The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-04-16
NAPOLEON'S BELL.
After y Varied Career II Now Calls Chill
dren to Their studies.


drcn to Their studies.
When Napoleon l., In behalf oil
France. carried war to Switzerland, he
found in one of the cantons there an
ancient convent. During the course of
the war this convent was destroyed and
the bell that hung in its tower was car
ried off as trophy by the conqueror.
/ The bell was at that time reputed to be
/ several hundred years old 1t was cast
of copper and silver. The silver, ac-
1 cort.ing to the custom Of the times, was
contributed by the peasants of the can
ton. who believed that their prayers
and prospects concerning worldly and
heavenly affairs would be improved in
| accordance with their sacrifices. Ma
polcon carried the bell with him to
France and retained it as as a priced
curiosity until his downfall and Danish
ment to st. Helena. when he gave it to
his brother, Joseph Isonaparte. who,
| likewise being banishcd. brought the
old relic to America and hung it in a
belfry at his home in BordentOwn.
There it remained. serving as a din
ner bell on the farm. its history remain
| ing unknown until .Ioseph's recall from
exile. Then it was lost sight of and
for years forgotten until one day some
curiosity seekers. rummaging about in
one of the subterrancan passages that
honeycombed the place, came across il
in some old rubbish. People came from
all sections to visit the so-called cata-
combs and see the historic bell. At that
time the Camden & Amboy railroad had
just been built and the old bell was sold
| to the company who placed it in their
depot at Bordcntown to tell the arrival
| and departure of trains. 1t hung there
for years, but finally, through some
channel or other, it fell into the hands
of the Paterson 4 Hudson River rail-
road company and was destined to an
other period of obscurity. At that time
the company operated its road by
horses. and the old bell was hung in the
Jersey City station at the foot of Bergen
hill to answer the same purpose that
it did at Bordentown.
When the great railroad revolution
took place and steam ears were sub>ti-
tuted for the old horse ears the bell was
terminus of the road was where 1t.
Johns church now stands. Two trains
were run each way daily. A small
branch manipulated by horse power,
however. ran from the main depot on
Market street at its onjunction with
Main street. Here the old bell was
hung on post, and its duty was TO ring
for half an hour before the departure of
each train. Passengers could board
the horse ears without extra expense
and ride to the main depot, whence they
could take the train for New York.
As time went on. however. improve
ments developed in the railway service.
The Market street lit was then Congress
street, branch was abandoned and the
old post on which the bell hung rotted
and fell down.
But Paterson was also beginning to
make great strides forward. Then the
only educational facilities were private
institutions and subscription schools
The public-spirited townsmen finally
concluded to erect a public school and
selected the site. Here building was
| constructed and the old bell was placed
in its tower. In years gone by some of
our older citizens remember the peals of
that bell. Then the pupils grew in num-
bcrs and the old school grew too small.
Another and more improved building
NOW known as school No. II was
erected. and the ancient bell whose
mellow peals echoing from the walls of
the dizzy Alps seven centuries ago called
the humblest peasant to worship. now
startles the youths of Paterson from
their morning beds. Napoleon's voice
may have made the whole world trem-
BILE. but the voice of that little Swiss
bell rings further now than his.-Pater-
,on IN J. Call