The Washington herald., 1914-05-31
Chimes ONFARM
RIVAL TRINITY'S
Former Representative Sibley
Plays Program for
First Time.
COSTLIEST BELLS IN u. S.
Periodical Concerts to Be Held and
an Expert Operator
Engaged.
COSTLIEST BELLS IN u. S.

Pittsburgh. May SON his 1.3oo-acre
farm park. midway between Franklin
and OIL City. venango County. former
Representative Joseph C. sibley. mill
iionaire oil operator, offered a program
OF religious. secular, and patriotic music
today on the oostliest set Of chimes ever
made in modern tImes
The chimes. eleven In number. con-
sumed over year In making and test
ing. They are wrought Of bell metal. a
composition Of new Lake Superior copper
and new imported tin and are highly
polished to resemble silver.
River Ridge Farm, owned and tenant
ed by Mr.. Sibley. three times Congress-
man and the. richest man in the Lower
House Of Congress during his six years
Of service ten or dozen years ago. is
said to be the most elaborate estate of
its kind in Pennsylvania and probably in
the United States. The place Il still In
the making. but with the addition of the
chimes and the completion Of the farm
plans, no trait in the world for its size
will be more fanciful. well stocked. or
costly.
The eleven bells range in weight from
$500 to 800 pounds, the set totaIling 1880
pounds. The largest. or tenor chime, is
afty-six inches In diameter: the size Of
the frame is six feet two inches by six
feet six inches. and the wheel diameter
Is eight feet and six inches. The cost
Of the set runs into q small fortune.
Worked ny keyboard.
In a chime Of the sibley design hun
dreds Of all kinds Of compositions can be
played by a single operator from a key
board. which has q lever for each bell,
connections being made by means of
trackers and chains to the various clap
pers- The bells are sounded by pressing
on the levers. the strength Of the tone
being regulated by the force Of the blow
The chimes are but another plaything
for the well-known magnate on his i'm
mense reserve. which he has stocked
with thousands Of imported trees and
shrubs, highly strained cattle, buffalo,
elk. deer and q multitude of wild game
animals. His sixty-four-room house is a
palace. Il purchased the farm to Gerry
out SO far as possible some experiments
Of my own and to permit me to further
some tests and ideas in the domain of
agriculture that long have been in my
mind" said Mr.. Stbley. While a con-
nrmed invalid under the constant care of |
trained attendants, Mr.. sibley is buoy
ant and happy in his role of benefactor |
and country gentleman extraordinary.
The chime loft is now in course of con-
u
feet high, q marked contrast to the set |
OF four bells on top Of the fifty-story |
building Of the Metropolitan Life Insur- |
ance Company In New York, where the |
quarter hours are struck from a height |
Of 7o6 feet.
Outnumbered Trinity Chimes.
The sibley chimes outnumber by one
the famous set on the settlement church
of the Holy Trinity. East Eighty-eighth |
street New York. erected by Miss Serena
Rhmelander In memory of her grand
father. William Rhinelander. and was
made by the same firm, the Meneely Bell
Company, Troy, N. T., the descendants
of chime makers from the eighteenth
century.
Other costly chimes in the United
States, which until the sfbley chimes
were the highest-priced In the world, are
those of the magnificent new Memorial
Church at Fairhaven, Mass, built by the
late H. H. Rogers. A duplicate of the
Fairhaven chime was ordered by Henry
c. Frick.
Periodical concerts will be held, an ex-
pert operator being engaged and II is
believed that the costly bells will attract
music lovers from far and near.
4