The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1857-03-18
Mistrllonn. j.
tFrom the New Orleans Daily Crcolcl
American Manufactures of Gold
and Silver; Watch Making Bust
ness in Switzerland.

ness in Switzerland.
Some months since paragraph an.
rouncirg that gentlempu of consldera-
bic wealth and iano as n matchmaker war
about introducing five hundtrd SWISS
wa!chmakers into some part OF TyXis
for the purpose Of establishing witc-
manufactory there wc.t III, rounds ut
the press. Blu, 'oe ,lbj c. MS /. 81
To be entirely fr.o. ttn. Nh-,al tn
project was Il failue r. or whe,h !. is to
be or has been carried out, we are not
advised.
Tho following account which we de.
rived from a very reliable source, mhy
be found Interesting and doubtless, may
make the public better acquainted with
the benefits to be derived from such an
establishment.
One Of the largest and most interes.
ting branches Of Swiss industry is the
matchmaking trade. 1t is carried on to
an immense aud still increasing extent
in the mountainous districts of Neuf-
cbatel, in the French portion of the
Canton of Berne, and Of Genoa. 1t has
been source If wealth and comfort to
many thousands Of the inhabitants, who,
in the seldom visited villages Of the
Swiss, have gathered around them
large portion Of the enjoyments of life
Switzerland has long furnished the
markets of France, and though the names
Of certain French watch makers have
obtained a European celebrity, yet, an
examination into this trade has elected
the fact, that not ten watches are made
in Paris in the course of year-the i'm.
mense consumption of France being fur
nished from Switzerland, the Swiss works
being only examined and rectifed by the
French watohmakers.
The Jura mountains Lave boen the
cradle of much celebrity in the mochani-
cal arts, particularly in those exquisite
productions of which minute compila-
tion is the peculiar characteristic.
During the winter-which lasts from
six to seven months-the inhabitants,
are, in manner, imprisoned in their
dwellings, engaged in the completion of
those works which require the utmost
development Of skillful ingenuity. An.
nually over twenty thousand watches are
produced in the elevated regions of Neul
chatel. The most remarkable of the
French watch-makers had their birth aud
education in Switzerland.
The art Of clock making was introdu.
ced into the mountains of Neuicbatel in
q manner worthy of notice. As early as
the seventeenth century some workmen
had constructed clocks with weights, but
no idea had been conceived of making
clocks with springs. About the end OF
that century, an inhabitant of the noun
talns, returned from long voyage,
brought with him a watch, which was an
object previously unknown in that coun-
try. II was put into the hands of a
skillful workman TO be repaired. who
succeeded in repairing it, and then, from
spirit of adventure, set about to max Q
a similar one, in which he was also sue.
cessful, Notwithstanding the difficulties
he had to encounter, he hpv!ng 10 con.
struct the tools with which he wrought
as also all The diif.reut movements Of the
watch.
This success naturally created great
sensation; other persons were stimula
ted to try what they could do; aud a
new branch of inius'ry sprung up 10 the
mountains OF Neufchatel. Daring the
first forty or fifty years, a few workmsn