Crushed to Death in a Clock.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 115, 23 January 1872, Page 7

Crushed to Death in a Clock.

The bell-ringer in the cathedral of Wurtz- - burg has perished under very singular cir- ' cumstances. The church possesses a splendid - clock, with ponderous and complicated works, 5 while a pendulum of proportionate length ■ vibrates to and fro with a dull and monoto- • nous thud. Recently the clock needed cleanL ing, and the ringer was deputed to supevin- - tend the work, though he ruefully ende.a----s voured to be excused from the task. It » seemed that ho never willingly approached 11 the belfry, from certain unpleasant associaf j tions. Ab ’it twenty years ago lie killed his , | predecessor in office, accusing him of carry--11 ing on a c.i iminal intrigue with his wife. - When brought to trial, he escaped the gali lows, owing to a deficiency of legal proof, r The patronage of one of the canons then pro- * cured him the appointment vacant by the ) death of his victim. Hence, it is said, arose I his superstitions dread in connection with the - belfry, which was supposed by many to be ' haunted by the ghost of the murdered ringer. - On the morning when the clock was to be 3 cleaned it suddenly stooped, and the hell--3 ringer was nowhere to he found. A work- ; man from the town was sent for. While I ascending the tower, ho was horrified to find i the pendulum and lower works dripping with 3 blood. Upon searching further, the body of r the bell-ringer was found entangled in the t works, frightfully mangled and crushed. One

supposition is that he committed suicide bv climbing up the pendulum, and then pitched himself into the machinery of the clock. But. . the wonder-loving gossips of the place, with j a thoroughly German propensity for the -i horrible, declare that the guilty man, upon j reaching the gloomy chamber wherein the j works revolved, was horror-stricken by the [ apparition of his predecessor sitting astride of' the great balance wheel of the clock, and had j been drawn into the works hv a species of I horrible fascination, similar to that which j the rattlesnake is said to have over its prey. | There sat the spectre, rubbing his gory hands | in hideous glee as the victim was slowly j . drawn in among the cog-wheels and ratchets ! _ of the machinery. An agonising yell, a crush | - of bones, and all was still! Such, according to the ItaUe, is the newest legend of the belfry of Wurtzburg. C