The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-06-27
THE MAN-U-WAB'S BELL
VARIOUS USES TO WHICH IT IS
PUT ABOARD SHIP.

III AnilH All Mhuuh 10 nhtN the
Dead"-Tolllng Dell For Church.
strike eight bellsw shouted the Of
ficer Of the deck on one Of the warshlps
few days ago, anu then one Of
tie women visitors remarked: "Oh.
this Is charming! Have you ever heard
the chimes on a navy shipY The man
escort, one Of the full of knowledge
Of nautical knowledge kind. responded:
"Oh, yes; I've been a frequent visitor
to the ships, for know so many OF the
officers, and the chimes are rung beau
tifully. But they don't have them on
all the ships" At that instant the boy
to whom the order had been given
made eight strokes on the ships bell,
and then all was silent, even the group
OF visitors who had simply looked In
Quiringly into one another's faces.
But the Chimes" were not referred TO.
Eight bells does not mean that
ship has that number Of bells but 1t is
a nautical term for the hour. The rau-
teal day begins and ends at noon,
when eight bells" is struck. as it is
also at o'clock, 8 o'clock and at mid
night The bell is struck half hourly,
one stroke being added each half hour,
until eight is reached, when the count
begins again And if one is asked
the time on boaro a navy ship the
response would be so many bells and
not the hour. The bell is of ordinary
size only, but it has a sharp tone, AID
is hung just forward or abaft the fore
mast The captains orderly usually
watches the clock and reports to the
officer Of the deck what hour it is in
number of bells, who then orders the
bell struck But at o'clock in the
morning this rule is varied, the orderly
reporting TO the officer Of the deck,
Eight bells, STRIP when the officer re-
plies, Report to the captain eight
bells and chrolometers wound" The
captain then responds, VERY well;
make it SO" which tic orderly reports
to the officer Of the deck, who com.
nalds the messenger boy Of the
watch, Strike eight bells" But if the
captain should chance to remain mum
and not say, MAKE 1t Sc" no one
would hear the tell strike eight, and
Il nautical Cay would be thrown cut
Of joint
At noon the eight bells" is not
struck until the navigator has corrected
thescloIk, either by his nCcnday Sight
Tor position Of the ship when at sea
CT from his chronometer If with a
fleet or at q naval station the bell must
not be struck until that of the senior
officer sounds, and the messenger
stands by the bell, with clapper il
hand, and as soon as the flag officers
Lel begins to strike, the bells on the
ot-er vessels are struck. When there
is a large feet lying close together the
effect is interesting and agreeable, ant
one might imagine that chimes wer,
Icing rung.
Every navy in the wcrld, except Eng
land, follows the same custom, anC
England only varies at the "dol
watch," from / to s o'clock in tn,
evening. In these hours the bell strikes
every half hour till O'Clock, and thel
at ESQ one Jell is struck, and so Oh t,
three bells, at 7.30 O'clock; but eigh
bells are sounded at 8 o'clock. Tradi
ton gives this reason for this custom
Before the British naval mutinies 0
1897 the bells of the ships were strucl
as in other navies; But in one of thos
mutinies the signal agreed upon wa
the stroke Of five bells (6.30 p. ny, an
at that hour the mutineers rose to sla
their officers. Then, when order wa
restored throughout the navy, the do
watch system OF bells was adopted, t
a.lay superstition.
But the ships bell has other dutie
than that Of keeping the time. 1t toll
on Sunday mornings for the service
Of tie chaplain or his substitute; ais
70 call "All hands to bury the dead,
and it is a fire signal, when rung Wis
orCusly, and then the SHIPS crew take
the positions to which they have bee
assigned on the first day each has bee
detailed to the ship The bell is NJ
used as a fire signal in an engagement
however, for the reason that the ere
might become panicstricken, and Iii
acted from the fight; in such case
the fire is reported to the captain, an
he dispatches an officer with men
exHnguish it, The bell is also used
a fog, and when a snip is at anchC
it is struck in tlrees, with a short il
tcrval between each set Of strokes.
the use of the bell for these sewers
purposes no confusion is caused. III
half hour signals are struck in pair
with a couple Of seconds between eac