The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-10-10
WORLD FAMOUS CHIMES.
CELEBRATED MONSTER BELLS OF
FOREIGN LANDS.
The Largest of Tintinnabulnting
Giants is in Japan-The Oldest
Peal of Bells in America.

Peal of Bells in America.
The largest bell in the world hangs
in a great tower in the city Of Kioto,
japan, says the Boston Herald. 1t is
twentyfour feet high, but as it is struck
on the outside with a wooden hammer,
its sound is comparatively feeble. China
possesses many large bells, but, like the
large bell of Kioto, they are worthless
according to our standard. Their pro-
portions are wrong for they are as large
at the top as at the bottom, and being
struck, by wooden hammers, their
tones are no more terrific than those
which emanate from the steeple of
country meeting house in New England.
The Turks abhor bells, and are said to
be adverse to admitting them into their
country for they seem to regard them as
inimical to their faith. On the other
hand, the Germans have peculiar
reverence for bells, and IN the Hartz
mountains the casting of one is made an
occasion of great public rejoicing. In
Mandelay, when the hour is struck upon
a bell, public official cries: ''By the
favor of His Majesty the King, 1t is such
and such oclock !" The ceremony, which
still prevails in some parts of our own
country and in England, of ringing the
church bells at 8 o'clock in the evening,
is, doubtless, a survival of the practice
of sounding the Curfew or cover fire,
which William the Congueror intro
duced into England as familiar
custom Of his Norman h9me. At Ok
ford University it was long time
honored custom, and one that may exist
to-day, that caused the bell known rs
"Great Tom" TO ring l01 blows at Il GER
tain hour in the evening for the purpose
of calling the students home to bed, and
at Yorkminster, England, for some un-
accountable reason, an old verger climbs
the stairs of the high tower each noon,
and with an iron hammer strikes twelve
blows upon the tenton bell. A little
clockwork in this instance would save
great deal of labor.
The old Church of st. Sepulchre in
London, well known to all American
visitors as containing all that is mortal
of Captain John Smith, whose name is
familiar to every boy and girl in the
States as that of the hero of the
Powhatan- Pocahontas episode, which
possesses a bell which used to toll when
ever a convict at the Newgate prison,
on the other side OF the street, was led
out to execution at Tyburn Fields. AS
the unfortunate man passed the church,
sitting on his co hin in the open prison
cart, the sexton would present him with
little nosegay in token of the beauties
of the earth upon which the eyes of the
poor wretch would soon close forever.
" hen the Royal Exchange in London
was destroyed by fire in 1858 the dismay
of the Cockneys was changed to momen-
tary amusement as the famous chimes
which, by mechanical device were
made to play different tune each day of
the week, struck up the famous air
"There's Nae Luck ABBOTT the House., :"
just as the roof fell in.
Various nations of Europe make
various boasts regarding their respective
bell The thirteen ton bell of Erfurt,
for instance, is said to contain the finest
metal in the world, but the Church of st.
Stephen, at Vienna contents, itself with
possessing the largest bell in German
countries. The people of Antwerp
point with justitable pride to the sixty
live bells in their superb cathedral. The
fine church edifice in Mechim follows this
with forty-four bells. The famous belfry
of Bruges presses fast behind with forty
one bells, and Client makes a respectable
showing with thirty in a single
tower.
The oldest chime of bells in America
is the chime of eight on Christ Church.
Salem street, Boston. They were brought
from England in 1744 and were pro-
cured by subscription, Mr.. John Rowe
giving the freight. They cost $2S00,
the charges for wheels and putting them
in place were $465.
Next to the giant of Kioto, the mons.
| ter of Moscow, Russia, is the largest
bell in the world. This marvellous
specimen of the founders art weighs
more than 220 tons. 1t is more than 2l
feet high and is 81 feet ia circumference,
and being mounted on huge stone pc
| destal, now serves as chapel. A great
| fragment being broken from one side
| easy access is afforded to the interior.
! There is a mystery about this great bell,
and mystery as great as the bell itself.
| History does not report whether this
enormous mass Of metal has ever been
hung or rung. The exact age Of the bell
| does not seem to have been accurately
! determined. Some writers assert that
as the bell was being raised upon one of
| the great towers of the Kremlin it fell
and broke. Others affirm that it had
been safely hung when the building
caught fire and that the water used to eX-
tinguish the flames cracked the heated
metal and rent great mass from its side
while others are equally positive that the
| injury was done in the process of cast
ing, and that the bell lay IN the foundry
| pit for l0i years, and was then dug out
and placed upon the pedestal where it
stands to-day. 1t is not easy to see the
use of such a metallic monster Nothing
short of steam power could swing the
mass of metal, aud steam power was un-
known in the days when the Moscow bell
was cast. The value of the metal alone
| has been computed at about $3.50, 600,
and it is said that large quantity OF
| gold and silver was mixed with it.
The twelve bells of st. Paurs Cathe-
dral in London are said TO be the great
est ringing peal in the world. 1t is a
matter of pride with the English that
they always swing their bells instead of
merely swinging the clappers after the
fashion prevailing in Russia and other
| parts OF continental Europe.
The Russians have a passion for big
| bells. There are numbers of them in
| Moscow. In the tower Of Ivan, in the
Kremlin, hangs a sixty ton bell, which
| is rung only three times year, and then