Show THE SHIPS BELL SS la Is closely identified with the whole ny boia career of the vessel lieutenant john M ellicott 17 S N X writes an article for st nicholas on what Is told by bir the bell 91 in which he be says saya nothing in a ship becomes so eo closely identified with her throughout her whole career as the ships bell officers and crew come and go masts decks engines and boilers become old and are replaced by new ones but from the day that she first glides into the water the biame ships bell remains always a part of her marking her progress all over the world and finally going down with her to a lonely grave at the bottom of the sea or surviving her as a cherished souvenir of her existence and achieve ments on a man of war the bell is usually inscribed with her name and the date of her launching and at aartis it is probable that it may some day become a memento of a glorious history tho the bell Is often the suba subject t of special care in casting or selection sometimes the hundreds ot of workmen who have built the great ship contribute each a silver coin to be melted and molded into a I 1 I 1 bell which shall be the token of their love for the object of their cleaon and their interest in her future career often the people of the city or state after which a man of war is named roay may pro pre bent to her a magnificent bell appropriately ornamented and inscribed with words of good will and good wishes such a bell is usually presented with ceremony after the ship goes into commission inis sion ships bells in general are made ot of bronze like other bells the audition of silver in their composition gives them a peculiarly clear and musical tone they are placed in such a position on the upper dock deck that they may be heard from one end of th ahn ship to the other and are usually near tho the mainmast or dt at the break of the forecastle one peculiarity exists in a ships ship 11 bell which is necessary on account ol of her motion at sea the tongue is hung so eo that it can swing in only one direction if it were not so the bell would be continually ringing as tho the ship rolled and pitched the direction in which the tongue can swing is another important point if it were ships the bell would ring at every heavy roll of the ship and if it were fore and aft the bell would ring at every deep pitch SO BO the direction in which the tongue can baing is nearly halt half way around between these two |