The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-09-20
THE CAPITOL'S CLOCKS
zo,aRnssMEN WELL SUPPLIED
WITH TINEPIECES.


v.ssett's Charge o.
n, Ns,r York Commercial Advertiser.
co.orsss kills time with nearly LOCO
80 AT the hour of noon more than ten
.,,o,,ssnd strokes of tiny bells sound through
49, bnilding On all ordinary occasions Il
-. ia the beginning or the end Of the day
canitol. For the committees it is the
-Iosaof the day; in the halls OF congress the
lining hour begins just when the last hour
g the morning closes. When the ball
80 at noon on the dome Of the observa-
s-r when the whistles sound and the bells
throughout the city and the workmen
.aS5,rwhere began to rattle their dinner
SIs the hands of the electric clocks at the
ooanitol spring straight TO the hour OF
10 nicking up a moment OF lost
time or dropping a moment they
have marked too soon. Then the
Lnoootar's gavel falls, and it is the time for
eppo~ning prayer. High noon is the hour of
tours in this marble temple OF law and dis
u5ar All the capitol clocks must mark
tbat hour punctually, if no other hour in
49, dav. and all the bells must strike in
"nison. At noon congress has its
birth and at noon it expires. 1t
ia only on extraordinary occasions like
the present, when congress is not its
dsv at any other hour. All committees,
,,riass thew have received some especial dis
,1a,sations. ceases to have power to act as
aaornmittees when the clock on the mantel
s+-ikas u Action taken after that would
have no binding force. Therefore the Off
ciaI clock, whose statement as to the hour
cannot be disputed. is on the mantel in each
Of the hundreds of committee rooms.
The clock enters very largely into Iegisla-
tive business. Besides starting the House
and the Senate on their daily course and
anding the powers of committees, it meas
nres off the allotted portions of time for
hills whose fate depends upon the use made
of the moments to their credit, and it cuts
congressional eloquence into sections vary
ing IN length from one minute to sixty.
IL takes variety of clocks to keep time
for congress. Some of them are old and
curious, some are very rich and ornae,
while others are plain, everyday clocks
The most common committee-room clock is
the square black stone, worth from $25 to
S35. but in a number of the more
important committee-rooms there are
old ornamental clocks, rich with
carvings, or perhaps surmounted
with bronze statuary, often of
highly artistic character. In one of the
committee rooms there Is CLOCK on top of
which reclines, in an attitude of grace a
Grecian goddess ~ feet long, cast in
bronze. In the room of the committee on
WAYS and means is quite handsome clock
surmounted with bronze figures of astro-
nomical symbolism. Many of these clocks
are works of art designed especially for
some conspicuous place at the capitol by
some ambitious artist. and, like the ornate
bronze stair cases, they are stuck away in
dark places where they are seldom seen,
One of the handsomest little clocks in
the building is one of plain design,
made of bronze and alabaster, which gives
the time to the toilerS in the house file
room. The only ornamentation consists Of
two scrolls of bronze enveloping the lower
corners, low scroIl-work base on which
the alabaster rests, and small equestrian
figure on the top, which is plain. There is
something about the outline and arcaitec-
tural proportions of the piece which gives
it peculiar artistic beauty. 1t is seldom
any one comes into the room without hav-
ing his attention attracted to this clock
Once some one took such an intense interest
in it that it was stolen, but it was afterward
recovered. 1t has been at the capitol much
longer than any man now there to tell it's
history. The stone is stained by time
The most conspicuous clock in the build
ing, and one Of the most famous in the
country is tie Franzoni allegory of history,
which stands over the entrance to the old
hall of representatives, now statuary nall
A Z. wheels
Of wtlch rest upon the globe, and in it
stands the female figure of history, in
Greclan robes, recording the passing events
upon tablet, while the hands of the clock,
which revolve about the wheel whereon are
marked the hours, indicate the flight of
Tine Looking up at the figure it appears
to be about one-third life size.
While the tranzoni is tho most talked
about and the most artistic clock in the
iS NH l.;
Senate corridor, inappropriately crowded
INTO corner, which Is quite as interesting,
thougn maklcg no pretense to distinction
IL IS an old wooden clock about eight feet
nlgn, built as substantially a. an old
fashioned Sldeboard. A man might stard
INSIDE OF 1t and have room to turn around
ana make himself comfortable The only
ofnamenJation is a shield surrounded bv a
wreath, on the panel of the door, and an
eagle perched above the dial. Its principal
ciaiih Ior attention among those who do
hoI EMO" It's history is its massive style and
apparent age. 1t is the clock which
counted time for our early day statesmen
IL was made In Pennsylvania at considera-
ole cos0, as the official clock of the Senate,
anu STOOD FOR many years in the old Senate
cnanber, where now sits the supreme
court All our earlier Statesmen sat their
C Cams eye watches by it. and by it Clay,
Caihoun and Webster timed their
speeches With memorable accuracy
measured off the lives of these
sleaI men into minutes. and, one by one,
marked the hour of their death. It's twelve
s.iokes Tor years struck out the term of one
9%ulninstratlon and in the term of another
aIeslueats and senator's were sworn In by il.
b Sau IL possesses secrets of state of which
history Is ignorant. The man who sat by
W. sue htty years ago, watched 1t and
T uauu u, now grown to look like old Father
s5iLne, Sits and watches the new clock in the
s.ne chamber, while this old friend
;t. IN corner deprived of
n ~ ollcial functions. For many wears
Il Ta H. clock was known for its veracity.
s Gilaer me care of Col. Bassett it was never
r n+loNee 70 stop, and being, as 1t were, the
r roHe o. the college of clocks. it spoke ex
q I- -,usura AID Its time was the time. But
q nm M an eVli day fraud was practiced
q I'm I'm IT, ana since that day no clock in the
snSr S vi congress has been above the
sina p.olon OF fraud on certain occa-
ci ons Until March 4, 1874, when that
d J'SGk sad 1t was IL o'clock no one dared TO
eyr $50 IT, but on that day, marking the
M 1pfa'lon of the term, the Senate found
~ se ~ 10 an awkward position. The hands
x ~ We CLOCK were close upon the hour which
4 h., Uu ~ decree the death of that congress
n tG ~ que hour had come toe soon and found
Il t I9pl not prepared. There was consterpa-
n ~ ana doubt in the mind of the senator's.
81 No congress wanted few more me-
10 live