I have it on good authority, that the following story is true.
There was a little town named Carbon that is now a ghost town between Hanna and Medicine Bow in Carbon County, Wyoming. The people were very religious and the first building constructed was a church with a big steeple featuring a wonderful bell.
The local pastor put the word out that he was seeking a bell-ringer for that fantastic bell.
A man appeared who had two disfigured arms. He wanted the bell ringer job. The pastor asked how he could do that? He couldn't use his arms!
The man said he was German and had a very strong head. Could he show the pastor how he could do it? Together they climbed up the bell tower.
Once in the belfry, the man lowered his head and ran headlong into the bell and it let out a wonderful peal -- it was the best the pastor had ever heard. "I'm very impressed,” the pastor said. “Could I see you do that again?”
The man said sure. He lowered his head and started running toward the bell.
Now, the first time he had done it the bell was still. But that Wyoming wind can get very gusty. This time the bell had started swinging back and forth.
He missed the bell and went flying over the side and fell down several stories to the ground.
The pastor looked down in horror. There was the man lying on the ground with a crowd quickly gathering. The pastor hurried down the stairs and went to where the crowd had gathered.
The local Town Marshal was there checking out the situation. He asked, “does anyone know this man?”
The pastor spoke up. "I don't know his name. But his face sure rings a bell."
A Brother?
This all occurred in 1878, 12 years before Wyoming became a state.
The next day the pastor answered his door and there was another man. He also had two disfigured arms. The man explained that he was the earlier bell ringer’s twin brother and he felt an obligation to keep his brother’s job going.
The pastor was concerned about all this, but then again, the bell had never sounded better than when the deceased man had rung it with his head.
He hired the brother and for months afterward, the church bells sounded great.
One day the wind was blowing and it was raining. The pastor went up the bell tower to see if it was too slippery for the new bell ringer to peal the bell. The man said, “no problem.” He could do it, wet floor or not.
To the pastor’s horror, the man slipped as he ran toward the bell and fell over the side.
The pastor looked down. There was the man lying the ground with a crowd quickly gathering around him. The pastor hurried down the stairs and went outside to where the crowd had gathered.
The Town Marshal was there again checking out the situation. He asked, “does anyone know this man?”
The pastor spoke up. "I don't know his name. But he’s a dead ringer for his brother.”
Three Of A Kind?
A few weeks later, the pastor answered his door and there was a man who looked a lot like the two dead bell ringers.
The man introduced himself and said he was, indeed, a brother to the other two men. He didn’t have disfigured arms but he still wanted to ring the pastor’s bell.
“I’m sorry, but if you are going to do it with your head, I just can’t let you. It would be tragic to suffer another loss,” the pastor said.
“Oh no, “the man replied. “I have a unique way of ringing the bell. Can I show you?”
“Okay,” the pastor replied and they climbed the long stairway up to the belfry.
Once there, the man emptied a bag of ball bearings into his hands. He explained that he was going to spit the ball bearings at the bell and it would make the most wonderful sounds ever heard.
And sure enough, the first time he did it, the bell rang out better than ever.
The pastor was still uncertain. “You will be careful, now won’t you?” he said. “You won’t try to run at the bell and hit it with your head like your poor brothers?”
“Oh no,” the man replied. “I am a lot clumsier than them. I will just be careful and stand here and spit my ball bearings at the bell.”
The pastor wanted to see more. After 10 ball bearings and 10 beautiful rings, the pastor was convinced this guy was wonderful and said he wanted to give him the job.
“You’re hired. Now, your first job is to pick up all these ball bearings lying around up here.”
The man said he was pleased to be hired. The wind started to blow as the man started to pick up the ball bearings. He slipped and fell over the side as the pastor looked on in horror.
The pastor ran over to the ledge and looked down. There was the man lying on the ground with a crowd quickly gathering around him.
The pastor hurried down the stairs and went outside to where the crowd had gathered.
The Town Marshal was there checking out the situation. He asked, “does anyone know this man?”
The pastor spoke up. "I don't recall his name. But he’s a spitting image of his brothers.”
One More Thing
My apologies. We all need to lighten up a bit.
(Note: This story was originally about Quasimodo at Notre Dame Cathedral. Not sure how this version morphed but our apologies if we are repeating someone else’s creative work.)
Columnist Bill Sniffin can be reached at: Bill@CowboyStateDaily.com
