The Press., 1908-03-04
FIRST PUBLIC CLOCK,
1t Was One of the Wonders OF
the Fourteenth Century.

W WAC 01tV W SH0 vWOllUCIS w
the Fourteenth Century.
THE PEOPLE WERE PUZZLED
Parisians couidn't Understand How
the Bells Were Rung Without Being
Struck by the Watchman-The Era
Of Automaton 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 horoscOpus-thati Is to say, the OBJ
server. of the hour. He had recourse
himself in order to fulfill his duty to
the study of the astral system, to the
number Of prayers he was to recite, to
the quantity Of wax candle had con-
sumed, to the clepsydra, 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 in
France date back to the fourteenth
century. Particular mention is made
of one which was established at Caen
in 1914 by Beaumont and that of the
Palais de Justice in Paris, which King
Charles ". had constructed in 1870 by
the German clockmaker Henri de Vic.
This machine seemed so 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 it 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 machine capable Of calculat-
ing and striking the hours without the
assistance Of any human being, with
the same precision that could be exer-
cised by the most vigilant horoscopus.
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 au-
donations which ring the hours. 1t Is
due to nothing else than the thought of
the ancient Waterman. And also the
clocks with automatons catered to the
popular taste of that epoch. The peo
pie of that period preoccupied them
selves but little with the more or less
exact measurement of time. Railroads
were not in existence, and the exigen-
cies of life were not so great as they
are now. A cock which crowed and
tapped his wings, some apostles who
marched by, striking blow for each
hour; filed them with admiration, and
in this respect no other clocks aroused
so much enthusiasm as those of Lyons
and Strassburg. 1t was a clock Of this
character that Henri Deux placed over
the superb portal of the chateau Of
Anet.
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 a woman or a man who
struck the hours with rusty arms. 1t
was a majestic stag, standing erect,
surrounded by four bloodhounds of
natural size which appeared to be
holding 1t at bay, that one saw on the
summit Of the portal. One Of the
stag's legs was movable, and as 1t was
lifted it seemed to strike the hours.
The four hounds opened their jaws at
each striking Of the quarters, and th&ar
voices were initiated by bells of differ
ent notes whose clappers were connect
ed by wires with their lower jaws,
causing them to open and shut as long |
as the sell ringing mechanism con-
tinued.
This curious clock exists no longer.
1t was sold at auction with its finest |
dials for the sum Of 800 when the |
chateau of Anet was confiscated as
national property and sold with Its |
furniture in the year Of the first re-
public.
This ancient clock was replaced in |
1856 by one entirely modern and made |
by Wagner. The stag and the hounds |
in bronze were also carried away.
Those seen today are in bronzed terra
Gotta and play no other part than to |
recall to memory the ancient ones and
to add to the, decorative portion of the |
portal Of the chateau whose architec-
GuFe, the work OF FnluDerC OelOrme, IL
one Of the purest and most delicate |
Of the renaissance.
Besides the functions that we have |
the clock of the chateau
Of Anet possessed on the side Of the |
court of honor a magnificent dial,
which indicated the position. Of the |
signs of the zodiac. the months, the |
days Of the month and the moons |