The sixty-one acres comprised in Carillon Park represent a notable piece
of reclamation. For many years it was periodically flooded and became a
bushy swamp breeding mosquitoes and germs. It was one of Dayton’s
eyesores in addition to being a menace to health. The decision to build
the Deeds Carillon led to its transformation. Within a year the one-time
“dismal swamp” emerged as an ideal pleasure ground equipped with a
parking space for hundreds of motor cars. In this lovely, wooded, and
verdant environment the citizens of Dayton and all others who come,
relax and enjoy the music of the carillon bells.
Including both large and small examples, there were only six true
carillon towers in the United States prior to the construction of the
Deeds Carillon. Of these, two were on college grounds, two on private
estates, one in a cemetery, while the sixth was the one built by the
late Edward K. Bok on his Florida estate. A true carillon must have a
minimum of twenty-three bells providing the tones and semitones to
encompass the full octaves. Except in rare instances when they were hung
in the gabled arches of the old Spanish missions and outside oriental
temples, carillon bells are seldom seen. For hundreds of years
architects have struggled with the problem of providing structures to
support carillons which will elevate them to a height at which they can
be adequately heard over the surrounding countryside. The solution had
invariably been to erect an enclosed tower in which the bells are hidden
from view and covered with grilles which screen the bells from sight and
tend to muffle the sound.
[Illustration: The casting of carillon bells is an art handed down
from father to son. The Meneely Company which cast the Deeds
Carillon bells practiced the art for six generations. Once a bell is
cast, no alterations can be made in it. If a true tone is not
achieved the work must be done over.]
[Illustration: The largest bell in the chandelier of 32 bells in the
Deeds Carillon weighs 7,000 pounds, and the smallest 250 pounds.
They are cast in bronze and the total weight of all the bells and
the chandelier is 32 tons.]
[Illustration: Hours of planning and consultation with architects
and the bell casters went into the building of the Deeds Carillon.]
Starting with the instruction from Mrs. Deeds that the thirty-two bells
in the Deeds Carillon must all be exposed to view, the architects, after
long study and investigation, were able to carry out her wishes. The
Deeds Carillon is the first tower to have all the bells mounted entirely
in the open, thus insuring greater carrying power and purest,
unrestricted beauty of tone. Such a departure from the old method of
construction required a complete rechecking of the science of carillon
tower design and bell placement.
Like Colonel Deeds, Mrs. Deeds was a perfectionist. She visioned the
ideal structure, and the architects, Reinhard, Hofmeister & Walquist of
New York, designers of Rockefeller Center, met every requirement. The
landscaping surrounding the tower was in the hands of Olmstead Brothers
of Boston, foremost in their field.
An unusual feature of the design is the so-called entasis of the sides
of the tower in which they were reduced toward the top as much as
eighteen inches, not in a straight line but by means of a curve which
bows three inches from top to bottom. The purpose of this is not to make
the sides bulge but to correct the optical illusion of pinching in and
actually making the sides look straight. This was the device employed by
the ancient Greeks for the same purpose in the design of their classic
columns.
[Illustration: The stone shafts of the Carillon are built around a
steel core.]
[Illustration: A mass of scaffolding was a requisite in building the
Carillon.]
[Illustration: Moving the bells from the freight cars which brought
them to Dayton and hanging them in position were operations which
called for great skill.]
[Illustration: The impressive array of the 32 bells in the Carillon
arranged at its base just previous to being placed in position.]
The Carillon tower, built of granite, steel, and limestone, soars
skyward 151 feet from the base planted on a green and friendly hill. It
is a shaft of precise beauty, dramatic in its simplicity, and
terminating in noble arches. Suspended from the cross-shaped
intersections of the arches, in full sight from all directions and
visible for miles around, is the chandelier of bells. At the base of the
Carillon is the Console Room. From here an elaborate electrical system
plays the bells through the touch of the operator’s fingers at the
console.
The actual ringing of the bells requires an unusual mechanism consisting
of an electrical solenoid, delivering a blow of proper force for each
size of bell. Suitable screens, designed so as not to interfere with the
sound, are placed at the bottom of the mechanism so that each bell, when
viewed from the ground, presents a uniform appearance, only the clapper
being visible. This was the first time that such a type of construction
in all its details had been followed, making possible a full, rich
beauty of tone.
[Illustration: The console which controls the playing of the
Carillon is located in a special room within the structure.]
In kinship with the spiritual fervor and idealism built into the
Carillon is the impressive bronze door bearing these inspirational words
by Longfellow:
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth good will to men.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor does He sleep,
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth good will to men.
The bells range in size from six feet in diameter with a weight of 7,000
pounds to the smallest one which is eighteen inches in diameter weighing
250 pounds. Of the thirty-two bells in the Carillon, twenty-three are
speaking bells covering a range of two full octaves from B flat below
middle C. On the speaking bells were inscribed the names of the Deeds
family then living, while on the silent bells appear the names of six
deceased members.
[Illustration: The Celestron was added several years after the
Carillon was built. This is an amplifying system incorporating a
number of advanced features and making it possible to play recorded
music so that it can be heard over a wide area. The Celestron has no
connection with the Carillon bells. Since the addition of the
Celestron, most programs are divided between carillon music and
recorded music.]
[Illustration: This scene in the Carillon parking area has been
duplicated many times, as Sunday afternoon programs and others have
been presented.]
[Illustration: Easter Dawn Services at the Carillon.]
The same loving care that was lavished on the planning of the Carillon
has found expression in the arrangement of the programs. Mrs. Deeds
personally supervised the selection and arrangement of more than 400
musical selections so they could be played on the bells. The music has
been transferred to sheets of white Bristol paper bearing the Carillon
crest which are filed systematically for reference.
Thirty-five feet above the base of the Carillon tower is a balcony-like
structure in bronze which contains a room twelve feet in diameter and
six feet high. In this room are installed thirty-two powerful
high-fidelity speakers of the most advanced design. On Easter morning,
Christmas Eve, and other occasions, programs are broadcast directly to
the countryside. Recorded music, performed by the world’s finest bands,
choruses, orchestras and soloists, is to be heard with all its beauty
for nearly a mile in every direction throughout the wide-open spaces
about the Carillon tower. This Celestron is not connected in any way
with the chandelier of bells of the Carillon. It is an additional
instrument for the pleasure of those who love good music.
The science of bell-making is an old one. Sometimes it is necessary to
cast twenty or thirty bells to fill an order for a ten-bell chime. The
Deeds Carillon bells were made by The Meneely Bell Company of Troy, New
York.