Sharp County record., 1880-09-23
The Bells OF Lowell.

iullltI Wlll lNt ways Ol MISUNDERSTANDING
communities, is very apt to think, on
the first night of his stay here, that
some terrible fire has broken out. or
that, at all events, a vigorous alarm
has been rung, when he hears in the
early morning the general ringing Of all
the factory bells. To some Of our bells,
aud the time Of their ringing, interest
ing histories are attached, while others
are alm9st Of prosaic order Some ring
through the whole gamut of human pas
sions, from highest JOY to deepest sOr-
row, while others 90 on from year to
year with the same unvarying sound,
which, falling upon thousands of ears,
carries no relief from the mOnOtonv,
aad means nothing but work, work,
work If Poe had lived in Lowell, he
doubtless would have added to The
Bells a stanza alluding to the harder,
more practical use of the bells he 80
thrIIingly writes about, and which
would nave found a responsive chOrdin
many Lowell hearts.
Or the Lowell bells the mill bells are
the most numerous and prOsaic, yet not
the least interesting. Most of the
corporations are provided with them,
and it is their vigorous. ringing at un-
seemly hours of the morning that at
tracts the attention of the stranger. A
msiOrity of them seem to have been
made with direct attention to the guam
tity Of tone and a reckless disregard of
the quality, but when all are rung to-
gcther the effect is not an unpleasant
one, Summer and winter, in storm and
sunshine, the UnaccustOmed sleeper is
aroused by the general ringing of the
bells at 4:45 in the morning. This is
for the especial benefit of the boarding.
house keepers, who are expected to
arise at this time to prepare the morn
ing meal One hour later, at 5:45, the
bell, ring again, this time to call the
operatives to breakfast; and in fifty
minutes more the ringing is again re-
peatcd for the purpose Of calling to
their work the thousands of labOrers in
our many places of industry. At noon
the bells signal the hour for dinner, and
at / , 80 the operators are recalled for
the afternoons work, which finally ends
by the ringing out at s o'clock, five
DAYS in the week. and at $3.50 Satur-
DAYS
There are about half a score of bells
upon the mills, the Appleton, Boot,
Chase, Hamilton, Bleachery, Machine
Shop, Lowell, Merrimack and Middle
sex being the leading corporations thus
equipped All these bells are regula-
ted by the Merrimack Manufacturing
Company. In their belfry tower is a
regulator which keeps very accurate
time; but this alone is not depended
upon The corrected time is received
from Cambridge every day at three
O'Clock In this way any variation in
the regulator is noted and corrected.
All of the corporations are connected
by telegraphic system, the headquar-
ters OF which are at the Merrimack In
the bell tower of each corporation is a
g0ug by which the one who rings the
bell is notified when to ring. This is
done by turning a switch at the Merri-
mack by 50 doing the various bells
commence ringing at the same moment.
The gongs are also used to signal for
"letting on the speed five minutes
after Che mill bell commences to ring,
and Tor closing the gates ten minutes
after the bell rings. At one o'clock the
Merrmack bell strikes for this purpose
and affords an opportunity for people to
note the correct time on their watches
1t is not exactly correct, because the
attendant has to strike the gong first
and then the big bell, which brings the
latter two or three seconds late. Even
the gong cannot be struck absolutely
up0n the exact time There is an ap-
preeiable amount of time between the
instant that the person sees the second
hand on the sixty and the time that he
presses the knob to strike the gong.
That is, for the brain to re-
ceive the impression from the eye,
and receiving, send out an i'm
pulse to the hand, is some-
thing that requires time, although very
little This is called the personal equa-
tion and varies in different individuals
Itmakes no difference in the setting of
a watch or clock, but in observations of
stars and astronomical calculations
thercfrom, the personal equation Of the
operator is always calculated and then
taken into account in all work done.
But to return to the bells
A number of corporations have large
clocks in belfry towers and the bells /.
strike the hour. The Merrimack bell /.
has no clock connected with it, but |
through the night, from six p. m. to .
seven a. m, the hours are struck by .
the watchmsn This is Done on Sun .
days also. In addition to this, the |
Merrlmack bell does duty as a school .
and church bell With the exception .
of Sundays and during vacations, it req /
ulsrIy calls the children to school in the .
morning and afternoon. Sundays it .
rings. with several other mill and I
church bells, at 845 a. m, which has
always been called " the first bell" |
then again at 1915 for church serv- /
ices, and at 1925, the last time being
tOlled it is also rung at one, two, and |
210 p. M, the last time being tolled. /
Upon the Fourth of July it, with most |
of the other bells, half an hour at sun
rise, noon and sunset. On holidays the
hours are not struck. At nine o clock
in the evening all the corporation bells
ring Very few of the thousands who
hear them at that time know of the