In days of yore, when I was being schooled, one wrote compound fractions
with a hyphen between the whole number and the added simple fraction.
This was to preclude the confusion Carlton mentions below. Thus, 6-5/8
would not be confused as 65 divided by 8. Context made it clear that
subtraction was not intended by the hyphen. (We were not so keen on
typography in those lower grades as to worry about distinguishing
hyphens and minus signs.)
And yes, Carleton, the all-metric description is vastly more
comprehensible and useful. One can mentally visualize the ratio of the
diameters and masses in metric, but not in ye olde units. Well done.
Jim
On 2010-11-26 1241, Carleton MacDonald wrote:
From The Ringing World issue 5195 (November 19, 2010), a letter to the
editor, regarding the description of bells recently restored in a tower
in the UK.
SIR: - It was very pleasurable to read from D________ N________ that
another historic ring had been retained and restored to its former glory
on your recent front page (5192).
Bells are so much part of our English Heritage but so too is our Weights
and Measurements systems, so I was disappointed at the end not to be
told the true [sic] weight [sic] and diameter of at least the Tenor [the
largest bell] as it would have been recorded in 1687.
I am sure I am not alone amongst your circulation who do not relate well
to ‘DVI’ [not sure what DVI is] kg. I also see its Note was recorded as
kg as well!
J__________ Y _______________
Ockham, Surrey
Ed [Ringing World editor]: Whitechapel [bell founders] have kindly
provided the Durham weights in a more familiar format:
[in order, bell, diameter, note, and ‘weight’ in cwt
(hundredweights/quarters/pounds – I dare not put in a table as some
e-mail clients may not reproduce it correctly, especially if you have
your e-mail client set to turn everything in to plain text. The ‘tenor’
is the largest and heaviest bell in the group and the ‘treble’ the
smallest lightest; the others are indicated by number. cm]
Tenor – 3’2” – A – 9-3-23
5^th – 2’10” – B – 7-1-16
4^th – 2’ 65/8”* - C# - 5-2-22
3^rd – 2’ 51/8” - D – 5-0-16
2^nd – 2” 33/8 - E – 4-0-24
Treble – 2” 23/8’ – F# - 4-0-16
[end of letter and editor’s response]
*As shown in the original printing, no doubt this means 2 ft 6 5/8 in.
Confusing, no?
The original submission as published in Issue 5192. In order: bell,
diameter in mm, note, and mass in kg. The editors printed it as
submitted, which prompted the letter above.
Tenor – 965 – A – 506
5^th – 865 – B – 376
4^th – 780 – C# - 289
3^rd – 740 – D – 261
2^nd – 695 – E – 214
Treble – 670 – F# - 211
I leave it to the reader which is easier to understand.
Carleton
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
