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Show i Spanish Bell Du Up J . on New Jersey Estate. mm ' Ono of the rarest curios In this city K la au old Spanish bell which Is In tho ML possession of Maurice H. Stratomoyer, WSt a well known dealer In musical lnstru- K- monts, at 31 Broad street, tills city, H says the Newark News. Tho bell was Iff dug up a few years ago on tho ostato B of Gov. Carteret, Now Jursoy's first WL colonial executive, whoso homo was IB on Pearl street, this city. Tho roMc H was unearthed about six foot undor- ground by somo workmen who wcro E excavating for a building. It was JK thickly covered wlui rust, and tho an Under did not realize- at tho tlmo the JS value of his discovery. Ho took It fa homo, however, and Mr. Stratomoyer, fj who is something of an antiquarian, H learned only somo months ago of its JX) existence, nnd took stops to get poa-W poa-W i. Bosslon of tho ancient boll, which is i ". ono of tho oldost, If not tho oldest, in . tao United States. It Is mado of old bronze, said to bo 8 worth $1 a pound. Tho boll is 13& m Inches high, 11 Inchos in dlametor nt ! Its baso and weighs 35 pounds. It Is w minus tho clapper. Tho part by 3 which it hangs is shaped llko a crown, Ig whllo on Its sido Is raised decoration JH rosembllng a Hour do Us. Around tho Jm baso is tho following inscription: "Soldoranclcodartlaga." This puzzled not only Mr. Stratcruayor, but several learned antlguarlnns who droppod Into hla place to Inspect the relic, and none of whom could trans lato tho Inscription. In-scription. It remained for some Mexican Mexi-can ofTlcora who aro cotmoctod with tho commission now supervising tho construction of two gun boats for tho republic at Lewis Nixon's shipyard to tell what It meant. Thoy fcald that tho Inscription was "Soy do, Ranclsco Dartlaga," meaning mean-ing "I am of (or was mado by) Francisco Fran-cisco Dartlaga." They nil agreed tho boll was of foreign for-eign mako and was over 400 years old. How much more thoy would not venturo to guess. It Is moro than probablo that tho relic was brought Into this country on ono of Cartarot's ships. The Elizabeth Eliza-beth river, then a wide and navlgablo stream for nearly a mllo beyond whoro tho boll was found, flowed nlongsldo tho Cartnrot estate, whllo "Paradlso Farm," tho ancient homestead of tho Hetflcld family, adjoins tho spot whero It was discovered. |