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MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT sundial which about 1840 had been placed before the Anglican Church. There, if the sun had not meanwhile retired behind a cloud, they could set their watches. Naturally many found a walk to the sundial rather inconvenient, and wanted a less troublesome means of getting the time. Accordingly, in 1850 the first council made arrangements with the Anglican Church for the temporary use of its dial, bell, and sexton. And it gladly accepted the offer of a Mr. Benedict, one of the chief construction-engineers of the Great Western Railway (the roadbed of which was then being surveyed north of Paris) to place the sundial in its proper position. A sundial was necessary in those days because a system of standard- time had not yet been adopted: each locality was still on sun-time. The bell in Paris rang about half a minute later than the bell in Brantford; and a Parisian visiting in Woodstock, if he wanted to have the "right" time, would have to move back the hands of his watch almost two minutes. The bell ringer pulled the rope three times every day -at 6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. When the mellow tones swiftly spread out over the town, women would set their clocks and men would go to or come from work, and three hundred dogs (they overran the streets) would duly face the bell tower, settle back upon their haunches, stretch up their necks, and then - a choir of canine choristers - sadly bay and howl at the resounding sky. The first bell-ringer, apart from the sexton, was Gauis Welford: the second was Henry Ball. The latter was paid £7,I3s,9d a year for his services. In i858, after the building of the Town Hall, the council decided to buy a bell of its own. The bell was to weigh 800oo pounds and cost $320. But evidently, for some reason or other, it was not bought. In 1874, a bell weighing 1,233 pounds and costing about $500 was bought from the Meneely Bell Foundry of West Troy, N.Y.; and John Knarston was appointed as bell-ringer at a salary of $ioo a year. Until 1952 the pleasant tones of this bell regularly floated over the housetops of Paris. By the Municipal Act of 1849, under which Paris was incorpor- ated, the council was made responsible for "the relief of orphans and the necessities of the poor". The first opportunity to fulfill their charitable duties was more or less thrust upon the councillors of 1854. Very suddenly they were called upon to care for a baby. They inserted the following notice in the Paris Star: Whereas some person unknown left an infant child at the door of Mr. Tillotson's house, Paris, on Sunday night, April 2nd, I hereby offer a reward of $100 to any person or persons who will give infor- mation as will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the mother of the said child. Hiram Capron, Reeve. 57 mi