The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-26

Lives OF the People.
London Globe
There Is no other country in the world in
which the church bell plays so prominent
part in the life of the people as Russia. The
ringing of the church bell is there a ma
tional institution, like public speaking In
England. The tongue of the man is simply
replaced by the clapper of the bell. In the
majority of the provincial cities in Russia
there is practically no public life at all. The
Inhabitants drag along from day to day
their dull. humdrum and petty life as If
there were nothing else in the world but
their shops and their bedrooms No par
liamentary elections, no party politics rouse
their passions; no theaters, no public or
private libraries amuse them. Nay, not
even bookseller or newspaper stall. Only
one thing is there to awaken the magma
ton and excite some public interest, and
that is the sound of the church bell.
And what a variety of.interest, what full
ness of emotion does the Russian church
bell give! There is the everyday ringing
for morning and evening prayer; there is
the festival peal of the Sunday, the solemn
ringing at Christmas, the incessant drone
at Easter the abrupt banging at baptism.
the gay tfnkling for a marriage and the
grave and slow toll of the funeral. Besides,
there are many local holidays and other
occasions when the church bell is very
BUSY. 1t summons and awakes the sleepy
population In case fire breaks out; ii
greets the bishop or some other big eccle-
siastical or civilian dignitary on his ar
rival at the city, and so on. Verify, in no
other country but Russia has the church
bell right to the inscription, "Vivos voco
mortuos plango, fulgura FRANCO" that
a ssSsn nv Shs be In schahausen and was
Song Of the Bell" In western EUROPE the
bell is usually fixed to a beam with which
circles IS here and there This system
heavy weight. and, besides, the double
swinging of the bell and its clapper causes
in be so aGk of rS and
some of the churches of western Europe
large bells which are like giants who have
lost their voice. Such. for instance. is the
Cathedral. which weighs twenty-six tons.
thirteen hundredweight but never rings
Inc same fate shares the Big Brunnen''
or the Notre Dame In Paris. BY its swing
ing II has shaken almost the bell tower to
pieces, and since 1851 it has never been
used.
+,d IN Russia STA, the bell remains almost mo-
tioniess and 1t is the clapper which is
swung and which beats the rim of the bell.
On account OF this the Russian bell can be
MADE OF immense proportions. as it is al
ways easier to swing the clapper than the
whole mass OF the bell. Hence we find in
nussia the largest church bells in the world
-Koiokoi in Moscow, is, howe ram0o os
no use, on account Of a crack which il cot
when 1t fell in 1877. 1t weighs more than
Wo IONS ms Qz,ST Russian poodsl. and till the
year 1880 was lying deep sunk in the ground
put tnen IL was put up on a pedestal. This
dead bell is like a mammoth among the
est town in large bells There are two bells
OF over sixty-six tons each, one in the ST.
mon monastery and the other in the As
sumption Church. Then there is quite a
uyht Ah III.
each. The best-known bells in Russia for
their musical tone are to be found, how
ever, not In Moscow, but in the cathedral of
the provincial town Rostov Out of the
thirteen bells of this cathedral nine are
known by special names and have been
described by many historians and archaeol-
ogists. The ringing of the bell as an art i'm
Russia was, however, for a long time very
much neglected, and it is only since 1Si1
mat IT has been studied and improved
who is great, and the only Russian. cam,
panologist. He invented a special instrl-
men 10 obtain easily the number of vibra-
fine its pitch. Thanks to him there are now
In Russia many churches with muscally ar
ranged bells
Some of the church bells I'm Russia have
quite a peculiar history. There is. for in
stance. the bell known as the Exile of
Ooglich." In 1891 this bell, which used to
nang IN the cathedral of Ooglich, sounded
was murdered. For some inexplcable rea-
son such an alarm was held to be a crime
which had to be punished. Accordingly
after having been logged and deprived of
the top ring, the bell was exiled to To-
bolsk, In Siberia, where IL was put I'M in
some obscure church. Only after three
centuries of exile. and after many petitions
on the part OF the people of Ooglich, this
unfortunate bell returned at last to its Oh
quarters. TO the joy of the new generation.
Another bell, this time from Moscow.
was a century later exiled to the Korei
monastery, In the north, on account of
having once rudely awakened Car Theodor
Alexexevlch from most agreeable night
dream Certainly all this sounds very
ridiculous and quite preposterous. And so
II is. But the Russians are an emotional
people. and are very much addicted to
symbolism, which. in some degree, explains
these almost incredible historical facts