Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-01-17

her o! times. In On Otnef small hui
brought out a drum upon which old
FalherTime hammered out the strokes
necessary to tell the hour, while ON
others, nov and then, at the most I'M
expected moments, Uirds would pop
out, in natural pluraage, and with all
the acts oflife sing their native song.
and retire. Those clocks are mostly
Of German manufacture and the re-
cent exhibition of German wonder,
named from the "Apostolic clock" in
Strasburg Cathedral, makes the sub
jet just now of peculiar interest
This cock has front of about three
feet and a half by ten feet. The low
er section has a dial representing the
zodiac, with the stars and planets,
which revolves in regular order once a
year. Above this is q second dial,
about two feet in diameter, on which
is marked The usual hours, minutes,
etc., also there are painted on the
same dial four circles, with hands run
ming underneath the large hands,
showing the day of the month. day of
the week, phases Of the moon, and
seconds. Above this is q balcony
with doors ON either side, and an imi-
tation of a keystone in the arch.-
Above is also a door, with cherub
on either side of it, and in the gatle
of the Gothic roof, tlfat surmounts the
whole, is an open space. Two spires
stand on either side. At the end of
an hour is heard the ringing of a bell,
and the keystone door opens, showing
the figure of death, while a music box
inside plays a tune for three minutes.
Then a chime or twenty bells IL heard,
when from the right door the disci-
pies come out in procession, while q
central door opens, disclosing the Sa-
vior. As Ne disciples reach Hin,
they pause, turn their faces toward
Him and bow, which bow is returned,
except Peter, which is the central fig
ure, and Judas, which is the last fig
ure in the procession; they turn their
backs upon the Savior, and when they
do Sc a horrid individual, represent
ing the devil, comes out on the balco-
ny Of the Gothic roof in high glee.
The spires are surmounted by Ro-
man soldier upon the left and cock
upon the right. The Roman soldier
tnrps and looks at the procession,
while the cock Qaps Ills wings and
crows three times at Peter. When
! Satan appears the last time, there is a
repetition Of the music, while he turns
and gaze8 after Judas. 1t is claimed
by the owner of the clock, that it was
made in imitation Of the great" Apos-
tolic clock" ut Strasburg cathedral,
and in some respects there is n SINH
larity, The following description
from friend of mine who spent some
time IT. Germany will as | believe, be
of interest, and [ submit the dcscrip-
tioa entire:
The celebrated cathedral Of S+ras-
burg is one Of the grandcst and most
beautiful Of the ancient cdifces OF
Germany, and embraces in its strQc-
ture tue history of architecture from
the later Romanesque period to the
decline Of the Gothic style. Accord
ing to tradition its site was in prehis-
toric times q sacrificial grove OF q
tribe of Gets and after the Roman
conquest was occupied by q temple
dedicated to Mars and Hercules. 1t
is further said that this temple was
destroyed in the fourth century by
Bishop Amandus, who built in its
place house Of Christian worship,
which in its turn was RACED to the
ground some time during the tumults
attendant upon the migration Of ma
tons. The foundation of the present
cathedral is said to have been laid be-
tween the years 504 and $40 by Clo-
Wis. king OF the Franks; in The reigns
of Pcpin and Charles the Great was
built the choir which still exists. A.
ID. 1907 the church was struck by
lightning and burnt down, with the
exception of the choir. In 1915
Bishop Werner of the house of Haps.
burgh began the building of the pres
cnt nave, which after many Interrupt
lions was completed in 1875, Two
years later the foundation stone was
laid Of the majestic tower, built after
the design of the great architect, En-
win Won Steinbach. Erwin superln-
tended the building Of the tower I'M
til his death in 1918, when it was con-
tnued under the direction of his son
John, whose sister, Sabina, decorated
the portal with beautiful statues.-=
john died i'll 1889, before the compile
ton Of the tower, which was finally
accomplished in tie year 1889 BY
John Hull of Cologne, The super
structure Of the south tower, included
f in Erwin's plan, was never pndertak
| ell.
1t is foreign to my plan to follow
the subsequent history of this remark
able editice, or to describe its archi
lecture. | will, however, mention as
facts of interest that its facade is con
siderod more beautiful than that o
any other church in the world, an(
,, that no other structure in Europe ha:
, a height equal to that Of IFS tower
which is 400 feet, while the dome o
st. Peters in Rome is Only 428 fee
high. The interior Of the church i,
3j5 feet long and 1872 feet wide; ans
is rendered the more impressive by
the ',dim religious light' which is diff