[Illustration: THE CASTING OF THE GREAT BELL OF THE BASILICA OF THE
SACRED HEART.]
The moulding is done as follows: In the pit where the casting is to be
done there is constructed a core of bricks and a clay shell, separated
from each other by a thickness of earth, called false bell. This
occupies provisionally the place of the metal, and will be destroyed
at the moment of the casting.
Now let us give a brief description of "La Savoyarde." Its total
weight is 25,000 kilogrammes, divided as follows: 16,500 kilogrammes
of bronze, 800 kilogrammes for the clapper, and the rest for the
suspension gear.
Its height is 3.06 meters and its width at the base is 3.03. It is
therefore as high as it is wide, and, as may be seen from our
engraving, two men can easily seat themselves in its interior. In
weight, it exceeds the bell of Notre Dame, of Paris, which weighs
17,170 kilogrammes, that of the Cathedral of Sens, which weighs
16,230, and that of the Amiens bell, which weighs 11,000.
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