The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1911-12-22
RlNG Our TIE OlD,
RlNG h TIE Nav!
"@ING out the old year. ring in
the new

tguth ut mankind the Importance " eel
ebruiing his holidays brazcn throatcd
bells will obey this injunction ut the
midnight moment which marks the
passing Of 1911 into 1912.
. Every bell. every chime. every peal.
! come II from brass ar steel or glass.
sounding In mcililuous beauty In the
: silence Of night. marks the observance
Of u custom that goes back not lcsS
than fifteen centuries.
| Ring out the old year. ring IN the
new. Is not an Impulse to celebrate
with mere noise another swing of Ia.
Their Times scythc. The custom has
a significance. n beauty " meaning
identified with some Of the earliest OBJ
| scrvances of the church.
/ From rcmotcst antiquity bells play.
cd n part Ia religious worship. Ia Egyrt
| the feast of Osiris was announced by
the rinting ~ bells. Aaron aud other
Jewish high priests wore bells attach
cd to their vcstmcnts. In Athens the
priests Of Cybclc used bells IN their
rites. the Greeks employed them IN
| camps and gnrrlSons. aud the nios'
solemn moment IN the ritual of the
Catholic church IL preceded 10y the
ringing If silver chimci bells
rnulinus. bishop ~ Nola. introduced
the he'll into the Christian worship In
the year i1 4. u.
! The first bells were made In Cam.
panin. hence the term cnmpnn nile or bell
tower
The adoption 81 the hell into the
services Of the church soon gave the
chimes the cumfortcrs Office IN the
minds Of the drvout In their simple
faith the wnrshipcrs believed that con.
sccrntrd bells had the power 10 pre-.
vent storms. To drive away evil spirits
and to bring repose IT, the sufferer.
The direct fnrcrunncr If the New
Year hell II what was known Ms the
passing bell" This was rung nj the
death of n believer. In theory devils
troubled the expiring patient.
| Rut the prnls ~ n consecratcd he'll
were believed 10 possess II potency
that the most malignant Of devils
could not withstand: hence with ~.
cry death the ringing OF the h"ly bells
exercised the evil spirits AMI assured
the soul n happy passing into u future
unir,ui'lcd peace,
| From this ancient custom Developed
easily and naturally the habit ~ ring
Ing ont I'll" old y"nr md ringing IN
the new.
Z Centuries have passed. n Thousand
years. and still 200 moro have been
numbered since the first New Year
was hailed 10y the music NJ tuned
brass, hut man still finds tho custom
beautiful aud comforting. aud ial2
will he saluird by more peals than any
~ lis predecessors.
| The bell most favored II made ~ tin
ani copper In the reign ~ Henry a..
experts dcrrccd that u he'll should have
two parts ~ copper and one ~ tin.
When Mr.. Inynrd made his famous In.
vcstlgntlon of the ruins of Nincvch he
found beautifully toned bells where
the proportion was ten parts ~ copper
against one ~ Tin. Later experts have
decided that four to one Is about the
right proportion. Experiments have
also been made with bells ~ brass.
German silver. real silver and gold.
Some made II steel were shown to
have n beautiful tone. hut deficient
from the fact that II could not bc s,is-
taincd. GLASS bells ~ great thickness
give out an exquisite melody. Int the
material IL too brittle TO withstand tho
constant impact of the "lapper.
So most ~ the bells that greet 1917
win ,e made according to tho formula
~ four parts copper T." one part TN.
The mos, famous of the bells that
hnve greeted New Year nre now 81.
fenced for all time. one Is n priced
relic ~ the worlds greatest autOcracy
the other IL n worshiprd meinento of
the struggle for liberty tina, launched
into existence the worlds migh,lcst r..
public.
The great he'll Of Moscow. now 10.
Gated IN the Ercmln. was east In
lI:l. u was the design of Its makers
that II should ill the air with Il vol
umr of melody that should make II
world famous. In both height and d.
nmeier this colossus Of bells IL twenty
one feet II welrhs 193 tons.
| Bnt now vain Is the planning or
mankind " proved hy the tragic ga
reer Of this monster Of sound. Only
for three years dld II toll forth the he
ginning NJ the new year, Cast In
liza. Il remained In its place til 1887
Then It fell during a fire and from It's
great weight sank deeply into the earth
For exactly one century II was per.
mitted to remain buried.
Then II was raised. hut the eXca-
vators found IN its side gaping hole.
where great piece had been broken
out, No more should the bell ring.
hut they raised II, placed It on solid
foundation, and 1t now forms the
dome Of small chapel made by ex-
cavating the space beneath It. Now,
though 1t may no longer ring In the
new year. II can be- the sanctuary for
| the Nav YeNr nra vars ~ tho faithful