Cathedral Bells Arrive
Diocesan Press Service. June 5, 1963 [XI-16]
WASHINGTON, D. C. --An unusual caravan, led by a police escort, will pass through the streets of Washington Tuesday, June 11, as 120 tons of bells and beams make their way toward Washington Cathedral and a welcoming ceremony at the North Transept. Ten trucks will move the 53 bells of the new Kibbey Carillon and the 10-bell Memorial Ring from the port of Baltimore to Mount Saint Alban, where a place awaits them in the Gloria in Excelsis Tower.
The British Ambassador, His Excellency Sir Ormsby Gore, and the Rt. Rev. William F. Creighton, Bishop of Washington, will participate in the ceremony. The public is cordially invited.
The combination of these two sets of bells is a unique one, as it will give Washington Cathedral the only tower in the world with both a carillon and a ring of bells.
The shipment, now aboard the S. S. American Commander of the United States Lines, will arrive at the Baltimore docks June 10. The smallest bell of all is in the captain's cabin for safekeeping.
The carillon is the gift of the late Miss Bessie Kibbey of Washington, a long-time friend of the Cathedral, who left the sum of $150,000 in 1949 for a carillon in memory of her grandparents, William B. Kibbey and Sarah A. Kibbey.
In a belfry 210 feet above the South Transept of the Cathedral will be placed the 10-bell ring. Six of the bells have been given as memorials; four are gifts of thanksgiving. Each bears an inscription by the donor. These bells vary from the first bell, F sharp treble 2' 4" in diameter, weighing 608 pounds, to the tenth bell tenor D, 4' 7", weighing 3, 588 pounds.
The first carillon concert has been scheduled for Sunday, September 22, 1963, under the direction of the Cathedral's new carillonneur, Ronald Barnes. The carillon will be placed in the tower during the summer.