G & J's tuning machines

[Richard Offen]

The large ex. 
> Warner machine was aquired around 1925. Whether or not it was 
> installed in time to tune the Wanamaker bell (112" 15 1/2 tons), I 
do 
> not know. It was subsequently used for the larger Riverside and 
> Chicago bells. It was also used for aligning large clock dials. 
> The large machine was scrapped after the closure of G & J. What 
> happened to the intermediate machine I do not know. It was offered 
to 
> Whitechapel, but sadly there was nowhere to put it! It was from all 
> accounts, an excellent machine.
> Nigel Taylor

As I've said before on this list, because of its very infrequent use, 
the large, ex-Warner's tuning machine was known as "Warner's White 
Elephant" by G & J staff. 

I'm still convinced that Wally Spraggett told me Warner's had it 
built when Mears' Big Ben was found to be cracked and they thought 
they might get the order to recast it ...but perhaps that was just 
apocryphal!

R