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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yet another book (an excellent read) 'The
Triumphs of Big Ben' by John Darwin, one time Resident Engineer and
Parliamentary Works Officer for the Palace of Wetminster. Published by Robert
Hale 1986. On page 80 concerning the Warner bell: "On 17 February 1858 a large
iron ball, weighing one ton 448 pounds was dropped on the bell repeatedly from a
height of thirty feet, for a period of two days, until it was completely broken
into fragments which could be loaded into carts. It was then found that, where
the crack had started, there was a flaw in the metal, at the point where the two
streams of molten metal from the two furnaces had met but had not fused
together, leaving gas pockets not visible on the surface of the metal." Thus the
conclusion drawn by Denison was that the casting of the bell was at fault and
not the weight of the heavier hammer used to strike the bell. At the time there
was a popular jingle in London which ran:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Poor Mr Warner is put in a corner,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For making a bad Big Ben.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Good Mr Mears, as it appears.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is to make us a new one - when?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Neil Skelton.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=johnedavid@h9M8f5F06ihe-JaLaoTOY-x_i8YfO4dUItROv0H8hRcjotWIitF6DrHrxcpUMDxkIkyRnarsWh-4sab0-6Jv9ybcJP9c.yahoo.invalid href="mailto:johnedavid@3b8tnyYTFGbTLWPoqkitnGnEqeH0T5do7HnA4yv_U0XUeX09WnX-xbA7jCXsYXs1WM1eLtw2G5jHpwQn9wFBSPQ.yahoo.invalid">John
David</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com">bell hist</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, November 02, 2007 10:17
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Bell Historians] re: Big
Ben</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV id=ygrp-text>
<P>When this book first came out I asked on the list if there was any
truth in the story (which I have seen in print somewhere, and which was
one of the reasons I bought the book) that the Warner bell had to be broken up
(with the over-weight clock hammer) because it was too big to get up the clock
weight shaft. There were no replies - perhaps it was a silly question -
but does anyone have the dimensions of the two bells and the shaft to
either confirm this story or leave it not proven? <BR> <BR>JOhn
David<BR><BR>
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