The next to the oldest chime in the United States now hangs in Philadelphia. It is located in the belfry tower of Christ Church, at the corner of Second and Church streets, and for nearly a century and a half, with only a brief interruption at the time of the Revolutionary War, the bells have been used to welcome the birth of every Christmas Day.

Bell Ringer’s of the 10 Bells

In the olden time it was customary for the people of the city to gather opposite the church on Christmas Eve and New Year's ringing appeal at midnight, and listen to the music of the bells. The throng was always a holiday assembly of motley character. Beggars in rags rubbed elbows against rich people dressed in purple and fine linen, and children of seven stood beside grandparents of seventy. Just before midnight the bell ringers always arrived, and following a custom that has been in vogue ever since the chime was erected, passed through an iron gateway and along the tomb-lined path which leads to a side door, where they entered, and then climbed a narrow stairway to the tower above.

The history of Christ Church chime is briefly told in an inscription on a tablet attached to the door that leads to the bell tower: "Purchased in London in 1754 for £360; the whole weight is nine thousand pounds, the largest weighs two thousand and forty pounds, and has this inscription upon it, 'Christ Church, Philadelphia, recast at the Whitechapel Foundry by Thomas Moore, 1835.' On each side of the other bells is the simple inscription, 'Thomas Lester and Thomas Pack. Fecit 1754.' Brought to this country on the ship Myrtilla, Captain Budden without charge of freight. They were invariably rung when his ship was in port."

There are many facts of interest connected with the Christ Church bells besides those mentioned in the inscription. In 1774 they rang for the last time on the birthday of the King of England, and July 4, 1776, together with the old bell in Liberty Hall, Philadelphia, they patriotically proclaimed "liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." The bells gave a merry peal on July 7, 1775, when the celebrated fighting Quaker battalion entered the portals of the venerable church to listen to the remarks of Rev. Mr. Duche of the duties of the hour. In 1778 they likewise gave a happy welcome to a large body of Masonic brethren —among who was George Washington that gathered to celebrate the Feast of St. John.

From a purely mechanical point of view bells are an interesting product of human handicraft. When they were invented, and by whom, it is believed that no one claims to know. It is probable, however, that in some distant time, when men lived in a primitive way, preparing their food in big pots swung above open camp fires, some one discovered the sonorous qualities possessed by hemispherical vessels, and that this led to the casting of the first bells, which retained much of the shape of the old cooking utensils. This form, however, long since gave place to the conical shape that is now generally employed.

Chime of Ten Bells.

The earliest bells were made of iron, and those of inferior quality that are made at the present time are still cast from the same material. The best bells, however, are now composed of bell metal. This is made up of pure Lake Superior copper and the finest Fast Indian tin, combined in proportions that vary with all of the individual makers, each one of whom guards as the most precious of secrets the formula that governs the quantities of the various substances that are used in his furnaces.

It has long been thought that the addition of gold and silver to the metal improves the tone of the bell cast from it. It has never been satisfactorily proven whether or not this belief has a foundation in fact. There is certainly, though, a rumor or tradition connected with nearly all of the world's famous bells to the effect that they are composed to a greater or less extent of the precious materials, and in some cases there is a possibility that the rumor may be true. Especially is this the case as regards the Czar Kolokol, the Great Bell of Moscow, but only an analysis of the metal of which it is made will ever determine the truth or falsity of the many stories connected with it.
When a particularly fine chime is being cast interested parties generally gather at the foundry, and following an old custom. throw pieces of precious metal —sometimes  fragments o f old  jewelry and family heirlooms—into the melting pots.