A bell is a hollow, somewhat cup-shaped, sounding instrument of metal. The metal from which bells are usually made (by founding) is an alloy, called bell-metal, commonly composed of eighty parts of copper and twenty of tin. The proportion of tin varies, however, from one-third to one-fifth of the weight of the copper, according to the sound required, the size of the bell, and the impulse to be given. The clearness and richness of the tone depend upon the metal used, the perfection of its casting, and also upon its shape; it having been shown by a number of experiments that the well-known shape with a thick lip is the best adapted to give a perfect sound. The depth of the tone of a bell increases in proportion to its size.
A bell is divided into the body or barrel, the ear or cannon, and the clapper or tongue. The lip or sound-bow is that part where the bell is struck by the clapper. It is uncertain whether the jangling instruments used by the Egyptians and Israelites can be correctly described as bells; but it is certain that bells of a considerable size were in early use in China and Japan, and that the Greeks and Romans used them for various purposes. They are said to have been first introduced into Christian churches about 400 AD by Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Campania (whence campana and nola as old names of bells); although their adoption on a wide scale does not become apparent until after the year 550, when they were introduced into France.
Benedict Biscop, abbot of Wearmouth, seems to have imported bells from Italy to England in 680, but their use in Ireland and Scotland is probably of earlier date. The oldest of those existing in Great Britain and Ireland, such as the 'bell of St. Patrick's will' and St Ninian's bell, are quadrangular and made of thin iron plates hammered and riveted together.
Until the thirteenth century bells were of comparatively small size, but after the casting of the Jacqueline of Paris (6.5 tons) in 1400 their weight rapidly increased. Among the more famous bells are the bell of Cologne, 11. tons, 1448; of Dantzic, 6 tons, 1453; of Halberstadt, 7.5, 1457; of Rouen, 16, 1501; of Breslau, 11, 1507; of Lucerne, 71, 1636; of Oxford,7.5 1680; of Paris, 12.8, 1680; of Bruges, 10.5, 1680; of Vienna, 17.75, 1711; of Moscow (the monarch of all bells), 193, 1736; three other bells at Moscow ranging from 16 to 31 tons, and a fourth of 80 tons cast in 1819; the bell of Lincoln (Great Tom), 5.5, 1834; of YorkMinster (Great Peter), 10.75, 1845; of Montreal, 134, 1847; of Westminster (Big Ben), 15.5, 1856, (St Stephen), 13.5, 1858; the Great Bell of St. Paul's, 17.5, 1882. Others are the bells of Ghent (5 tons), Gorlitz (10.75 tons), St Peter's, Rome (8 tons), Antwerp (7.25 tons), Olmutz (18 tons), Sacred Heart, Paris (27 tons), Novgorod (31 tons), Pekin (53.5 tons).
Besides their use in churches bells are employed for various purposes, formerly the most common use being to summon attendants or domestics in private houses, hotels, etc. Bells for this purpose were of small size and may be held in the hand and rung, but most commonly were rung by means of wires stretched from the various apartments to the place where the bells were hung. Bells rung by electricity became common in hotels and other establishments around 1905.
The Canadian Pacific Railway is a line of railway which traverses British North America from the St Lawrence to the Pacific. One of the conditions upon which the province of British Columbia in 1871 entered the Dominion of Canada was the construction of such a railway. Since that time more than one act had been passed empowering different companies to go on with the work. Eventually, however, it was completed, according to arrangement with the Canadian government, by a syndicate of London, Paris, and American capitalists, being opened for general traffic in June, 1886. Commencing at Montreal, the line goes on to Ottawa, thence round the north of the Great Lakes to Port Arthur at the head of Lake Superior, and thence to Winnipeg, Manitoba, thence to Stephen in the Rocky Mountains, then across British Columbia to Vancouver on the Pacific. Vancouver, now a thriving city, owes its existence to this railway. The line was of great importance not only as a means of communication between Europe and Eastern Asia and Australasia, but also as a military highway binding together the great masses of the British Empire during the late 19th century. Research Canadian Pacific Railway
The term fur is sometimes distinctively applied to hairy animal skins when prepared for being made into articles of dress, etc, while the name of peltry is given to them in an unprepared state or when merely dried. The animals chiefly sought after for the sake of their furs were the beaver, raccoon, musk-rat, squirrel, hare, rabbit, the chinchilla, bear (black, grey, and brown), otter, sea-otter, seal, wolf, wolverine or glutton, marten, ermine, lynx, coypou (nutria), polecat (fitch), opossum, fox, etc. All the preparation that skins require before being sent to the market is to make them perfectly dry, so as to prevent them from putrefying. This is done by exposing them to the heat of the sun or a fire. The small skins are sometimes previously steeped in a solution of alum. When stored in large quantities they must be carefully preserved from dampness, as well as from moths. The fur-dresser, on receiving the skins, first subjects them to a softening process. He next cleans them from loose pieces of the integument by scraping them with a metalblade. Finally, the fur is cleaned and combed, after which it is handed over to the cutter, who cuts the furs out into the various shapes required to make different articles.
In Europe the furtrade was fed chiefly by Russia, which yielded great quantities of furs, especially in the Asiatic portion of her dominions. Austria, Turkey, Scandinavia, etc, also yielded a certain quantity.
The furtrade of America has long been highly important, and several great trading companies were engaged in it, of which the Dutch East India Company was first. The French early took up the furtrade in Canada, and their chain of forts and trading posts at one time extended from Hudson's Bay to New Orleans. Quebec and Montreal were at first trading posts. In 1670 Charles II granted to Prince Rupert and others a charter empowering them to trade exclusively with the aborigines of the Hudson's Bay region. A company, then and after called the Hudson's Bay Company, was formed, which for a period of nearly two centuries possessed a monopoly of the furtrade in the vast tract of country known as the Hudson's Bay Territory. In the winter of 1783-1784 another company was formed at Montreal, called, the North-west fur Company, which disputed the right of the Hudson's Bay Company, and actively opposed it. After a long and bitter rivalry the two companies united in 1821, retaining the name of Hudson's Bay Company. The monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed by the original company about Hudson's Bay was much extended; but in 1868 an act of parliament was passed to make provision for the surrender, upon certain terms, of all the territories belonging to the company, and for their incorporation with the Dominion of Canada. In 1869 the surrender was carried out, Canada paying 300,000 pounds to the company by way of compensation. The company still possessed large stretches of valuable land, and many houses, forts, and posts in the region formerly belonging to it. Its operations even extended beyond British America into the United States and to the Sandwich Islands and Alaska. It employed a large staff of agents, traders, Indian hunters, etc. Some of its posts were situated far north, almost approaching the Arctic Ocean.
In the United States, the fur-trade, especially that trade in beaverfur, was an important element in the economic life of all the colonies in the seventeenth century, and in the struggle between England and France for the possession of North America, also in all negotiations respecting the northwest boundary of the United States. In 1809 John Jacob Astor secured the incorporation of the American Fur Company. He founded Astoria in Oregon, and attempted to connect it with Mackinaw by a line of posts and consolidate the whole north-western fur-trade. After the War of 1812 he renewed his attempt. In 1816 the American Congress passed an act excluding foreign fur-traders. Research Fur-Trade
Barry Saint Leger was a British soldier. He was born in 1737 and died in 1789. He wemt to America as a soldier in 1757. He commanded a company at Louisbourg in 1758 and served under Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. He commanded the British expedition against Fort Stanwix and distinguished himself by his strategy at Oriskany. From 1780 to 1781 he conducted a guerilla warfare, with headquarters at Montreal. Research Barry Saint Leger
Donald Alexander Smith (Lord Strathcoma and Mount Royal) was a Canadian politician. He was born in 1820 at Archiestown, Morayshire and died in 1914. He emigrated to Canada when he was eighteen years old and worked as a junior clerk in the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1866 he became general manager of the Hudson Bay Company in Canada, and eventually governor of Montreal. In 1886 he was knighted and in 1896 was made high commissioner for Canada in England. In 1897 he was made a baron of the United Kingdom with the titleLord Strathcoma and Mount Royal. Research Donald Smith
Ethan Allen was an American insurgent. He was born in 1737 and died in 1789. He joined the American colonists army, was made a general and surprised and captured Ticonderoga Port in 1775; attacked Montreal, and was captured and sent to England, being exchanged in 1778. He wrote against Christianity. Research Ethan Allen
Jacques Cartier was a French navigator. He was born in 1494 at St. Malo and died after 1552. He commanded an expedition to North America in 1534, entered the Straits of Belle Isle, and took possession of the mainland of Canada in the name of Francis I. Next year he sailed up the St Lawrence as far as the presentMontreal. He subsequently went to found a settlement in Canada, and built a fort near the site of Quebec. Research Jacques Cartier
Jeffrey Amherst was a British soldier. He was born in 1717 and died in 1797. He entered the Guards as an ensign in 1731 and in 1758 was made commander of an expedition against the French in Canada. Following success in Canada he was appointed governor-general of the British possessions in North America and in 1761 was knighted. In 1763 he returned to England and in 1770 was made governor of Guernsey, in 1772 a privy councillor and in 1776 was raised to the peerage as Lord Amherst of Montreal. In 1796 he was made a field-marshal. Research Jeffrey Amherst
Sir John William Dawson was a Canadian geologist. He was born in 1820 at Pictou, Nova Scotia and died in 1899. He was educated at Pictou and at Edinburgh University, and early turned his attention to geology, having published papers on the subject when not much over twenty. He accompanied Sir Charles Lyell when examining the geology of Nova Scotia in 1842. In 1850 he became superintendent of education for Nova Scotia, and in 1855 principal and professor of natural history in M'Gill College, Montreal, in which position, as well as in that of vice-chancellor, and latterly principal of the university, his services in the cause of education were very marked. He became a member of the Royal Society (London) in 1862, was knighted in 1885, and was president of the British Association in 1886 during its meeting at Birmingham. His published works include Acadian Geology; The Story of the Earth and Man; Science and the Bible; The Dawn of Life; etc. Research John Dawson
John Thomas was an American soldier. He was born in 1725 at Massachusetts and died in 1776. He commanded a regiment under General Amherst at Crown Point in 1760, and aided in the capture of Montreal. He was appointed a brigadier-general by the Provincial Congress in 1775. He had charge of the fortification of Dorchester Heights, which led to the evacuation of Boston by the British. In 1776 he was given command in Canada, but died of small-pox. Research John Thomas
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Abbreviations
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