The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1870-10-05
Improvement Of the 5tate anb Con,trp.
GREENyILLE SOUTH CAROLINA, OCTOBER s. ls7o

of Tentonic civilization before the
period Of conquest by the Ro
mans. The latter made it a city
in tile time Of Augustus and call.
ed it their Argentoratam. Tie
Huns under Attila, the FRANKIE
and THO, Gauls. successiyely, gave
it a history, until, during the Mid
die Ages, 1t emerged into a Chris.
tian life, and the ecclesiastical spir.
it hegan to enrich it with ihonn.
mcnts Of almost i,nperishabie
beauty. The chief of these was
and is its Domkircbe, or Cattle.
dial Church, Of which the spire is
the noblest and. most beautiful on
earth. This pinnacle, rising four
hundred aud sixty y,nine feet into
the air above the level of the city,
is twenty-five feet higher than. the
loftiest Pyramid. and the tracery
OF its open carving is sV exquisite
that IN the distance il louks like a
web of soinbre lacework suspend.
ed midway in the air. Four and
q quarter centuries, with all their
wondrous annals Of work and war,
rolled away after fhe commence
ment Of the building Of. the churcl,
ere this grand construction was
completed IN 1430---a date 162
years later than that which mark
ed the beginning ofsthe bnilding
OF the spire by Erwin Won Stein
bach, its gifted architect. Even
to day the whole edifice Is not
complete, for, the towers should
have been Of the same height. In
the lapse Of the 593 years during
which the majestic fame, and Of
the $50 since the termination Of its
spire, tho tomb of Conrad; the
pulpit erected and carved 10y Jean
llammerer the clusters of pillars
wrougl,. Ike Jewel work; the
stained windows and the figured
floors; The matchless pictures Of
saints and kings; the atombs of
warriors and of sages, continually
increasing in number and beauty,
have re echoed TO tho footsteps of
the great and tho thunders of war,
all Ginning in, at last, in the later
day, with the sublime organ n:elo.
dies of Silberman. But of all the
grand mementoes and imposing
adornmcnts which impressed the
minds Of even Martin Luther and
ascetic Calvin when they trod the
streets of the famous ecclesiastical
city, none was mere engaging tlIai,
the wonderful astronomical check
This piece of mechanism, which
has been destroyed in whole or in
part by tho Prussian lombard.
men: of Strasbourg, was construct
ed about tile year 1870. 1t rep.
resented the motions Of the globe,
the sun and the moon in their reg
ular circuit. The day of the
week, the circle of the sun. the
year of the world and Of our Lord,
the equinoctials, the leap year, the
movable feasts and the dominical
letter, were al clearly exhibited
by this clock. The eclipsea of the
sun and moon, aud the weekly mo.
tions Of the planets were also dis.
played. Thus, on Sunday, the
sun was drawn about in his char
lot, and 30 drawn into another
place that before he was quite hid
den you had Monday-iAat is, the
moon appeared full. aud the horses
of the chariot of Mars emerged
and the scene was thus varied on
every day of the week. There
was also a dial for the minutes Of
the honr, SO that you could see ev.
cry minute pass. Two images OF
children appeared on eaclr side,
one with a sccptre counting the
hours. The motions Of the plan.
cts, the moons rising aud falling,
and several other Astronomical
movements, were exhibited in this
clock. Death and Christ were nj
so personified +; and at the top O,
the tower was an excellent chime
which played various tunes, and
says All old German chronicle, "a,
Christmas, Easter and Whitsun
tide they sounded a thanksgiving
unto Christ (; and when this chime
has done, the cock which stands
on the top Of the tower, on tic
north side Of the main work, has
ing stretched ont Ills neck, shake,
bis comb and claps his wing
twice /: and this he does 50 shrill,
and naturally as would make an,
nan wonder" This celebrated
clock was constructed by Dassipo
dius and Wolkins,enius, two ia
mons working ma.hematicians o
the time.
! From ago to age the spire Ina
risen, marking the advance O
Christianity and the progress O
nations, and tho clock has notet
the passage Of time OH earth ant
/ tho ct,ooooo ,sf kho ooloct:cI o.>lo..