Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-06
COW BELLS.
Processes by Which They Are Made,
Tempered and Furnished.

Tempered and Furnished.
From the ST. Louis Globe Democrat
On hilly little side street in the tree
empowered town of Collinsville is hidden a
queer factory. where are made the COW
bells that go Jingling unsteady up hill and
down dale over such widely dversing paths.
neat little business Office opens into the
wide-spreading. shadowy place wherein is
housed the machinery OF the plant. as well
as its big hot furnace. The metal for the
bells is received in the shape Of large fiat
sheets of thin iron direct from the rolling
mills. These sheets are passed under a
heavy steam-run cutter. which trims out
the properly shaped pieces. resembling pat
terms for a double bladed ak. These pieces
are taken in hand by a workman who fas-
and spans 1t with a little iron strap for a
handle. and then the piece is bent down into
the familiar bell shape and it's sides riyeted
together on the anvil.
Although the bell has grown into recog-
nizable shape, II lacks tone and color and
these are gained by coating OF brass and
bath In fiery furnace. At this stage the
bells, which run in six or eight sizes from
the little three-inch sheep bells to the sew
en-inch cow bells, are placed one within
another until a nest OF four or five is
formed. The spaces between are filled with
crushed charcoal and brass filings. Two
nests are then placed together within a
plumbago crucible resembling an unglazed
earthenware jar, whose lid of the same ma
terial is held In place by a plastering OF wet
clay, and the whole Is ready for the fur
mace.
The furnace is a great square OF fire
brick and iron, with large firebox. in
which roars furious soft coal fire. There
is side door opening into the f1rebox be-
hind the fire, and it is into this chamber.
filled with shimmering, rosy heat, that
the crucbles are placed, some two dozen al
time Within these haaf-resiSfinU
bles mysterious process goes on, for the
brass changes both form and place and
spends Itself in thin coat over the I'm
prisoned bells.
After about forty-ive minutes the fur
mace door is again opened, and within are
seen the red-hot crucibles which are lifted
out on long-handled shovel and laid in a
row on the ground out In the open air.
When cooled to dull. dark red the lids are
pried of by man with sharp iron pick
and hammer, and with long-handled
pinchers he throws the bells into tubs of
water to cool and temper them. When cold
they are ready for furnishing. which office
they are made to perform for each other by
inclosing lot OF them in a big wooden CYL
inder, which is revolved by steam, and the
friction of the bells against each other
brightens them. Sometimes a lot Of leath
scraps are thrown in. which assist in the
polishing. AS the tumbling bells make a
deafening noise. the cylinder is shut away
in a tiny room by Itself
The bell tongues are made in foundries,
and come IN all sizes, and are composed or
a wire tipped at one end by an iron ball,
while the other is bent into a hook and
clinched through the clapper ring, and, lol
the bell Is finished.
Many years ago the first bells OF the place
were cut and made by hand. and bronzed.
two at a time, in little claywrapped iron
receptacle buried in forge fire kept aglow
by hand-worked bellows, the process taking
three hours.
From 10000 to 1900 bells are made
yearly In this little factory. and through
the wholesale hardware houses are shipped
to all parts of this country and to places
beyond the sea. 1t would be interesting to
follow the bells from the factory In that
quiet little street to their final destinations.
so widely separated.
To the great cattle ranches Of the west
were sent recently lot Of the bells toned
in sets of an octave each, and the bell bear
ers among the shifting herds answered each
other In a musical chime. 1t was no easy
task to tune the different bells, for the notes
could not be represented by a mere differ
ence in size, but had to be evoked by pa
tent shaping with a hammer. the faring
of the mouth of the bell raising the key Of
Its voice. The ranchmen claim that bells
echoing in tunes across the silent plains de-
ter the wolves from attacking the herds.