The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-19
CHIMES RuNG By ENGINES.
The old BeII-Ringer suppIanted by
CompresSed Air and ELECTRICITY

From the New York Evening Post
When the great six-thousand-pound bell
of St Patrick's Cathedral. answering the
chimes of Grace and Trinity doomed out
the closing hours of the last century and
ushered IN the new. 1t rang down the
curtain on the me.Odramatic and picture
esque occupation of the bell-ringer as ne
is known IN literature. The shadows that
yelled those sombTe inhabitants of the
belfry. the phantoms and elhn creatures
Of the bells, have all been banished, and
in their place now a heartless, mechent-
cal genius, with a switchboard. com
pressed air, aud electrical power hired
from street-lighting company, has with
mathematical precision reduced bell-ring-
ing to a business basis.
The chimes of St. Patrick's, which con-
sist of nineteen bells Weighing from 30 to
GOO pounds, with the names of the va
rious donors on them, came from the
great Paccard foundry in Paris three
years ago, and cost $4,000. They have
musical range from lower &C. to upper
D." with the accompanying sharps and
fats Immediately upon their arrival the
trustees advertised for an original de-
vice to ring them, and after a public COM
petition II. c. Champ of Brooklyn was
awarded the contract. His plan called
for a small keyboard eighteen inches long,
fashioned like that of a typewriter, to be
rlaced in the sacristy, and which could
be operated with ease by any one with a
knowledge of music. Champ worked for
three years at his device, aided by the
trustees, who not only called in we'll
known experts to advise him, but when
he sum of his contract was exhausted,
made a further contract with him. They
had the satisfaction of knowing on the
night of Dec. % that the installation was
perfect, and three nights after, the chimes
played "Adeste Fideles," 20, Father OF
Light" THE Harmonious Blacksmith"
and my Country, IT'S of Thee" at the
dawn of the new century. Yesterday the
automatic clock mechanism when is 10
render the "Angelus' and DE Profundis
four times daily was successfully INSTALL
ed.
william r. Wynn. consulting engineer
TO the trustees, in describing the plant,
SAYS: at is an adaptation of the COM
pressed-air cylinder adopted by the Union
Switch and Signal Company. Mr.. Champ
In following their idea constructed nine
teen bell engines, corresponding 10 the
number of bells. These bell engines are
bolted to wooden seats, which in turn are
bolted on "a system of steel beams in
serted in the walls of the north tower.
These engines consist in their working
parts of a fine grade of bronze compost
ton metal, so as not to rust or corrode.
The engines practically consist OF three
main parts, two cylinders and piston,
which is fitted to clip hung on the clap
per of the bell above 1t. On the engine
there is an adjustable clevis, so that the
stroke can be arranged to nicely, and
once so adjusted, it cannot change IFS
position.
THE engines are operated from the sac
risty by means of a keyboard. A key
being depressed, a current of electricity
is sent along its wire to the belfry, where,
| by means of an air-valve operated
through an electro magnet, the compress
ed air is admitted to the bell engine. and
the air pressure delivers the blow. which
acts upon the clapper, and rings the
| bell"