The Ordway new era., 1915-07-02
final TONE Of
LIBERTY BELLl
What Is Believed to Be Its Lasi
Ringing ls Said to Have
Recently Taken Place
at Philadelphia.

What may prove to be the last rins
ing OF the historic Liberty bell tool
place in Independence hall at Philadsl
phia recently.
II was decided TO transmit the toner
Of the bell across the country to San
Francisco over the recently completed
transcontinental telephone line. partly
fulfilling in litsral sense the prophet
10 words cast on the bell. proclaim
liberty throushogt Al the land. unto
all the inhabitants thereof" The bell
was struck thres timss with mallsts ~
intervals Of nvs seconds. BY an n
ransement Of three very sensitive
transmitters. which wers suspended
beneath It on rubber bands. 30 A. to
exclude all foreign vibration. the
tones were caught and clearly heard
over the telephone wires on the Pa
cihc coast. At the same time . pho
nographic record was made Of the
notes 70 a. to preserve them for pos
terity.
This IL the FIRST time that the great
bell has been sounded since It was
cracked in 1885 while tolling the death
Of John Marshall. the first chief jus.
tice Of the United States Supreme
court. Tho reason that Il may never
again be rung is that . new crack.
more serious than the old one, has de
veloped In It.
II has been found that the bell Ia
amicted with the disease of metal"
This il partly responsible for the ap-
pearance Of the latest fissure and has
made 1t necessary to support its
weight on padded props in order to
relieve the stress which has gradually
been pulling 1t apart.
The new crack p now plainly Wis
ible. while only q short time ago It
was microscopic. It begins at the up
per part Of the original fracture, ex.
tending from the letter "P" in the
"Philadelphia." diagonally q quarter Of
the way around the circumference. to
the letter ~" In Liberty" near the
top. 1t ia believed that the new crack
might not have occurred had the bell
been allowed to remain ut rest after
1t was flrst broken. It has, however,
been shipped on different occasions to
New Orleans. Chicago. Atlanta,
Charleston. Boston and st. Louis. That
It II actually suffering from malady
known a. the disease Of metal" IL
the description of its ailment In the
technical phraseology OF the metallur-
gist and 10 not popular figure Of
speech. Tho reason for this distemper
II to be found in tho history OF the
bells casting.
1t was originally made by Thomas
Lester at London, in 1853, and shipped
to Philadelphia. When It was hung to
try the sound 1t was cracked by the
clapper. At n1t 1t was intended to
return It to England, but subsequently
two workmen. Pass and Stow, neither
of whom was experienced in the art,
undertook the recastins In Philadel
phia- Obviously the bronze was too
brittle. and in order 70 toushen It,
they added approximately ten Per cent
Of copper to the original metal. When
the bell was later rehung II was found
that too much copper had been used.
and. to the chagrin Of everyone. the
tone was destroyed. The same men
again undertook the work, and this
time are supposed to have added tin
to restore the tone. The third bell
was accepted. but too much tin had
been used. and the tones were 20 high
" resonant that 1t was seldom rung-I
Popular Mechanics.
FTNs- 81