Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-17

The bells in the story above Inc
console are arranged in a square of
two tiers. With the network of
chains they fill the entire loft. They
are so heavy that the church tower
had to be considerably strengthened
to hold them safely. The whole set
weighs 1880 pounds.
The largest OF these bells weighs
1900 pounds and from this. the low
est note in the scale, the bells grade
off lighter until the bell with the
highest note weighs only 225
pounds. This is not a record break
ing lightweight for a musical bell.
In a four octave carlton. such as
may be heard in Belgium, the high
est toned bell sometimes weighs as
little as eighteen pounds.
Long Popular In Europe
Though bells are coming into
popularity in this country, for war
chimes and chime players have not
yet been given the recognition here
that Europe has accorded them.
Fol more than four centuries the
bells have held a high place in the
AAlC VI lOWIIS VI IutOpc, cSPCCldlly
in Belgium and Holland. Many
of the larger cities in this part Of
Europe have carillons, containing
seevral octaves an dattuned to the
chromatic scale. Some towns have
az many as fortyfve or fifty bells
in carlton sets of bells.
How popular they are in these
countries may be seen from the es-
innate that there IRE about n
hundred carillons in Holland and
almost as many in Belgium. During
the war some of the Belgium sets
were wrecked by German troops and
valuable old bells were melted down
to make ammunition. This was a
cause of great indignation among
the Belgians who look upon their
bells as old and treasured possess
sions.
The player of the chimes abroad
has always been a figure of local
importance and a musician OF dis
~tinction. Often he holds ofice from
the city officials. Every day or al
set times he gives the townsfolk a
concert of cid melodies, hymns, folk
songs, even classical selections,
through the round, sonorous notes
of the bells.
William G.. Rice, an authority on
the carIllons of Europe. says in his
book on the subject that the bells
in some towers have been played
for a hundred years or more on
fixed days and at the same hour.
When the bell master in one Dutch
town obtained permission to play at
an unaccustomed hour for bene-
fit of Mr.. Rice the inhabitants of the
town were so startled by hearing the
bells at the unusual time Of day
that the newspapers had to explain
the situation at great length.
How firmly rooted a tradition
chime playing is in these countries
is shown by the requirements of a
carlton player in 1887, as described
by Fourdin. He says that even at
this time the carlton was already
perfectly organized at Nivelles. The
player took charge of the bells and
sang IN the choir las much as pos
sible." In return for these services
he drew a salary of 200 French
pounds and six measures OF wheat,
besides what he could earn from
playing at weddings and special SER
vices.
An interesting demand on this
c~arillonneur was that he must teach
his art to some child from the or
phan house, designated by the mag
istrate. And the writer adds that
the aldermen of this town exhib-
tied still more their love of the
bell music: "They established a
carlton composed of seventeen lit
tie and greater bells, intended to
provide for the musical instruction
Of the children, the future caril-
lonneurs."
This was in the sixteenth century.
and Belgium and Holland have new
err lost their interest in bell music.
Some Of their finest bells have been
compared in artistic value to the
violins of Cremona. Perhaps more
than anything else such a compar-
ison suggests the possibilities of the
chimes.