be. The thickness
•f the bell of Westminster was just 1-12th of its
diameter at the sound-bow. People often ordered
bells of only 1-15th diameter, which took less cop-
per and saved their silver—(laughter)--but, as at
Westminster they were not so pressed for silver,
they determined to have the bell the right thing.
With regard to the thin part of the bell, or its
waist, it was curioas that bells when struck there
sounded a much higher note than when struck at
the sound-bow, and this he and his colleagues at
first thought was something to be remedied ; but
after some experiments they were compelled to give
up the hobby, and to admit that bells should give
forth a higher note when struck at the waist thin
when struck at the thick part. This great bell,
when struck at the waist, gave a tone three notes
higher than when struck at the thickest. As to the
composition of bells, said Mr. Denison (striking
bells of the different metals as he proceeded, in
illustration of his remarks), those made of steel
gave a hard sound ; with a mixture of iron and
antimony the sound was better. Iron and tin was
better than antimony ; one of phosphorus and
copper made an average good one. A mixture of
aluminum aed copper was a failure ; but the best
of all was the common bell of copper and tin.
Many people believed that a bell of pure silver
would have a fine tun. By accident he heard of a
clergyman who, to make sure of having a good bell
with silver in it, actually came and put his plate
into the meleing pot himself. Now, he thought
that a gentleman who had sacrificed so much would
know all about the tone of silver as a composition
with other metals for bells, so he (Mr. Denison)
wrote to him for information. The answer he got
from that clergyman was that it was some time
since he had, made the experiments, and he had for-
gotten all about its results. (Laughter.) Well,
he thought if he got such an answer as that at the
expense of all the poor man's spoons and forks that
he r(Mr. Denison) would have nothing to do with
silver in his big bell. The great bell of Rouen was
called a silver bell, but whet melted and part ana-
lysed it was found to contain no trace of silver
whatever, though it had an extra quantity of tin.
(Laughter.) In fact, silver was never used in
the composition of any bell that he had known
or heard 'of. The mixture was copper and tin,
thegeneral proportion being four of copper to one
of tin; and though that was not quite treating
tin ftirly, be'l-founders liked the mixture,
for the bell was softer and easier to tone. It was,
however, a most singular thing, but many experi-
ments proved that the copper got in t'eese days
would not bear such a proportion of tin mixed with
it as the old copper had done. The compositi n
used in the Westminster bell was 22 of copper to 7
of tin, or copper 75.86, tin 24.14, which was about
the very best proportion in which they could be
used for bells. Its extraordinary specific gravity
was another proof of the goodness of the composi-
tion. The stecifie gravity of the York bell was 8.76,
of Lincoln 8.78, and the highest figure allowed by
the alleys of copper and tin alone was 8.87 ; that
of a piece of Westminster bell taken from the bot-
tom was no less titan 8.94. The specific gravity of
the Doncaster bells - recast ill 1835 was only 7.8,
but those bells were as bad as bad could be. Mr.
Denison then proceeded to explain the process of
casting the bell of Westminster, which was done on
an improved principle by Messrs. Warner, to whom
he paid a high complement for-the care and energy
bestowed upon all the arrangements. The whole of
the 16 tons of metal were run into the mould in leS3
than five minutes—a fact to which Mr. Denison
mainly attributed the beauty and clearness of the
great bell's tone. He next briefly illustrated the
manner in which it is intended to hang the bell to
an iron beam by means of powerful screws and bands
passing under a metal collar onathe top of the bell,
formed in the casing for that purpose. He was
quite against the common method of supporting by
iron loops or by the bolt which secured the clapper.
The lecturer then concluded amid much applause.

The Commander-in-Chief has appointAl Colonel
Lake, C. 8., to the command of the Royal Artillery
in the south-western district, in succession to Co'.
Eyre, who is permitted to retire.

A Waggon load of diseased sheep, on its way to the
slaughter-house, preparatory to the carcases being sent
to London, was intercepted at 11,,rncastle a few days
ago. The bench ordered the sheep to be condemned as
unfit for human food.

A desperate attempt at murder was made the nigl,t
before last on the North Western Railway, near the
Camden-road station. A man, dressed like a sal. ,r,
stabbed a passenger named Buckler, in order to rob him.
The villain is in custody. Mr. Buckler is not expected
o recover.

Tits CIVIL SERVICE. —The Admiralty—Mr. F. /107-
king, extra clerk in the Storekeeper';-office, Woolwich,
haebeen appointed extra clerk in the office of the con-
_

troller of Victualling, Somerset-hobse: -The Rev. lEneas
qutchinson has been appointed' Chaplain of Keyham-
yard and factory. The Bird of Trade—Mr. Henry
Thomas, collector of Customs, at Llar.elly, Las been
appointed receiver of wreck for the district comprised
between the Carmarthenshire sides of the ricers Bury
and Loughor, on the east, and Pendine, on the westaof
the port. Legal Department—A Commissionership in
Lunacy has becmne vacant by the death of Dr. J. R.
Hume. Costems—Mr. John Henry Bontoft has been
appointed a clerk for general business in London. Mr.
Joseph S. Evans has been promoted from first-class to
be principal clerk for general business at Liverpool.
Mr. Joseph J. Marsden has been promoted from 880004
to first-claw clerk for general business at Liverpool. Mr.
St. Feliz T. M. Tucker has been promoted from second
to third class clerk for general business at Liverpool.
Inland Revenue Department, Exoi e B anch--Alr
William Matthews, collector of Wexford collection, has
retired on superannuation. Mr. C. Dudgeon, collect's
of Sarum, has been appointed to Wexford collection, at
his own request. East Indies—The tinder-SecretaryshiP
to the Foreign Department of the Government of India,
Bengal, has become vacant by the death of Mr. Fred.
Shaw.—ovii Service Om*.