"ring O bells!"

IN A TRADITION dating back nearly two centuries, the bells of Dartmouth are rung daily to announce the hour and to summon its students to class.

Since the original instrument was installed in 1781 in the belfry of old College Hall, there have been a series of bells in varying locations on the campus. Ozias Silsby, Class of 1785, in whose memory Silsby Hall was named, was paid two pounds two shillings during his freshman year for the hourly ringing of that first bell which weighed less than 100 pounds. Earlier, scholarship students, usually Indians, had been employed by Eleazar Wheelock to summon undergraduates to chapel, classes, or other duties by sounding a conch shell horn.

Today, a chime of 16 bells, the largest weighing three tons, peals forth from the tower of Baker Library. The present bell system was cast for the College in 1929 and installed, during the construction of Baker, in the tower which had been designed especially to accommodate the bells. An anonymous alumnus donated $40,000 for their purchase. Shortly after the 1929 installation, Walter Durschmidt, a mechanic employed by the College, built the bell control mechanisms. These same intricate machines operate the bells today from a control room three flights below the bell tower.

For the past 25 years the tunes and tones from the Baker bells have been supervised skillfully and with dedication by Krista Jensen and Frances Zeller, both of Hanover. Mrs.Jensen is the wife of Arthur Jensen, retired professor of English and Mrs. Zeller's husband Paul is a professor of music, the chairman of the Music Department, and director of the Dartmouth Glee Clubs. Together, the two women score and program every bell sound from Baker tower.

The 16 bells, which range an octave and a half on the scale (unnoticed to most ears is the missing E flat), toll the time of day, class changes, and the call to class. They are controlled by three machines similar in operation to a player piano, with one machine engaging for the hour and half-hour strike, another for class changes, and the third for tunes. The notes, strides, and bongs are scored on paper rolls inserted into the appropriate machine. Air forced through the rotating perforated rolls closes off selected electrical currents to activate a heavy metal piston which strikes the inside of one of the 16 bells. A layman's description of the multi-geared machinery can best be summed up in the words of that old song, "push the little valve down, the music goes round and round, and it comes out here."

Over 1,000 rolls, each containing 11 sets of bell directions, are stored in the control room. Mrs.Jensen and Mrs.Zeller prepare the manuscripts at home. Then, using these scores, they transpose the music onto specially treated rolls, perforating each note separately by hand on a 16-note-range machine in the control room. It is necessary to adapt each tune to the range of the bells, transposing into a correct key, given the bells' scale limitation.

"Cutting the music is a laborious and delicate operation," Mrs. Zeller commented recently. "One error or mistaken perforation means careful taping over ... or starting over."

"Then," Mrs. Zeller said, "it's a matter of programming for the week and the weekend. Most days the selections have been chosen at random. But on occasions such as graduations, reunions, football games, exams and holidays, we choose those tunes we know are most fitting. 'Men of Dartmouth,' 'Dartmouth Undying,' and other traditional College songs are heard during Commencement and reunions. Patriotic pieces such as 'America' and the national anthem are programmed for the nation's holidays, and hymns and carols are Played during the Christmas season."

A special change, appropriately entitled "Wedding Bells," is often requested by brides. And when the children of Dean of the College Carroll Brewster and his wife Mary were born, "Rock-a-Bye Baby" was played on the Baker bells.

Mrs. Jensen and Mrs. Zeller stay alert to daily campus events which might require altering the music. When the flag is flown at half-staff, the melodies selected are more sombre. "It would be awkward," Mrs. Zeller said, "to have 'There's a Tavern in the Town' playing on the bells if a memorial service is being conducted over at Rollins Chapel."

Professor Zeller occasionally assists with musical arrangements for the bells. He has scored "The Dartmouth Hour Strike" used at graduation and other special College events. An impressive scoring of selections from the Glee Club concert performed for the Russian guests who attended the Dartmouth VII Conference in 1972 was also done by him. "Paul scored songs which included 'Volga Boatmen' and 'Moscow Nights.' They were very effective on the bells and our Russian friends were delighted," his wife recalled.

More recently, oriental music was arranged during a campus visit by a group of teachers from China. "They stood in front of the Hanover Inn, quite transfixed by the chimes playing familiar music out across the Green," Mrs. Zeller said. "So you see, we can be basic and traditional or quite sophisticated and imaginative."

The tones from the bells vary depending on the location of the listener. For example, there is a definite echo quality, rather chambered, if one hears the bells while walking along Tuck Drive. And the effect when heard at the top of East Wheelock is much like the sound of the carillon up from a sleepy Austrian village.

Occasionally unforeseen incidents occur in the bell control room and unprogrammed notes flow from Baker Tower. "Probably our most infamous musical effort was one that awoke the entire town at 5:30 one morning. The control room was in the process of being plastered and painted and apparently bits of the plaster fell onto the machines, tripping all mechanisms into operation. Bells, chimes, gongs, everything went off. No one thought it was very funny at the time, and, believe me, it was quite a while before Mrs. Jensen and I showed our faces around campus," Mrs. Zeller remarked.

When the rare and unscheduled happens, if it isn't immediately correctable by Mrs. Jensen or Mrs. Zeller, the Dartmouth campus police have access to a main switch at the base of Baker Library. Henry Jones, an electronics foreman with the College's buildings and grounds department, is the guardian-caretaker of the equipment, making needed repairs and regular tuning.

Mrs. Zeller reported that at one time it was possible to play the bells on Dartmouth Hall as well as on Rollins Chapel from the Baker installation. However, when new sewer lines were being laid across the Green a few years ago, some cables were disconnected resulting in a termination of this multi-belled operation. "It was discovered too late and it's really a pity. But I hope we do manage to keep everyone's feet moving and their hearts happy with our Baker bells."

Baker's 16 bells have tolled the hours and pealed forth with dirges and rollicking tunessince 1929. The behemoth of the chime, shown below, weighs three tons.