Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-10-18
FIRST Publ lie CLOCK.

It Was One Of the Wonders Of
the Fourteenth Century.
THE PEOPLE WERE PUZZLED
Parisians Couldn't Understand How
the Bells Were Runs Without Being
Il Struck BY the Watehman- The Era
I Of Autornaton Ringers.
In primitive times a man was sta
toned at the top OF the belfry to ring
the bells at the indicated hours, day
and night This Waterman was called
the horoscope that is to say, the OBJ
server Of the hour. He had recourse
himself in order to fulfil his duty to
the study of the astral system, to the
number Of prayers he was to recite, to
the quantity OF wax a candle had con-
stunned, to the clepsy dra, or water
clock, and to the hourglass. The trade
OF the horoscopus was Inevitably one
Of the first which the progress OF
mechanism was to cause to disappear.
The first clocks with bell known Id I
France date back to the fourteenth
century. Particular mention is made
Of one which was established at Caen
In 1914 by Beaumont and that or the
Palais de Justice Id Paris, which King
Charles ". had constructed In 1870 by
the German ockmaker Henri de Vic
This machine seemed 50 marvellous
that the inhabitants of Paris--so goes
the legend asked permission Of the
king to go on guard at the door Of the
tower to- assure themselves that 1t was
the clock and not the Waterman that
rang the hours.
This establishment Of the people at a
period when mechanism was but just
born may well be conceived In pres
ence Of q machine capable Of calculat-
Ing and striking the hours without the
assistance of any human being, with
the same precision that could be exer-
Ieised by the most igilant 5horoscopus.
The custom was perpetuated until
the seventeenth century and still ex-
Lists In certain cities Of Europe Of plac-
ing alongside Of the clocks various ar-
tomatons which ring the hours. 1t lis
due to nothing else than the thought Of
recalling to memory the recollection Of
| the ancient Watchman. And also the
clocks with automatons catered to the
popular taste of that epoch. The PEG
Iple OF that period preoecupied them
selves but little with the more or less
fexact measurement OF time. Railroads
were not In existence, and the exigen-
Icies Of life were not SO. great as they
Iare now. a cock which crowed and
tapped his wings, some apostles who
marched by, striking a blow for each
hour, filed them with admiration, and
In this respect no other clocks aroused
ESQ much enthusiasm as those OF Lyons
land Strassburg. It was d clock OF this
character that Henri Deux placed over
the superb portal OF the chateau Of
Anet. Al ts III
Nevertheless this timepiece was dis
tinguished from other clocks with au-
donations by the originality Of the fig
ures that 1t set in movement. Here
no longer was woman ora man who
struck the hours with rusty arms. It
/ was q majestic stag, standing erect,
surrounded by four bloodhounds OF
natural size, which appeared to be
holding it at bay, that one saw on the
summit Of the portal. One Of the
stag's legs was movable, and as 1t was
lifted 1t seemed to strike the hours.
The four hounds opened their jaws at
leach striking Of the quarters, and their
voices were initiated by bells of differ
ents notes whose clappers were connect.
Fed by wires with their lower jaws,
causing them to open and shut as long
as the bell ringing mechanism con-
]tinued.
This curious clock exists no longer.
l.It was sold at auction with Its finest
5dials for the sum Of 500 when the
chateau dc Anet was confiscated as
national property and sold with its
furniture In the year 2 Of the first re-
public.
This ancient clock was replaced In
1856 by one entirely modern and MAIDS
Eby Wagner, The stag and the hounds
lin bronze were also carried away,
Those seen today are in bronzed terra
scotta and play no other part than to
recall to memory the ancient ones and
Ito add to the decorative portion Of the
portal Of the chateau whose architec-
Eture, the work DC Phllibert Delorme, ID
one Of the purest and most delicate
lconstructions OF the renaissance.
Besides the functions that we have
Ienumerated, the clock of the chateau
fof Anet possessed on the side or the
Icolrt Of honor a magnificent dial
which indicated the position OF the
Esigns OF the zodiac. the months, the
Edays Of the month and the moons
Eage ~ Horlogere.
The Word Butter"
tCow juice. Is a slang term for but,
ter In many parts of the United States
But the word butter" itself almost
certainly means something very like