Betsy Beck, age 10, of High Point, N.C., for her question:

HOW DID THE LIBERTY BELL GET CRACKED?

Our great bell of bells weighs more than a ton and it is hard to imagine how anybody could crack its sturdy metal beyond repair. Actually the story is a chapter of accidents, and the present crack is the second one. The story began way back in 1751, when the Liberty Bell was designed to proclaim liberty throughout the land. This was some 30 years before America finally won freedom from English rule.

In 1751, the people of Philadelphia planned a splendid big bell to be hung in the tower of their handsome Statehouse. Those were Colonial days, when projects of this sort were performed in England. Hence, the huge Statehouse bell was cast in a British foundry. The price paid by the Province of Pennsylvania was about $300. It arrived on a ship in 1752 and was hoisted aloft into the belfry tower.  However, as its great voice rang out to proclaim liberty throughout the land, a crack appeared in the metal.

The next year, the same metal was melted down in the Philadelphia foundry of Pass and Stow and the great bell was recast. For a time it was hung from a sturdy fixture in the Statehouse grounds, pealing forth its noble message on special occasions.

But those were troublesome times, when symbols of liberty were regarded with suspicion  at least by the British. During the years 1777 and 1778, the great bell was spirited away into hiding. Some say that it was hidden in the basement of the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pa.

In any case, it was returned to Philadelphia in the summer of 1778, in plenty of time to boom out the surrender of the British at Yorktown, Va., on Nov. 3, 1781. The Statehouse of Pennsylvania became the nation's Independence Hall  and year after year the great Liberty Bell rang out to celebrate the Declaration of Independence.

Then, on July 8, 1835, a crack appeared while it tolled for the funeral services of John Marshall, chief justice of the United States. Later, in 1846, it was rung to celebrate Washington's Birthday and the crack grew beyond repair.

The Liberty Bell stands about three feet high and the distance around its lower rim is slightly more than 12 feet. Its total weight is 2,080 pounds. On very special occasions it is tapped and equipment used to amplify and broadcast its voice throughout the land. This happened in World War II, when the Allies invaded Europe.