The casting of a bell was ever the occasion of rejoicing and public festival. When the chief priest of the city announced that one was to be made, the people brought contributions in money, or offering of bronze gold, pure tin, or copper vessels. Ladies gave with their own hands the mirrors which had been the envy of lovers, young girls laid their silver hair-pins and bijouterie on the heap. When metal enough and in due proportion had been amassed, crucibles were made, earth-furnaces dug, the moulds fashioned, and huge bellows, worked by standing men at each end, like a see-saw, were mounted; and after due prayers and consultation, the auspicious day was appointed.
The place selected was usually on a hill or commanding place. The people, in their gayest dress, assembled in picnic parties, and with song and dance and feast waited while the workmen, in festal uniform, toiled, and the priests, in canonical robes, watched. The fires were lighted, the bellows oscillated, the blast roared, and the crucibles were brought to the proper heat and the contents to fiery fluidity, the joy of the crowd increasing as each stage in the process is announced. When the molten flood was finally poured into the mould, the excitement of the spectators reached a height of uncontrollable enthusiasm.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
