Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-05-18
MAN-OF-WAR BELLS,
Largest One Aboard IL Ship Is on the
New York.

New York.
From tie Boston Post.
Uncle Sans big cruiser New York has
bell on board weighing $50 pounds, which
is in ali prot ability the largest bell ever
put aboard ship for use at sea-
The ships bell is the mariners clock
The nautical day begins and ends at noon,
when eight bells are struck. The bell is
struck half-hourly, day and night, one
stroke being added for each half hour I'M
| til eight is reached, when the count be-
| gins a one bell.
In the United States navy the ships
| bell hangs usually under the forecastle,
or just forward of the foremost The
captains orderly keeps the time and re-
ports to the officer of the deck the hour
| in terms of bells" The officer of the
deck then bids the messenger of the watch
! strike the bell. There is somewhat more
fcrmaiity at eight bells than at other
| times. for then the hour is reported to the
captain and the bell not struck until he
has said, Make il So" Here is the rou-
tine on board of a man-Ofwar a O'Clock
in the morning: The orderly says to the
officer of the deck, Eight bells, SIR" The
officer of the deck replies. Report to the
captain eight bells and chronometers
wound" The orderly then goes TO the cap
tain and says: Eight bells and the chro-
Very well, II AXE it So" The orderly goes
to the officer of the deck and says: Make
| it So SIR The officer of the deck says to
| the messenger of the watch: Strike
| eight bclls;'' and IL everybody has been
prompt the messenger strikes eight bells
at exactly am.
AS n matter of fact. the report eight
| bells and chronometers wound is intended
| as 4 check on the navigating officer To
him the ships chronometers are confided.
| There are three chronometers and a
| hack on each man-of-war. The hack
| is simply portable chronometer that may
I ~ DC hf.r / hn Hf hare
| once affixed to their place in the navigat-
| or's room or their chart room, are never
removed. The navigator knows his chro-
nometer even better than he knows his
| shpmates. The error and the rate of the
chronometer as compared with Green
| witch mean time are accurately known,
| and it is pretty sure If one gets out of or
| der the others may be depended upon. Be
sides the ChronOmeters, there are ship
| clocks, which are kept up to local time.
Some Of the ships clocks are now made
| to strike the bells, but the old routine is
retained. except that the clock does the
| work of the messenger. Whether or not
| the clock would stop should the captain
at o'clock withhold his make it so" is
! a question yet to be determined.
| They do things rather differently in the
| British navy. On the English men-of-war
| there is curious deviation from the
| American naval method of indicating the
| hour. Before the British naval mutinies
| of 1877 the bells were struck on board
|
are on board the ships of other nations.
But In one OF those mutinies the signal
I agreed upon by mutineers was the stroke
| of five bells, G:30 pm. When that signal
| came the mutineers rose to STAY their Off
| GERS. In the fight that followed the officers
| upon one ship at least were driven over
| the starboard side, and the mutineers for
q time were in possession OF the ship.
| When order was restored throughout the
| navy, the stroke of FIVE bells at $50 p. m,
| IN the second dog watch was dropped
| from its place in sequence, though five
| bells are retained AT $50 am. The stroke
| at $40 pm. in the British Wy is one bell.
| at two bells, at 1880 three bells, but at S
| It is eight bells. From that hour to $50
pm the sequence of strokes is the same
| as IN the United States navy.