Page:The tourist's guide to Lucknow.djvu/173

Rh Deputy Commissioner. Lieutenant-Colonel Norman T. Horsford, Bengal Staff Corps, the Trustees of the Husainabad Endowment, who administer the fortune of 36 lacs of rupees bequeathed by Mahomed Ali Shah, the third King of Oudh, have erected a stately tower, 221 feet high and 20 feet square, from the design of Mr. R. R. Bayne, of Calcutta, for the reception of a clock of great size and power, made by Mr. J. W. Benson, Ludgate Hill, London.

“The following is a brief description of the clock movement. The bed, or frame, is horizontal, which allows any part to be removed for cleaning or repair, without disturbing the rest, whereas in the upright frame, to gain access to a particular part, the whole machine has to be more or less taken to pieces. It consists of two wrought-iron sides, having a massive pillar of the same material bolted between them at each end. The length is 6 feet and the width 3 feet. All the train wheels are of gun-metal well-hammered, the teeth being divided, cut, and polished by power, thereby insuring an accuracy impossible in hand-made work. The main wheel is 24 inches in diameter and $1 1⁄2$ inches thick, and the other wheels are of proportionate size. In one of the designs for the great clock at Westminster, the main wheel was 18 inches in diameter, which, although considered too small, will show, by comparison, the size of the present clock. The pinions are of hardened steel, cut from the solid, made and finished in the same manner as the wheels.

"There are three trains of wheels, one in the centre to record the time on the dials, called 'the going part,' to the right of which is the quarter chiming train, and to the left the hour striking train. The barrels work in plummer-blocks, and the uprights, which carry the trains, are bolted on in such a manner as to be easily removable. All the bearings, which are of the best gun-metal, are screwed instead of being riveted into their respective places, as is usually done. The barrels for carrying the weights, and the spindles on which they are mounted, are of wrought iron, the drums being 12 inches in diameter, fitted between caps and ratchets, by means of which the weights are wound without interrupting the motion of the great wheel. The weights are suspended by steel cords, which being much less bulky than rope, permit the barrels and frame to be greatly reduced in size, and render the general arrangement more compact.

"During the act of winding, which takes the motive power off the great wheel, it is obvious that the clock