Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-01-21
NEARING THE BELLS.
sonc Facts as 90 How Ear They
May be Heard.

In u hilly locality bell will not be
heard halt 80 tar On II tho land were
level, or nearly 10. \ bell vii he
heard great deal further lensthwa"
OF u valley than over the hills 1T the
sides, II Is frequently the case that
hell rooms are lower than the sur
rounding buildings aud 'rrrs'
aud these distractions break
the sound aud prevent i,s free passage
10 a distance. II * frequently the
case, too. that towers have small
windows or openings, with the lower
boards so close together ms 10 almost
box up the sound. ia cities the noise
Of steam and horse cars, manufacture
ing establishments, carriages and carts
rafting over the pavemenls' etc., "
SO great that bells arc not expected TO
be heard at any considerable distance,
and this Is the reason why. in all
cities, several bells are used for fire.
alarm purposes, it being impossible
for one bell, no matter how large il
may be, to be heard above tn" thons
and and one noises incident 10 every
large place. The largest bell ever
made in this country weighed 22'0oo
pounds, aud, before it was fractured
hung ON the Cny Hall, in New York
On one or two occasions this bell was
heard up the Hudson river thirteen
miles, in the night when the city was
comparatively quiet. WsterlS agood
conductor of sound, and aided ma
,erially in making the bell heard as
above mentioned. 1t is n great ms.
take to suppose that bells can be
heard IN proportion TO their weight I;
that Is bell of 1000 pounds will be
heard twice as tar as one Of 1000
pounds. This is not so, for the rea'
son that the larger bell does not pos
sess anything like twice the resonant
surface Of the smaller one. What IS
gained and admired in the larger bell
is its keep, majestic, dignified tone'
which it is impossible to secure in the
smaller oae, The weight Of a bell in
variably governing Its tone A bell
OF 100 or 200 pounds, in IN open bel
fry, on n school house or factory IN
the country. is frequently heard a long
distance, out of proportion, apparent
~, to one of 1000 pounds in church
tower near by and instances Of this
kind frequently causes no little COM
ment in the way Of comparison One
reason for this is, that the small bell
has sharp, shlill, penetrating sound,
that must of necessity, be heard
great distance in proportion to It's
weight than the low, mellow "church.
going" sound of the church bell. The
same principle applies to the whistle
of locomotive, and it is heard long
distance simply because its tone is
shrill and penetrating. When hung
stationary and struck, or tolled, bells
will not be heard, as q rule, half as far
as when swung. The swinging mo-
ton throws the mouth ofthe bell up,
and not only carries the sound of,
but imparts TO it richness that is al
ways absent when the bell is at rest
and struck. A great deal is to be
gained by ringing bell properly,
thro wing the mouth we'll up, and not
lazily jinglihg it. 1t is not physical
strength that is required in ringing a
bell SO much as getting the knack'
of catching the rope just right, par
ticular1y on the second "down pull"
The windows in the tower should be
wide open as possible, and thu lower
should be ceiled just above the win
dows.-TScientific American.