The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-07-13
The Centennial Chimes.


enlivened by the tintinabulations of a
chime of bells in the northeastern
tower of Machinery Hall. Their mu-
sic is heard at other times also, just as
the operator takes the notion. The
bells are thirteen in number, repre-
senting the thirteen original States.
Their aggregate weight is 21,000
pounds, that of the largest being 5000
and that of the smallest $50. They
were cast by McShan6 & Co., of Balti-
more, and it is claimed that the chime
is the finest in this country. 1t is ope-
rated by Prof. F. Widows, who car
ries huge silver bell on his watch
chain. He formerly had charge of the
chimes at the Metropolitan Church in
Washington.
The bells are immovably suspended
from an immense horizontal square
frame on the topmost floor of the tow
er. Each bell has two hammers, one
heavy, the other light, the latter being
muffled so as to cause a soft tone
whenever desirable. On the floor, be-
low the center of the frame, are TWEEN
ty-six triangular levers, pivOted at one
angle, so that pull or depression on
the outer arm causes the hammer at
tached to the other arm to strike the
bell. These outer arms are connected
by means of long, elastic strips of
wood running through the ceiling,
with the operating apparatus, which
is directly beneath the bells on the next
floor below. On the operating floor
there is frame containing two sets of
levers, which look and work like
pump-handles. The upper set contains
thirteen levers, which operate the
| muffled hammers. The lower set con-
tains the same number, and they work
the heavy ones. To prevent too much
stiffness the wooden strips, twenty-siX
in number, are connected with the tri-
| angular lever above and with the
pump" levers below by means of leath-
er straps. The latter levers are operated
| by hand but, if desired, they may be
| disconnected from the upright strips
and these fastened with long straps to
a set of thirteen pedals at the bottom
of the frame.
The Professor has no less than one
thousand pieces i'll his repertoire, but
he boasts far more of the merits of the
bells than of his own accomplishments.
He tells you that they are "maiden'
bells, which means that they are now
| just us they came from the molds, hay
ing required no other tuning than the
| proper mixture of their metallic in
gradients and making them of the
right size. Visitors sit in the nearest
shade to Machinery hall and listen to
the music of these bells. They think,
as the clear silvery sound strikes their
grateful ears, what a delightful occu-
patton the Professor has-with moth
ing to do but worship Orpheus all day
long. He has, for instance, Just began
"SWeet vale of Avaca, how calm could
| rest Up you go to the third floor
of the tower, and if you say that the
Professor is resting, or that he is evil
IDENTIFY in the land of poetic dreams,
there are people who would thank you
for defining the condition of a short,
stout gentleman, partially bald, with
BritiSh-cut whiskers and round,
good-natured face, hopping from side
to side Of the frame, pressing down the
levers as rapidly as an expert pianist
manipulates the keys of his instru-
ment, and perspiring in a manner eX-
tremely damaging to starched linen.
The Professor has thrown aside his hat,
coat and WaiStcOat. He is playing
"Still so gently O er me stealing" But,
shade of his own toWnsman, Poe, look
how quickly the great drops of perspi-
ration steal DER his face! He stands at
his work. The upper set Of levers is
breast high. Down goes the deepest
bass with lightning movement and
heavy thud. 1t springs back to its
place by the weight of the hammer on
the triangular lever above. The 9TH
Ell pump levers do the same. He
gently touches soprano, sharply jerks
treble, shoves a tenor halfway down,
throws his whole weight on u bass
and all while one would say "Jack
Robinson" AS the extremity of each
set of levers are over five feet apart,
and it requires a pressure of twenty
pounds to depress some of them to
their furthest extent, a cool calculator
may form some conception of the
amount of physical labor which the
Professor must accomplish in eXecut-
| ing such Eighty compositions as ~ an
kee Doodle" and "Capt. Jinks." And
yet he never misses a note, never
makes a push where he means jerk,
and never hits the wrong bell. If any
body is everybody's man it is the Pro-
fessor. He plays "The Wearing of
The Green" and there are a thousand
Hibernian listeners ready to swear
they knew him in eth ould dart, :"
where he was "the broth of a boy in
aiInest." "The Marseillaise'' re-
sounds over the park, and nine hun
bred and ninety-nine Frenchmen are
skipping about like kangaroos, with
the joy of discovering that "la belle
France possesses so gifted a
son. Now he takes up another
air, and in Lauber's restaurant the
tables dance, the glasses ring, and from
such lungs as none but Teutonic bodies
inclose rise the laundering climaxes of
'Die Wacht am Rhein." By the time
1.-The Star Spangled Banner" comes
from the tower everybody believes the
Professor is cosmopolitan, except a
critical few, who hold that he is over
partial to Maryland, my Maryland.
| The bells came from Maryland, and he
| performs this tune more frequently
than any other. The secret of the Pro-
fessor's playing so much between regu-
lar hours is this: The ladies have dis
covered that he is sacrificing himself
in their behalf. They take advantage
of his good nature by sending up notes
of request for particular tunes. When
overburdened with these, he begins
say, yankee Doodle" and winds up
at the end of ten minutes with "Pop
Goes the Weasel" after having, in the