In “The Sound and the Fury” William Faulkner wrote that “Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.”
Residents of Leflore County can test that wisdom for themselves over the next couple of weeks.
The Westminster chime that signals each quarter hour atop the Leflore County Courthouse is 15 minutes off, and it could take weeks to fix.
Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham said that though the ringing of the hour is correct, the chimes that count the place within the hour are not.
“I talked to the man in Florida who normally fixes it, and he’ll be here in a couple of weeks to fix the problem,” said Abraham.
“He comes and does maintenance on it every so often, and when it breaks he tries to tell me what to do over the phone, but I don’t want to mess it up more,” he added.
Abraham said the chimes have been off for several months.
With any luck the problem should be resolved in a couple of months — give or take fifteen minutes.
