The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-08-15
LAND OF BELLS.
TUNEFUL PEALS HEARD EV-
ERYWHERE IN BELGIUM.
Antwerp Cathedrals Ninety-Nine
Bells - The Pride of the Land,
Worth 100000 - An An
cient Mode Of Casting.

In Belgium, day and night are set to
music; even the wind that ranges over
her compagnas is fraught with sweet.
harmonious whispers. Those peals OF
bells, playing the same joyous strain,
possess a wonderful fasc nation for the
listener. Every saven minutes there is
bell-music from scme gray old church
such as St. Eombaud, Mechlin. The
sound floats to US in moments OF dis
couragement, and we choke down sob
at the recollections that it brings, 1t
comes to us in the crowded city street
between the pauses of summer rain, and
it drifts through our dreams at night,
tin ging our dormant fancies with semi
consciousness.
There are ninety-nine bells in the
Antwerp Cathedral; forty form the
carlton, ffty-four are smaller In COM
pass and tone, and the remaining five
are very ancient. and are rung at an
elevation of 274 feet. The oldest Of the
five, "Horrida," bears the date 1916, and
is a peculiar shaped bell which, from its
extreme age and chronic rheumatics, the
Antwerpians have, of late, permitted to
live in silence. Then comes the "Cur-
few" which may be heard daily at the
hours of five. twelve and eight. Next
is the bell which rang for the first time
when Carl the Bold entered the city, in
1867. It is called est. Maria" and its
companion is .'St. Antoine" Last of the
five and the pride of the land is the we'll
beloved "Carolus," given by Charles ",
reputed to weigh seven and half tons.
1t is Waived at one hundred thousand
dollars, contains gold, silver and copper,
and IS only used about twice a year.
The quarter hours are divided by two or
three notes, the number doubled is rung
for the quarter itself, quadrupled for the
half hour, while at the hour peal of
music issues forth that shakes the
entire belfry.
Suppose we pass in Imagination to the
city of Mechlin in the year 163s, to the
furnaces and work shops of Peter Van
den Gheyn, and witness the casting of
some of these mighty bells. When the
hollow space between the cover of clay
and the clay mold is the precise cast
required, the critical moment has ar
rived, and the skillful workman produces
his rarest metals (the "Rosette" copper,
with its unique pink bloom, refined tin,
glistening like silver, certain proportions
Of ENC and antimony, known to the
smith alone) and throws them into the
caldron. At given signal, the molten
mss il allowed to rush through an open
ing and ill the hollow mould. When it
has cooled the bell is finished.
Kings and princes of the blood royal
have stood by these caldrons and have
thrown in god and silver, a costly ring
or bracelet, with the name of holy saint
or martyr, as token of success.
Some of the decorations and inscrip-
tions upon the old bells are wonderfully
beauti ul as well as interesting. The
former are in low relief and illustrate al
most every variety OF sIb. .ect, while the
lines, in raised letters, are often sugges-
tive and touching.
"Petrus Hemong me fecit," is the in-
scription familiar to all bell. hunters in
Belgium. The grand bells of Mechlin
and large number OF the Antwerp
chimes bear the same name, while in the
belfry of Bruges (Which "thrlce con-
sumed and thrice repuilded, still watches
DER the town') is to be found upon the
carlton the name Of Dumery. There
seems to be almost no limit to the num-
Der of bells in Belgium.
Besides the ninety-nine in the Ant
werp cathedral, St. Rombaud, Mechlin,
hes forty-fve; Tournay, forty; St. Ger
trude, at Loavain, forty; Bruges, forty
one, and Ghent, thirty nine, but for all
the seeming multitude, there is scarcely
citizen who does not reverence the in
dividual history of each bell. To him
they are not mere masses of metal emit
ting a mechanical sound, they are the
grand old sentries of his country, which
have tolled mournfully for dead patriot
ism, or rejoiced in loud tones at the exit
of a tyrant. He would tell you that
such a one is "storm- bell, which warns
the traveller of the approaching hurricane;
another is the ''peace bell, "whose sound,
in days gone by, brought assurance that
the enemy was quiet; this one is rung at
the opening and shutting of the city
gates; that one proclaims the hour of
prayer. All, Belgium, loving and be-
loved of bells! Thy many-voiced, chin
ing patriarchs hold daily communion
with man, but they are not of him, they
summon him to his duties; they swing
for his griefs and pleasures, "Iinging
out the old, ringing in the new," almost
for ever aud ever. These valiant spires,
gray and constant in the upper air, dis
course together over the heads of frail
humanity, and their speech is rocked
from tower to tower by the music of the
bells.- Chicago Current.