Accordingly the old bellman had been
stationed in the belfry on that morning, with orders to ring the bell
when a boy waiting at the door of the State House below should signal
to him that the bill for independence had been passed. Hour after
hour the old man stood at his post. At last, at 2 o'clock, when he had
about concluded that the question would not be decided on that day at
least, the watchman heard a shout from below, and looking down saw
the boy at the door clapping his hands and calling at the top of his
voice: "Ring! ring!" And he did ring, the story goes, for two whole
hours, being so filled with excitement and enthusiasm that he could
not stop. When the British threatened Philadelphia, in 1777, the
precious bell was taken down and removed to the town of Bethlehem for
safety. In 1778 it was returned to the State House and a new steeple
built for it. Several years after it cracked, for some unknown reason,
under a stroke of the clapper, and its tone was thus destroyed. An
attempt was made to restore its tone by sawing the crack wider, but
without success. This bell was sent to New Orleans during the winter
to be exhibited in the World's Fair there. The Pullman Company gave
one of their handsomest cars for the transit. It was in the charge of
three custodians appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia, who did not
leave it night or day, and guarded it as fully as possible against
accident. A pilot engine preceded the train carrying the bell over
the entire route.
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