The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-23
THE WORLDS BELLS.
CAPA8l.E or MAKING A CHAIN OF
souNo AROUND THE GLOBE.

Bells Tnnf Are Famous For Ono Thing or
A.s<aser-The vfilels Of Spain, the An
gsisa. ths Big Unruns Ball OF Russia.
Oar ~. Liberty HE'LL and Trinity Chimes.
There b q chino Of bells which, II rung
one aft<r another In longitudinal scale,
would reach around the world. The bells
hang In different countries and have each
n separate history. This, told chronologic.
ally, would give record Of the world, for
the bells reach back TO the carly Egyptians
and the days Of bondage. Taken separate
ly they mark historic epochs
Our own Liberty bell Is one Of the
chime. IL cracked ringing for independ-
ence-tbat blessed crack that is It's proudest
marking-but Its sound Is still sweetest
music Before the moment IL cracked for
Joy that bell could be heard far and wide.
and it's peal easily reached the outskirts OF
the young republic Of which IL was the
proud spokesman. -..t
Spain has bell that Is its prophet. II
is its soothsayer, oracle and guide. This
bell, the famous Villcla, has hung for CEN
turies in the historic castle, keeping watch
over tho nation. aa tt
It Is the most celebrated bell in Europe,
though not proud or handsome. Its fame
rests not SO much upon its notes, though
these are high pitched, soft and clear, nor
upon it's size for there are other bells In
Spain much larger, but upon Its person
ality.
1.-THE Bells of the Tower" have been
noted for centuries as having n power OF
their own. "Ring out, wild bells, means
that the bells have 1t within them to tell
terror And "Chime. ye BELLS" means
they can speak for JOY. The bell ringer
does tho best no can for them, but 1t Is
true tho bells odd q force Of their own.
The Villcla Is a Spanish bell that for
years has foretold any impending trouble
to tho nation. When the father Of little
Aiphoaso died, the Villcla began tolling
in the night and tolled until morning
light In the ten years Cuban war the
bell struck awful tones on the nights Of
defeats And when great fires have touch
ed tho castle and sickness or insurrection
thrcatcned the throne tho Villela has lift
ed up its voice In sudden, loud warning.
Russia has a coronation bell. 1t is the
largest In the world and weighs SOC, 900
pounds It's sound has never been bound
ed, and IL Is said, like the emperor's voice,
to reach to heaven. 1t hangs In the Krem.
lin. It's tho empcror's bell and is rung
only In honor of him. At the coronation 1t
pealed forth as the emperor entered tho
church, and its voice announced the con-
clusion of the ceremony to the whole Of
Russia The coronation bell Is rung by a
bell ringer blessed by the emperor, the head
of the church. The bell ringer does no 9th
or work and Is always on duty to tell the
important events In the family Of the en-
perM.
He is pensioned He rings when his
majesty goes to church, and in case Of tho
death of Russian monarch the Kremlin
bell tolls constantly between the death and
the time Of the funeral
Since Russia Is the home Of bells, IL Is
not wonderful TINT 1t should hold the
largest unrung bell in the world. This
bell now Inakoa q building in the Krem-
lin. It was cast two centuries ago, but
was found too heavy to remove from the
pit.
Tho Russian monarchs, one after anoth-
cr, tried to have it lifted, and hundreds OF
lives were sacrificed In the shifting pit OF
sand. Finally fate intervened.' A raging
fire broke out and heated the bell in the
pit. A, quantity Of cold water flowed in
around It, and great piece, the size of q
door, was broken out. The Russian king
Immediately ordered It lifted to pedestal
and set within the Kremlin, where 1t is
sometimes used as temple Its walls are
feet thick, and 1t Is e5 feet high. f
The dearest bells" in France arc the
Angelus, made famous by Millct, and tho
bells Of Notre Dame. Millets son still lives
in the little home overlooking the stone
church where tho Angelus bell hangs, and
every night he goes out to hear 1t toll,
while the peasants bow their heads and
say prayers. The bells Of Notre Dame are
the largest bells of sweetness in the world
One Of them weighs 85, 900 pounds. The
maker who cast 1t would never disclose
the secret Of its loud, sweet tone.
The Japanese have the largest bells, but
the crudest. So unskilled are they that
many Of them will not ring, and SO they
are obliterated from tho list Of bells. The
best bells are mixtare Of copper and tin,
with hammer one-twenticth the weight
of the bell. The Japanese bells, even II
cast correctly, have too small hammers,
or they are cast to sound like tin, and the
hammer does not strike roundly One oi
these, the Little Giant, has never been
weighed. It is said to weigh comparative
ly little. being Of some light Japanese met
al, but it IL 30 feet across. It Is used TO an
nounce births and deaths in the royal fam.
ily. It's clappcr Is a small, elongated affair
that strikes with double sound. and the
Little Giant IL easily recognized when
heard. A4N fNf&# ast
The bell Of Notre Dame in Montreal IL
the largest bell In America, but not the
sweetest This attribute Is claimed by the
biggest bell Of Trinity's chime in New
York, which 10 % surprising In Its delica-
ey and SO penetrating in It's pureness that
rich and poor alike stand all night In all
weather to hear 1t ring In the new year.
The most inclcment weather never keeps
them away, and 30 demonstrative do they
sometimes become at its sound that Trim
ity's rector has once or twice forbidden
the chime TO ring at midnight 1t Is cast
IN X fat e F'T
The countries Of Turkey Greece Italy
and Egypt have not many famous bells
Bells arp not In good repute there from
the fact that criminals wear them around
the neck and lepcrs are strung with them.
In the temples tho high priests decorate
their robes with small, jangling bells, and
this is another. reason why bells canno,
become common. In Turkey they are con.