The Osceola times., 1881-10-01
BELLS N BEL6lI v.
The Reason Why This Little Kingdom IA.
50 May sf Them
Hz-rsrs' WEEKLY.

H.-T+r. NrrA-'.
At the present time the country mos
erlebrsteA for i,s large and varied collec-
Ton Of bells. in addition 70 Is other IN
tsre.tiny AssoSistions Is Belsium-a iAct
realized hv oompArsiively few tourists
when thew commence 20 investigate lts
Queer old towns. But il the suslect u
once studied, the pleasure 70 be derived
from a sojourn here s greatly enhanced
This land Of bells Is famous for its bell
founders, particularly those OF me seven
,eenth and eighteenth centuries, when
Van den Gheyns; Hemony. and Dcrnery
lived. OF these three, Henony attained
the greatest eminence, oonstractins'
among numerous other works, the Mech
lin chimes and the greater nun Der oi the
Antwerp bells. The cathedral al Ant
vern contains sixiy-hve bells, besides
the carlton and i've other bells Of great
antiquity Of these latter, the two princl-
al ones are the curfeE, Scd the e2r1.us,
given bv Charles V, which is only Tnng
twice in the year. and requires sixteen
men 70 pull il. This bell was exceedingly
e,stlv. being composed of silver, copper.
ana gold. ana is valued al the sum OF
I 500 600. the action Of the clspper hes
/ worn assy II. sides a good deal. Dumery
WAS The founder Of the Bruses carlton,
which consists Of forty bells and one
large bourbon.
Looking over the Belgian plains from
the belfry of Notre Dame, az Antwerp
I,Ae suire Of which Is 403 feet high nom
the foot Of the tower q maEnlflccn nj
psnoruic view j -btainei; NJ less than
les staaples can be counted, including
Nechlin Cathedral and -. GCiule AZ
Brussels. and from these belfries carll-
lous are waited on the air, playing opera
tic and other melodies: marking the
hours as they pass, in a musical manner.
II is quite a mistake 10 suppose that bells
rung every seven minutes is an Interrupt
ton their constant recurrence Is found
TO give life and yiyacity 10 these quaint
old cities, besides pen-trating into The
country for miles around and II ~ won
derful. after a residence here, how the
familiar music is missed when no longer
heard.
The geographical aspect Of Belgium -
well adapted for the transmission OF ear
illous. as il has been found that the
penetrating sound Of bells Is much IN
rr,ased by being rung in a plain or val
lev. especially a water valley. The beliry
at Tournay' which rocks, when the
w.athcr is stormy, in very ominors
manner, contains forty bells hight IL
always kept burning after dark IN the
highes, gallery, and If fire breaks out,
he toczin is sounded by the vatchman,
who il there night and day. The con-
struction Of the "tambour carlton,
which produces such charming music, y
exactly similar in principle to musical
box. IL consists Of barrel with mum
ber Of little spikes on It, each Of which
hfs q tongue. which uulls wire. and
raises a hammer that strikes the required
note on a bell. In the last century the
clavec-n or keyboard was used, and the
carrilloneurs used to perform on this
one of the most celebrated II these play
e-s ras Van den Gheyns, who used 70
perform Qnite elaborate pieces OF music
on the bells.
The reason that 50 many bel'ries have
been erected in Belgium is doubtless
owing 10 the ince-eant civil Sars that
used 10 ravage the country. i vas on
this account that in fortifying towns like
Ghent and Bruges, the first thing 70 y
done was 70 build the tower, and tht
second 70 put up the bells, in order &c
have the means Of calling tie people TO
yether whenever a. outbreak occurred
Aocoriing 20 this srrar cement. u fre
auently happened that the bells were
the property Of the town, whilst tbs
tower belonged to the cathedral chapter
These belfries are extensively decorated
xith the names Of the tourists visiting
them, and al StrasburG the signatures o.
Gpthe and Klopstock are shown with
pride. Il seems an extraordinary thin4
hat in this, ss well as in other cSthed
rsls there i. no better mechanical appl!'
srce used for swinging bells than tks
wheel. with rope over it, which i pre-
cisely the plan employed by the Chinese
more than thousand years ago.