The Old College Bell.

At Charleston, S. C., a few days ago, while the janitor of the Charleston College was ringing the college bell to summon the students to their respective rooms and had just given it a few taps, suddenly the unusually clear and musical tones of the bell became harsh and discordant. On examination it was found that the bell was cracked completely through from top to bottom. The accident possesses some interest by reason of the fact that the bell surpasses in antiquity even the oldest of St. Michael's bells. Its beautiful tones are familiar to Charleston's oldest scholars, and almost from time immemorial they have carried confusion to the hearts of dilatory students.

The old bell was cast in Sweden in 1742, and from the peculiar arrangement of its clapper was evidently designed for a ship bell. It is thought to have been put up soon after the college was built, and has probably been hanging in the basement of the building for nearly 100 years. About the year 1854 some of the students, as a joke on the faculty, took the bell down and sent it to the students of the South Carolina College at Columbia, who forwarded it to the Oglethorpe University in Georgia, whence it was shipped to Macon and was there lost sight of for several years; but it was finally found and restored to its former place in the basement of the college building, where it has hung ever since, a witness to the comings and goings, and the joys and sorrows of student life. Mr. John Cahill, the present janitor, has rung the bell four times a day for the last 30 years, and the old man deeply regrets this accident to his pet. On the front of the bell is the following inscription in raised letters: "Guten I, Gotheborg. At Arwid Book. Anno 1742." It has been ascertained that Guten is the name of a foundry that was in Gutenburg, Sweden, many years ago, and that "Arwid Book" was the owner of the foundry in 1742. On the reverse side is a peculiar looking monogram surmounted by a crown.

The cracking of the bell is supposed to have been caused by atmosphere action under the influence of the excessive moisture and sudden cold weather last week.