The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-12-09
BELLS OF GREAT RBPUTB
Many the Clangings Of Which Are
Part Of History.
Great Tom, the Door Closer of Ok
ford Peals RunH i'm the Middle
Ages ReverberatinR Along Times
Corridorx-The Changing That Pro-
claimed Americans Indcpende, &c.

claimed Americas Indcpende, &c
The bell has always figured in poetry
ard romance and has probably been used
in literature to create greater diversity o.
effect than any other inanimate object
Inscriptions upon old bells are yer,
quaint and curious. as the recent investi-
cations Of Mr.. Julian Abelard, of this
city, serve TO show. Mr.. Abelard. who IL
a traveller Of much experience, has de-
cial attention to the history of celebrated
bells, among which, in a recent interview
he cited the following:
The famous bell Of Flanders, The
Great Roland was the alarm bell of the
quaint old town Of Client in the days OF
its glory. It bears this Inscription: MY
name is Roland: when am runs hastily.
then there is fire; but when resound in
peals. there is q storm in Flanders The
Great Tom OF Oxford University, Eng
land, is enormous. Toms note is said to
be fiat, and every night at o'clock and
5 minutes he tolls 101 strokes as a sig
nal for closing the college gates. One
hundred and one represents the original
now decreased to eighty. TIE inscription
Is: Great Tom, the door closer Of Oxford ;
Toms real age is about 400 years, but he
has been renewed at different times. The
great bell Of St. Clement Danes, London.
owes its reputation to the nursery legend
Of
Oranges and lemons.
Say the bells Of St. Clements.
"The bells of St. Mary LIE Bow, London.
are famous, since persons born within
sound of Bow Bells are called Cock
neys.' Pope says:
Far as loud Bows stupendous bells resound.
The big bell in 1859 was rung nightly at
9 o'clock, which marked the time Of
closing the shops. Being usually rung
late, the young men Of Cheapside set up
rhyme against it, as follows:
Cierke Of the Bow Bell, with yellow lockes.
For thy late ringing thy head shall have knockes.
"whereunto the clerk, replying. wrote:
Children of Cheape. hold you all still,
For you shall have the Bow Bell rung at your
will.
Bells. The church is called the St. Mary
lie Bow from having been the first church
built on arches of stone.
In the Middle Ages, church bells came
to have a peculiar religious venerstion
accorded them. At Sherborne, England,
there is FIRE bell upon which the in
ecription reads:
Lord guench this furious flame:
Arise. run, help put out the same.
The inscription on the great bell of
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, is: Richard
Phelps made me- 17l6.' It is only tolled
on the death Of the sovereign or a member
Of the royal family. and for the lord
mayor, should he die during his term of
office. Az exception was made to this rule
upon the death of the great Duke OF
Wellington, when the bell was tolled dur
ing the funeral.
AT Schaifhausen, in Switzerland the
Cathedral bell, cast in 1916, bears the in
scription. 'Vivos voco, mortuos plango.
fulgura FRANCO II call the living. l toll
for the dead, / break the thunderbolt).
These words suggested to Schiller the
idea of his beautiful Lied Won der
Glocke,' or Song of the Bells
The Liberty Bell" still preserved in
Independence Hall at Philadelphia, was !
first cast in England, but owing to a flaw
in ii was recast in Philadelphia, being
one Of the first large bells cast in this
country. 1t was hung in the belfry Of
the State House about the year 1755 and |
when. twenty years later, in 177S, it an
nounced to the anxious throng outside the |
Bigning OF the Declaration Of Independ- |
ence, 1t but fulfilled the prophecy con-
tanned in its inscription: Proclaim lib |
erty throughout the land and unto all the |
thereof which is a quotation |
from the Bible (Lev. xxv:10).
The Chinese have long claimed to have |
the largest hanging bell in the world in |
Buddhist monastery near Canton but one l
hung in the Moscow Cathedral has been |
shown to be bigger. The Canton |
bell was cast in 140o A. d. and Is said to /
have cost the lives OF eight men, who |
were killed during the process Of casting.
The whole bell. both inside and out, is
covered with an inscription in embossed
Chinese characters about half an inch
long, covering even the handle. The total
am sorry to say cannot give a trans
alton.
Many tragic and pathetic and marvel
,us tales are recorded upon bells.
''On the eve Of the feast Of Corpus |
Christi to this day the choristers OF Dur
nam Cathedral ascend the tower and, in
heir fluttering white robes, sing the TIE
oeum.' This Is said to be in comm amora-
ion OF the miraculous escape Of the bell
turing conilagration on that night A. d.
l429. The monks were At midnight prayer
when the belfry was struck by lightning
and set on fire. Though the fire ragged
until the middle of the next day, the
lower escaped and the bells were unin-
ured-an escape that was imputed 10 the
special Interference of the incorruptible
St. Csthbert, enshrined in the cathedral.
''Of the varied uses of bells, a whole
Tolume might be written. Many a bloody
,hapter of history has been rung in and
tut by bells. On Easter Monday. 1882, at
he ringing Of the Sicilian vespers, eight
thousand Of the French were massacred
a cold blood by John OF Procida, who
damned to free the Island OF Sicily from
french rule. On the oath of August (St
day. 1872. bell gave the
ignal for the massacre OF the HugScnots
a France. As the nineteenth century
ields to its successor every church bell
q Christendom will send up a great peal
o heaven, telling of the dawn Of a new
ra and invoking the favor and protec-
lon OF Providence upon the whole human
ace.'
Ire NJ Iowa Agricultural College.
DES MONIES, Dec. s.-The main build
ag OF the Iowa Agricultural College was
estroyed by fire this morning with the
lost OF Its contents. The loss was $780,
DO with no insurance