How did the Russian bells get to Lowell House? (part 2)

Continued

Copies of letters, cables and memoranda recently found, increase our understanding of the events between the years 1929 and 1931, the period during which the bells of the Danilov Monastery were sought, acquired, shipped to Cambridge and hung in the bell tower of Lowell House. Though these documents help eliminate many of the inaccuracies perpetuated by printed versions of this history and correct much of the oral tradition, mysteries remain. It is now possible to confirm some of what was speculation in the report posted on the Lowell House web site on January 8, 2004, and correct an error. “Epstein” was not an independent antiquarian hired by Whittemore. Rather, he was an employee of the Soviet Union Combine for Export and Import of Antiquaries and Art Goods (known as “Antiquariat”), assigned to facilitate the purchase and disposition of the bells of the Danilov Monastery. The text, which follows, should be read as a continuation of the 2004 history of the Lowell House bells.

On May 29, 1930,Thomas Whittemore stopped in Berlin on his way to Moscow. Once there he sent a cable (Figure 1) on June 8, to “ONAGS,” the wire address of Seth Gano, the man who managed Whittemore’s personal affairs. Whittemore instructed Gano to “Ask University transfer by cable $10,000 to Guaranty Trust Co New York.” The meaning of the remainder of the cable is unclear. Who or what is CEBLUDER ARONS? Did Whittemore have two accounts, one in New York and one in Berlin? What is clear is the imperative: Whittemore wanted access to $10,000 from Crane. In this cable, Whittemore used Crane’s pseudonym “University” as in all cable traffic originating in Russia lest the Russian government discover that Crane was involved in the transactions for the bells. Indeed, Crane was able to remain anonymous until March 9, 1931 when Time magazine broke the story, and put Crane’s picture on the cover.

Figure 1

Six days after requesting funds from Crane (June 14th), Whittemore concluded an agreement with “Samueli,” Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Antiquariait, to purchase the bells. (Figures 2 & 3) Three days later Whittemore wrote to Crane: “I have bought the bells in the great Gate House of the Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow. You remember, it is a famous “zvon”; although of the XIX century. I have examined them with an expert and find them in perfect condition.” He continues, “I shall wait perhaps a fortnight to see the bells taken down before I leave Russia.” He addresses Crane as “Dearest friend” and closes the letter: “ love.”

Figure 2	Figure 3

The bill of sale for the bells is available in both Russian and English. In both versions the cost of the bells is denominated in dollars and Whittemore presumably made the down payment in that currency from a dollar draft in Berlin. The presumption that Whittemore paid in dollars is based on the observation that the price of the bells on the bill of sale is not rounded. It must have been calculated from the selling price of the bells in rubles and the dollar exchange rate. There was no need to post a price in dollars if payment was expected in some other currency. In addition the down payment is exactly $7,000. In correspondence several years ago, the archivist of Barings Brothers Bank, London, said that in 1930, since Russia had no dollar trade, the Soviets would find payments in greenbacks unacceptable, let alone a personal check denominated in dollars. Nevertheless, the evidence seems clear that Whittemore paid in dollars. In addition, at the time the bells were shipped to Cambridge, substantial costs remained on the books. These were eventually paid by Whittemore, again in dollars, to Amtorg Trading Corporation, the organization that had shipped the bells from Moscow and incidentally translated the Russian bill of sale into English. In this instance he paid from his bank in Boston, using an account frequently replenished by Crane.

Whittemore appears to have remained in Moscow only “a fortnight.” On July 29th, it was Epstein not Whittimore, who sent a cable to Gano advising, “Bells Lifted.” The bells began their trip to Cambridge on August 11th. Whittemore informed Gano by a letter written from Paris on July 18th, on the shipping plan for the bells – overland to Leningrad and Hamburg, then by sea to Boston. He added, “I expect to be in Boston when they arrive.” His expectations for Saradjev, the bell ringer he had hired, were unqualified. He noted that, “As a musician, he is the greatest master in bell ringing in Russia to-day.”

On September 25,1930, eighteen bells arrived at the port of New York, (not Boston, as Whittemore had written), on the “Chickesaw” and reached Cambridge by rail and road in two shipments. (Figure 4) Seven bells arrived on October 6 and the remaining bells a few days later. Not long afterwards, it became obvious that the third largest bell was not part of the same register as the other 17. A Mr. Andronoff, who had been a bell ringer at the Donilov Monastery and later assisted in hanging the bells, informed Gano that only 17 of the bells had hung together in Monastery. How did Whittemore make a 4974-pound mistake? (The odd bell now hangs in a tower at the Harvard Business School.) Although it was expected that he be at Lowell House when the bells arrived, Whittemore was off to Addis Ababa for the coronation of Haile Selassie. It has been said that while there, he met up with Graham Greene, the British author, who, in a novel he was then writing, created a caricature of Whittemore.

Figure 4

Although Crane had agreed to pay all duty and shipping costs, Harvard aggressively argued for the lowest possible duty. (Figure 5) The negotiations were stalled as Harvard awaited word from Epstein on the age of the bells (late 19th century) and their value ($13,966.75). The English translation of the Bill of Sale became available only on November 12th.The bells would enter the country duty free, as antiques, if they were more than a century old. Otherwise, the duty would be calculated at 20% of value if they constituted a carillon, at 40% if they were considered musical instruments and at 50% if they were new bells. Harvard’s Purchasing Agent, William Morse, having been convinced that the bells did not qualify as antiques persuaded the customs inspector to admit the bells as a carillon rather than a musical instrument, not withstanding that a carillon required a minimum of 23 bells. This concession saved Crane a grand total of $2445.10.