Show I SAVINGS BOND DRIVE ij Replicas of Liberty Bell Tour Nation During Bond Campaign 1 I Few historic relics have a greater romantic or sentimental ap- ap appeal apI appeal I peal to the people of this country than the Liberty Bell Bell symbol symbol of j the 1950 Savings Bond drive now underway None certainly could tell so completely the story of a nation winning its independence if it could speak If it could tell of the great men who touched it and their thoughts th or of its own I ures a new history of the United States would be revealed j In 1751 the assembly of the colony of Pennsylvania appointed a committee headed by Isaac Norris speaker of the body to pur- pur chase a bell to be put in the state house After due consideration and de- de debate bate the committee commissioned ia a bell that was cast in London in 1752 1752 and had it brought to Phila- Phila Phil a- a Idelphia It was recast the following follow follow- ling jing ing year ye r when the inscription I proclaim liberty throughout all allI I I the ithe land unto all the inhabitants thereof was placed on it Then on July 8 1776 23 years after it was cast it peeled the i signing of the Declaration of Inde Inde- The next year the Brit Brit- British British British ish took it from the tower of Inde Inde- Independence Independence Independence Hall and threw it in the Delaware river But it was re re- recovered reI re- re recovered I covered and rung on July 4 every year until the day it cracked I i That is the bell which is the symbol of the 1950 Savings Bonds j Independence Drive The theme Save for your independence buy buy I U. U S. S savings bonds I II I Silent for 69 Years 11 On May 15 the drive got under under- underway underway underway way with Secretary of the Treas Treas- Treasury Treasury ury ury iy John W. W Snyder symbolically I tapping the bell The drive opened I with a wide nation-wide radio program carried by 2000 stations and fea fea- featuring featuring featuring turing stars of stage and screen I Television stations on networks lined with Philadelphia and New NewYork NewYork NewYork York York carried the program direct from those places A record num num- number number number ber of people heard the broadcasts and saw the television show But Bat the most dramatic mo mo- moment moment moment ment of the show was when Secretary Snyder gently tapped the cracked old bell that sym sym- symbolizes symbolizes symbolizes liberty for the people of this country Why did he just tap the bell Therein lies another story of interest to ev ev- every every every ery American The last time the Liberty Bell really rang was on Washington's birthday 1846 The original crack that had appeared when the bell was being tolled in mourning for or Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835 had been drilled out in 1846 I y I I i a b F. F N t o Af Bennie Ray Wagner Jr 6 is the son of a war hero His Dis father Bennie Ray Wag Wag- Wagner Wagner Wagner ner was killed in action on Luzon March l 15 1915 Here he displays the government bonds he has purchased each month with a government allotment check He e is well on the way to independence h his i f s guardian says with Savings S a v i n g s Bonds amounting to 1000 so that the edges would not vibrate against each other The bell rang clear until almost noon in honor of the father of his country when the crack spread and the ringing changed to a hoarse rumble That was the last time anyone heard the true voice of the original Liberty Bell In 1926 to usher in the sesquicentennial sesquicentennial sesquicentennial centennial year of American inde inde- independence independence independence the wife of Philadelphia's mayor tapped out 9 2 The cere cere- ceremony ceremony mony was broadcast but radio could only reach about half the na na- nation nation na- na nation tion 24 years ago The shattered rumble of the cracked relic has been heard by radio only once since then on D- D Day June 6 1944 to signal the in in- invasion invasion invasion of the continent of Europe by American and allied forces in another way for freedom and then a recording of its sound made on New Years Year's 1926 was used On February 11 1915 the bells bell's silence of nearly 69 years was broken to signal the linking of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by long distance telephone Three times it rumbled hoarsely over the wire to San Francisco In the conversation that followed the mayor of San Francisco made a personal plea g fa io o iffy for o yourself to the mayor of Philadelphia Philadelphia to have the bell sent to the Panama- Panama Pacific Paci ic exposition Symbol of Freedom There and on its journey by rail railto railto railto to and from the Golden Gate an estimated Americans turned out to see the bell Since New Years Year's 1926 when it was struck 18 times with a rubber- rubber tipped gold mallet to spell out the new year it has not been sounded directly nor is it likely to be again A trip across a continent the voice of sorrow and happiness stolen and cast into a river the first to proclaim freedom freedom all all that thatis is but a part of its history And it continues to serve its country To To- Today Today Today day it is the symbol telling Americans Ameri Ameri- Americans Americans cans to purchase savings bonds to insure their freedom and inde inde- two Fifty-two replicas of the bell have been donated to the sav sav- savings savings savings ings bond cause and andare are now on tour of the Uie country The bells one one for or each state one for the District of Columbia and one each for Cor Alaska laska Ha Ha- Hawaii Hawaii a- a and Puerto Rico are e ex ex- exact exact exact act copies of the original the crack is indicated on the sur sur- surface surface surface face the bells ring and are harmonically tuned The tour of the replicas which will end July 4 will enable millions millions mil mil- millions lions of Americans who have nev nev- never never never er seen the original bell and might never get to Philadelphia to see it to inspect an exact copy of this most ost hallowed of our historic rel rel- ics Since its return from the San Francisco exposition in 1915 the bell has not been allowed ved ed to leave Philadelphia Since October 10 1917 when it was the star attraction attraction attraction tion in Philadelphia's first liberty loan parade during the first World War it has not even left its shrine In n Independence Hall because of the he danger of further urther cracking of the historic relic Made vlade in France On the last journey in 1915 a six-armed six iron spider was fastened to the clapper bolt inside its crown with arms hooked under the lip of the bell to distribute the strain of its weight 2080 pounds more evenly The bells now on tour of the na- na nalon nation nation tion lon were made at the foundry of the he Sons of George at Vieux Annecy in France Dr Arthur L. L Bigelow professor of engineering and bellmaster of Princeton university made the measurements ments and drawings from which the new bells were made Andrew J. J Dunn Du m. m director of the labor abor section of the U. U S. S savings bonds division in to Washington and its te liaison aison I officer with the American federation of Labor went to France to expedite the production and shipment of the bells to this country To symbolize for millions of or Americans the idea of thrift which is essential to independence independence independence dence the replicas will have visited 2000 communities dur- dur durIng during ing the wide nation-wide tour Authorities report the bells be because cause of the painstaking world old-world production sound exactly like the Liberty Bell would if it could be rung They attributed this to the fact the bells are of the same composition com com- composition composition position as the original 85 plus per cent copper and that their con con- construction construction construction gives the same sam tone Millions of Americans will thrill to the sound that the people of Philadelphia heard when the original bell proclaimed liberty throughout all the land and to all the inhabitants thereof II At the conclusion of the bond drive on July 4 the secretary of the treasury will lend one bell to each state and territory for or perma perma- permanent permanent permanent nent exhibit |