New Britain Herald Newspaper, June 18, 1915, Page 21

5 ¥ \ CAVA VLY P e | f: ( C/AY PENNSYLVANIA BUTLDING PATTERNED «/Zesr STATE HOUSE o _WHILAD;L‘PHIMWNCE the BELL FIRST SENT MESSAGE o/ LIBERTY * The action of the common and select scouncils of Philadelphia in voting to send | the Liberty Bell to the great Panama-Pacific ‘International Exposition aroused a thrill of | patriotism throughout the nation. Millions /of . exposition visitors will have the oppor- tunity of seeing this 'priceless relic of Americdn Liberty when it is installed in the magnificent Pennsylvania State Building. a reproduction of the famous State House in Philadelphia. The arrival of the Bell in San Francisco will be the occasion of ane of the. Erentest celebrations in the history of the nited States. Thousands of school children, of whom signed the original petition have the Bell brought to San Francisco, join in the huge ceremonies. Every American who can, even at a sacrifice of ~ what for the moment appears necessary, should be in San Francisco on July 4, during the exercises. This is America’s year at home and the railroads are making cheaper rates than they ever have before. “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land upto- all the inlmbi!ant\: thereof.” UCH is the historic message of the Liberty Bell. And in this year of grace, 1015, the reverberant bronze that: J pealed out the message of American freedom. As long as the nation endures the bell must remain the sacred lem of patriotism. It'is the one voice of romance, of dy and of gladness, to link the Continental congress of 6 with the congress of 1815; to link the illustrious thirteen neer states of the eastern seaboard with the buoyant and states of the west. ears before it rang in frénzied joyousness the signing of Declaration of Independence that message had been cast o its graven lips—cast there by molders of the Mother coun- , for the bell was ‘cast in London. By what influenge that gnant message was graven by monarchial artificers to sound pacans of a new born republic, omniscience alone may say; same omniscience that ages before, set the verse in Leviticus, ence the liberty message was taken. : OCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND: ot is the holy inheritance of the bell. And it is because, in these ublous times, with tribal loyalties to’ battling nations influ. ping in sympathies the sons and daughters of them of another itherland, there needs a steadying herald to sound again the 2 of American patriotism: and unity. Once again the bell i} proclainy its message throughout all the land and unto all the bitants thereef. From the east that sired and has cherished and known its veice, it will go forth to the great new west that § sounding peals made possible. Tt has spoken to the south; it spoken to the north. To the third, the fourth and fifth gener- n the grandchildren are in the west of them who rallied to the of the bell, who signed the declaration and who followed the t immortal and shared in the fiery baptism of ‘the new-born on. But age has touched that venerated relic. The clarion calls rang from the old State house tower will be heard no more. tones now are muffled in sentiment, echoes only are yet rever- ting down the ringing grooves of time-—and will écho. Juat when the flaw first occurred in the bell is not definitely n. It is as well to say it came that July day in 1776 when it g out the thrilling tidings that the Continental Congress had gpted the Declaration of Independence. Slowly the crack widen- but still the voice of the bell would not be stilled. It sounded ast message nearly a century ago. 'When Chief Justice Mar- died, the béll tolled the requiem for this inspired and noble ot—and the break widened and the bell spoke no more, a tic and an historic time at which to still its lips. ‘ JILE. REMAIN ON VIEW AT SAN FRANCISCO [FiL CLOSING OF THE EXPOSITION, DECEMBER 4. - But, theugh its tongue has long been silent, the leston of its fconce i3 even as profound in its eloquent message: a sermen in jotle fervor, in rogged faith and high ideals, in courage ) ~mighty odds, in the strength that comies from the right, [the (ombination of tnese things that gave to us, and continues 3] ve to us, our independence. i At the Panama-Pucific International Exposition at San Fran- «+ the extreme westerly bounds of the United States—the vty Bell will be hung on July 16 and will remain on view until expositicn, December 4th. & i eion ericans, yo! e and old, o0 have nd it mmmmm ‘will thus be given an this palladium ‘of our freedom. 'here ¢ 1 s e haye never seen the bell and who _ MAYOR BLANKENBURG ’ 2f PHILADET PHIA otherwise never would see it. . To the east it is a shrine for pil- grimage. But to the numberless legions of loyal Americans who never may hope to cross the Rockies and view the bell in Indepen- dence hall, it will be the solemn opportunity of -a lifetime, some- thing that the school children of today will cherisl. in venerated memory to tell to their children in after years. Word that the Philadelphia city council had finally nted g‘armigsion for the Liberty Bell to cross the continent to the San ‘rancisco exgosition shot a thrill of gratitude and anticipation through all thé west. Particularly was San Francisco profoundly stirred, a city that has been an integral part of the nation’s life during the last generation and a half, and that has itself shown the conquering American sgirit in reconstructing, after an epic holocaust, the United States’ western gateway. In the very work of building 2 $50,000,000 exposition, San Francisco achieved:the second unexampled accomplishment within a decade. It was right that.guch a city should be honored by the presence of the most precious historical relic that the east could bestow. The history of the Liberty Bell is the-‘early history of the United States. [t goes back further than 1776. It had been a vital part of Pennsylvania’s life before then. Each anniversary of the Penn charter, marking the establishment of what at that time ‘was the most successful example of universal liberty in the world, was appropriately celebrated, but when the fiftieth anniversary was celebrated it was judged fitting that a bell of greater size and difnity should be secured for future célebrations. The tolling of bells had always been a feature of the day. This new bell was to be called the Anniversary bell. Authority was given to the three superintendents of the State house (Independence hali), Isaac Norris, Thomas Leach and Ed- ward Warner, to procure a bell in England. Norris was chairman of the committee. A student of the Bible, the versé from Leviticus impressed him, the tenth verse of the twenty-fifth chapter, as containing the thought suited to the bell. The verse is: “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; and ye shall return every man unto his possession and ye shall return every man unto his family.” FIRST CASTING OF BELL SUPERINTENDED IN LONDON BY AGENT OF PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA From this verse the line was selected: “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unté all the inhabitants thereof.” . As a matter of fact it was not until the Philadelphia Cen- tennial in 1876 that the name “Liberty Bell” came to be applied generallfil. Of historical interest is the order for the casting of the bell sent by the committee of three to Robert Charles, who acted as the agent for the Province of Pennsylvania at London. This quaint document was in_wording as follows: y “Respected Friend, %?.obert .Charles—The Assembly having ordered us to &rocure a bell in England, to be purchased for their use, we take the liberty to apply ourselves to thee to get a good bell, and about 2000 pounds weight, the cost of which we presume may amount to about 100 pounds sterling, or, perhaps with the charges, a little more. F S “We hope and rely on thy care and assistance in this affair, and that thou wilt procure and forward it by the first good oppor- tunity, as our workmen inform us it will be much less trouble to hang the bell before their scaffolds are struck from the building where we ‘intend to place it. Let the bell be cast l:[y’y the best workmen and examined carefully before it is shi ped, with the following words well shaped in large letters around 3t: ; ““‘By order of the Assembly for the Province of Pennsylvania for é.hha tate House in the city of Philadelphia, 1752, and under- neathy * 5 o . : e s G DR WO RE . A / made a new casting. But even this failed to cure the bell. ““Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unte all the in- habitants thereof.—Levit. XXV, 10.” “As we have experienced thy readiness to serve the (sxrovincz on all occasions we cresire it may be our excuse for this additional trouble from thy assured friends, ISSAC NORRIS, THOMAS LEACH, EDWARD WARNER.” Charles in_due course gave the order for the casting of the bell to Lester Cist of White Chapel, London, and it arrived safely in Philadelphia in August of 1752. But then its troubles began. It seemed tHe bell was destined for an eventful career. ile being tested in the State house yard “it was cracked by the clapper, though by no very unusual stroke,” as Mr. Norris, the chronicler of the early history of the bell, tells us. This was but the first of the bell’s misfortunes. It was twice recast before it assumed its pres- " ent identity. After the first cracking “by no unusual stroke” it was decided to send the bell back to England for repairs, but a Philadelphia firm of molders, John Pass and Charles Stow, Jr., requested the work and it was given them. They were recommended to thé com- mittee as “ingenious workmen.” Mixing an ounce and a half of copper to each pound of the old bell metal they melted it dowt‘ur:nd en it was hung and tested in 1753 it was found to have lost its reson- ance. Too much copper had been put into the metal by the cast. ers, who became the objects of much chaffing from the citizens. But they were anxious to make another casting and permis- sion was given them, the third and present Liberty Bell being the result. ey were paid for this casting, 60 pounds, 13 shillings and 5 pence. SOLEMNLY TOLLED WHEN ROYAL SHIP ARRIVES AT PHILADELPHIA WITH TAX STAMPS FOR COLONISTS. The bell was tested with elaborate ceremonies and raised in the State house steeple June 1, 1753, where it remained unti! 1781, when the steeple was torn down, the bell being removed to the State house tower where it hung until 1846. Since that time it has remained in the State house, better known throughout the country as Independence hall, to the present time. e bell has made seven trips in all, the journey to the Pana- ma-Pacific International Exposition mlkia\g the cighth. It has been to Allentown, 1777; New Orleans, 18856; Chicago, 1893; Buf- falo, 1901; Charleston, 1902; Boston, 1903, and St. Louis, 1904. On August 27, 1753, the bell first sounded officially when it called together the meeting of the Assembly. After that it rang on numberless occasions and for numerous purposes. For more than eighty years it rang, calling the courts and the Assembly to- gether, announcing the arrival or the departure of notables, the accession of kings, proclamations of war and treaties of peace. “Its reverberations,” writes Wilfred Jordan, curator of In- dependence Hall, “were often fraught with sounds of prophecy, war and woe, as for example when it was muffled for a funeral dirge and solemnly tolled when the ship Royal Charlotte, bearing stamps for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, reache Philadelphia. Its ringing inspired a gathering of citizens in their protest against the Stamp act and the day the measure was put into operation the bell was again muffiled -and tolled, mourning the death of Liberty, thought some months later, freed of its impedi- ments, its joyful cadence resounded through the city bespeakin the decree of the King and Parliament which repealed this act tyranny. Thus did the bell proclaim and herald almost ever; important step towards the goal of liberty, reverberating wi pugnacious violent peals the cry of determined citizens in the larg- est political meeting held, up to that time, in the State house yard, that “none of the ship Polly’s detestable tea” that had just been brought into port should be “funneled down people’s throats with Parliament’s duty mixed with it.” “As the conflict with England approached,” continues Jor- dan, “the bell was rung more and more; its use became a matter of course; its appeals more inspirational, as when, on April 25, 1775, just after the reports came to Philadelphia of the battle of Lex- ington it rang wildly to assemble eight thousand people in the State house and to inspire their souls to a resolution pledging their all to the cause of Liberty. Possibly ‘the times that try men’s souls’ was the strain upon its spirit that began to increase the original flaw in its being. TAKEN TO ALLENTOWN WHEN CITY OF QUAKERS IS EVACUATED BY FORCES OF THE REVOLUTION “It rang also to assemble the Continental Congress to its daily sessions, both at Carpenter’s hall and later at Independence hall, and finally jts crowning achievement, which more than anythi: else gives it the name of the Liberty bell, occurred on July 8, 1776, and not on the Fourth, as so often incorrectly stated; when Phila- delphia listened breathlessly to the proclamation of the Declara- tion of Independence as first introduced by Richard Henry Lee on Junelz, 1776, in his now far?m;ls resaoltutu:n:».":;’l was not the largest of the meetings the bell had summoned to that historic State house yard. Not over three hundred intrepid souls gathered to pledge their lives and fortunes to independence and “hang together or all hang separately.” _ BERD &R0 AN ACIEC INTERDATIONA CONITE THE TIBERTY Ol TREDERTCR IV BKIFE | DIRECTOR- tn CHIEF of e EXFOS One of the first prominent persons for whom the rung was Benjamin Franklin, when he was sent to England ruary, 1757, to ask redress for the grievances of the ¢o When, during the Revolution, the American army was' to evacuate Philadelpbia, the Liberty Bel; was taken, 0 with the chimes of Christ Church and St. Peur'lhm ] where it rested in n Church from September, 1777, 1778, and then was returned to the State house. 598 called the first trip of the bell in the schedule of places ¢ bell has been taken to. ! { Two dates of historic interest were celebrated % shortly after its return, for one of its first publie y ring out the surrender of Cornwallis, in October, 1781, and following nth it pealed a welcome for Geo: Wi [to the city. It proclaimed the Treaty of Peace :fi:h Grea. ¥ in December, 1799, and was mul for the funeral so ¢ Washington. Ln(ny-m was welcomed to Phi music in 1824, and it tolled in the Jubilee week of the versary of American Independence on July fou: 1826. weeks later it gave the message of the death of John ; 1 Thomas Jefferson; on February 22, 1832, it heralded : iversary of the birth of George Washington; on Ji 1, 1 its solemn cadences tolled the death of l‘h{m And A it tollec for the obsequies of John Marshal The Home of the Liberty Bell This Year; '/ What Noted Men Have to Say of the Panama-Pacific International Exposil “Every good American citizen should visit the Pacific International Exposition for rnnz reasons. B “In its architecture and in its setting by the Golden G this is the most charming of all the many world “The exhibigs themselves are worth crossing the to see. Our next neighbor, Japan, has -m outdone herself for our friendly condrntiu.”-— AVID STARR JORDAN, Chancollor.or lend_slnl_-rl University. = : 1i% “Despite the war in Europe m« ing in this International Exposition th has been held."—-SE'l'? LO.W. l‘f‘lfl. “Knowledge is the on} precipitant of racial and prejudice. The Panama-Pacific Ex of knowledge of the art, science and progress of the of the world. It affords an opportunity to make an estimate of our neighbors. “In a land where the individual is in reality the arbiter. his country’s destiny, he should, wherever and wl possible, avail himself of the opportunity to enlarge horizon. Here is his opening. Most knowledge is with great labor. Here is knowledge served to the of vacation and in the phzzrwnd- of the world. “It is a feast for the . It is being served to all have the godlike wish to w. “It is sure to promote not only individual ha which is worth much, but univer: ace, which 18 more.”—THOMAS R. MARSHALL, Vice President of United States. b . . . “The American who does not attend the lh%fin m 4 have to exElun why all the rest of his life.”—] J i IDE WHEELER, Pr}fl!m.uf !h.l Un!verdly of Califorma. “The Panama-Pacific Ex:uithl at San Francisco sur- passes any exposition which has been held in either America or Europe. Nothing has been left undone to make it thorough success. It is guite great exposition will be seen ur “The great palaces devoted to the turing, Transportation, Agriculture, Mining the numerous and imposing State buildi vilions of the nations; the marvelous d at night; the brilliant Tower of than Washington's general color scheme; the num every avenue of human endeavor, veritable Ut:lmnf-ny. fascinating every American, particularly young CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS, Former United States.