The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-21
LOMBARD BUILDING.
ABOUT THE SHIPS BELL.
Various Uses to Which 1t Is put--HOw
1t Tells the Time of Day.

New York Tribune.
Eight bells, does not mean that ship
has that number of bells, but it is a nauti-
cal term for the hour. The nautical day
begins and ends at noon, when "eight bells
is struck, as it is also at o'clock, O'Clock
and at midnight. The bell is struck half
hourly. one stroke being added for each
half hour again. And if one is asked the
time on board a navy ship the response
would be so many bells, not the hour. The
bell is of ordinary size only, but 1t has a
sharp tone and is hung just forward or
abaft the foremost. 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 s o'clock in the morning
this rule is varied the orderly reporting to
the officer of the deck. Eight bells, sir"
when the officer replies, Report to the
captain eight bells and chronometers
wound" The captain then responds, Very
well: make it So" when the orderly reports
to the officer of the deck, who commands
the messenger boy of the watch, Strike
eight BELLS" But if the captain should
chance to remain mum and not say make
it So no one would hear the bell strike
out of joint.
AT noon the "eight BELLS is not struck
until the navigator has corrected the clock
either by his MONDAY sight for position of
the ship when at sea or from his chronom-
eter. If with fleet or at naval station
the bell must not be struck until that of the
senior officer sounds, and the messenger
stands by the bell with clapper in hand
and as soon the flag officers bell begins
to strike the bells on the other vessels are
struck When there is large fleet lying
oil fe- t,.rn
agreeable, and one might imagine that
chimes are being rung.
Every navy in the world except England
follows the same custom. and England
only varies at the dog WATCH from to
s o'clock in the evening. In these hours
the bell strikes every half hour till 6
o'clock. and then at $50 one bell is struck
and so on to three bells at 1880 o'clock; but
eight bells are sounded at s o'clock Tradi-
ton gives this reason for this custom:
Before the British naval mutinies of 1897
the bells OF the ships were struck as in
other navies, but in one of these mutinies
the signal agreed upon by the mutineers
was the stroke OF five bells $3.50 p. m),
and at that hour the mutineers arose to
slay their officers. Then when order was
restored throughout the navy the dog
watch system of bells was adopted to allay
superstition.
But the ships bell has other duties than
that of keeping the time. Ii tolls on Sun
day mornings for the services of the chap
lain or his substitute; also to call "all hands
to bury the dead;" and IL is fire signal
when it is rung vigorously. and then the
ships crew take the positions TO which
they have been assigned on the first day
each has been detailed to the ship. The
bell is not used as a fire signal i'm engage
ment, however, for the reason that the
crew might become panic-stricken and dis
tracted from the fight; in such cases the
fire Is reported to the captain and he dis
patches an officer with men to extinguish
it. The bell is also used in a fog. and
when the ship is at anchor il is struck in
rhr0Ql "a inf al hot
set OF strokes. In the use of the bell for
these several purposes no confusion is
caused. The half-hour signals are struck
in pairs, with a couple of seconds between
each. and If an odd number is TO be sound
ed the single stroke comes last The toll
ing for church is by slow process while
those for fog are I'm sets OF three. and for
fire they follow each other with great
rapidity