Daily national Democrat., 1859-12-17

discussing the 'propriety of erecting town
clock in the tower Of the new Presbyterian
Church on the corner of Fifth and d. streets.
The architect has just reached the point at
which he could prepare the tower for the
clock, and whatever is to be decided upon
should be so speedily Several citizens have
expressed a willingness TO contribute liberal
ly to the " work, if the City Council will donate
reasonable amount to the same purpose
We like the idea of a town clock much.
1t would be OF great advantage in making
what is much needed here now, uniformity
of time and would also be fine ornament to
the city. The bell already furnished for the
tower will answer for sounding the hour, as
the clock strikes, it being of capacity to cause
each stroke of the clock to be heard distance
Of at least two miles.
A few hundred dollars, certainly not more
than thousand, would be the cost of the
erection, and the clock would still be remain
ing long, long after the present generation
had passed to the dust. There are clocks of
this character in nearly every town Of Eu-
rope and in many portions of the United
States. Some of the old clocks of Europe
have been going for centuries, pointing the
hours with unerring accuracy.
OF course we want no such clock here as
that mighty one in the Church at Strasburg,
built by Isaac Habrecht, about the end of the
10th Century, which shows the motions of
the heavens, the stars and the planets; which
carries the heavens about by 'the first mo-
yer" in twenty-four hours; by which Sat
urn, by his proper motion, is carried about
in thirty years; Jupiter in twelve; Mars in
two; the Sun, Mercury and Venus in one
year; and the Moon in one month :" the
clock also having "two tables on the left and
right hand, showing the eclpses of the sun
and moon from the year 1878 to the year
1924 :" third table in the middle, divided
into three parts-in the first part the statues
of Apollo and Diana" showing the course of
the year and the day thereof, being carried
about in one year; the second part showing
the year of our Lord and the equinoctial days,
the hours Of each day, the minutes of each
hour, Easter day, and all other feasts, and the
Dominica letter." and the third part contain
ing a geographical description of all Ger
many, and particularly of Strasburg, and the
names of the inventor and workmen;" the
upper part of the clock containing -four old
mems statues which strike the quarters of
.he hour" the statue of death "coming out
1t each quarter to strike, but being driven
back by the statue of Christ, with spear in
his hand, for three quarters, but in the fourth
quarter Christ coming back, when Death |
trikes the hour with bone in his hand and |
he chimes sound" the top of the clock be-
ng mounted with the image of huge cock |
which crows twice day and claps his wings: |
ogether with many other wonderful meehan- |
cal appurtenances which it would take a vol
lme to describe, Ofcourse we want no such |
'tup endous work as this, nor those other GU
'ious and marvellous noters of time, the illu- !
minated clocks of the seventeenth and eigh-
midnight, and were seen from far. But we
think the citizens of Marysville do want
kind of fatherly old clock, some reverend
Monitor of Time, to keep them straight; to
teach them how the days roll on and the
hours wing by; and above all to regulate
these hundreds of little deceiving time pieces
which give, every one, different time of
lay from the other, and cause all kinds of an
loyance in the breaking of appointments,
md render the virtue of punctuality an alb
'olute impossibility. Without some giant of
\ regulator, who will make himself known,
heard and felt all over the city, we verify
believe that we shall some time or other lose
a day or two entirely from the calendar. For
our own individual part we could not afford
to lose day at all, and if it should happen
to be a holiday, we should never get over it
in the world. We vote for the town clock.