The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-21
WILL RING OUT THE ALARMS.
NEW HE'LL WILL SWING ~ THE
TOWER At FIRE STATION.

Mig Duke L. Useless for All Purposes
% AInrm-Thc Crack "a Received
From False Alarm Last spring
Lett ~ without Tone and KILLED
the Far-ReRchtnE Quality of Its
Noscs-New nen wtn he secured
n, the fire Committee 60 Take the
uia Duke'H PIace-Beu l. Twenty
eight Years old.
Tho Big Duke. the giant bell that hangs
IN tne tower al the TIRE station on ogic-
norpc avenue and chat has so many times
kened savannah's citizens NJ dead OF
NIGH. or drawn them from places Of bus
mess al noon. setting the air dying wlsh
tts notes. will soon have a successor. The
sire Committee Of Council will have a
now ben for alarms. and Council will be
asked for the money chat will be ueces-
f,ry for the purpose.
Useless for all purposes save TO he re-
,,s, for another bell. tho Big Duke Is
s,m in the tower. but for some weeks &
has not sounded in response TO the cleo
.-..t warnings Of FIRE that have flashed In
90 me several stations. les tone has gone
and hut "A duh note is elected when the
,,pper comes IN contact with the metal.
The Biz Duke was broken by a stroke
n, rs eIapper In responding to false
sarm. This was on April - last when IN
some lnexp.ainable way box no. 70. on
prouchton and Whitaker streets. was
reIea. 4 solution Of the mystery that al
,7ahod 20 the pulling OF the box on that
,.-asion, and on May / was never OBJ
iaued II was on the occasion OF the
e1-m on May ! that the trouble with the
bell was noted.
A. the break was slight crack. Il was
Drought that careful work might
result in the repair Of the
inc bell. some time in June
Mr. u ". Thomson. Of it6
Wert Broad street. took the con
tract 10 repair the bell. After about
months work he pronounced the work
completed. His efforts were unavaiiing.
as the big Duke did not recover lts tone
Nothing approaching the great volume OF
sound that surged forth from its giant
mouth when is vibrations were started
iu former days Is ELECTED now when the
Isis Duke is struck
For a time the bell was used for alarms.
bot il was seen that its notes were not
fIr-reaching. 50 90 was determined 10 re-
lease 10 from service. Many have noted
that on several occasions OF late the IRE
apparatus has rushed through the streets.
no warning from the Biz Duke having
uo'fHei them Of "a fire.
Suueriutendcnt Mcguire Of the fire de-
r3riment does not approve the plan Of
having a big bell sound the alarm when
over there Is a fire The principal rca-
son be knows why there should b. such
BELL he said yesterday IS that warn.
Ill d,
ray bc kept for the fire apparatus and
enc streets cleared for It's passage Tn,
recent accident at the intersection OF
Trouehtou and Dmyton streets the SUI
u.riutendoni admitted might have been
avoided had he motormln OF the car
heard che Big Duke ring and been there
ly cautioned 20 look out for the engines.
so such warning came 90 him. SO he los,
ts head when the apparatus appeared
suddenly
Rut thls advantage. the superintendent
believes. IS outweighed by the disadvan-
ueas q having q bell 10 arouse the city
90 the fact that there Is 'fre somewhere.
Curious spectators. vast crowds OF whom
can always be assembled when there Is
chance TO see a great blaze gather nni
thr1ns the streets. impeding the work Of
tHe aremen. getting Ca their way. inter-
ferug with their efforts TO put out the
flames. Offering suggestions that are not
worth two cents and. la some few cases
m4klug disconcorting and provoking re-
marks that the nremon sometimes feel
as though they should resent
These crowds are called out by the bell.
the far-reaching notes OF which inform
others than the merely curious that lie
v0ufiuc flames are getting IN their iei
work Thieves are attracted. alert. watch
Col pllferers. who welcome tho opportuni-
~ that g. offered them TO steal Amid
the excitement. hurry and lack OF care
thar prevail at "a great hrc u Is easy Tor
thieves 10 make rich hsuls. and II Is also
easy for them TO know that the opportu-
ritv IS at hand when they hear the clang
of a monster bell and are drawn from
their haunts 20 prey upon those VINO are
unfortunate IN being the victims OF the
flames destructive inroads upon properly.
The superintendent yields however, TO
the general wish Tor a new bell. and IN
terposes 10 objections TO one being &C.
cured
4 bell foundry has offered 60 allow the
city certain price per pound for the
Ble Duke as II now hangs IA the tower,
al the same time quoting price per
pound for a new bell to take its place.
The metal In the Big Duke will BE- melted
down. and its twenty-eight years OF hie
will b. at an end.
IL was on June 6. 1872. that the Big
Duke was bought by the city Of Savan-
nan from the Troy Ben Foundry OF Troy
n. Y. It's weight was then 55l5 pounds,
and its cost was s. $500 fob. IN Savan-
NAN. The monster was named Big
Duke" after Alderman Marmaduke
Hamilton. who introduced the resolution
in Council. authorizing its purchase.
For many years the Big Duke was em-
ployed 20 sound the alarms for the volun-
teer hremcn. At FIRST, after its arrival
here, st lay for some time In the rear OF
Che police barracks. IN The city pound lot
a heavy wooden tower was erected for
it IN the lot ana there the bell remained
until the iron tower In which " now hangs
was bought and erected for a.
From It's top to the center Of the circle
described by he mouth OF the Big Duke
is a perpendicular drop OF four feet four
inches. The first bulge of the bell near
she top Is two feet ten inches In diameter
while the mouth IL FIVE feet. FIVE and one
half inches across The metal OF the bell
q i've inches thick
EIUEtss MEETING