THE CRACK IN BIG BEN.

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 154, 5 June 1942, Page 4

THE CRACK IN BIG BEN.

Sir,-The readiness with which an obviously ridiculous rumour is accepted by many is well illustrated by the oft repeated statement that "Big Ben" is cracked. The other day, for example, I found this in the Argentine Magazine: "Britain’s most celebrated bell, Big Ben, whose note is carried all over the world by wireless, is cracked; the sound we hear is not its full volume, but is made by a lighter clapper striking the sound side of it." This absurd rumour is seventy years old. The hour bell we hear is really "Big Ben" the second. The first "Big Ben," weighing 13 tons 11 cwts. was cast in 1858, but cracked before leaving the foundry. A second hour bell of the same size was cast, and this also cracked, and until repairs could be made, the hours were struck on the largest of the quartet bells. While it remained cracked it was useless, like the 190-year-old American "Liberty Bell" which cracked 117 years ago, and has not been repaired. But "Big Ben" the second was repaired and again brought into use and our ears tell us that it is now a "true" bell. The "fate of nations" is not affected by this rumour, but it- helps to prove what nonsense people will believe. The pleasure derived from a peal by bells is due to the fact that each "true" bell has five distinct notes, four of them overtones, the octave, quint, tierce, and kum. The first three sounding simultaneously give the consonent or key note of the bell. At 9 p.m, the greatest moment of the day, when "Big Ben" speaks, each tone can be heard distinctly, and the Kum-m-m makes a fitting ending to Dean Farrar’s words, set to the music of "Big Ben’s" side mates, the quarter chimes: "Lord, thro’ this hour Be Thou my Guide, So by Thy power No foot shall slide."

ROB

(Ahipara),