St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-12-29

and human aid seeming only needed
to supply the material and measure
the work, with movements of hand
scarce perceptible. The SUGGESTIONS
OF minute instruments were like long
ranges of little fairies, each weaving
its cobwcb miracles, under q careful
sentinel'o experimenting eye. 1t is
the novelty Of the Waltham factory
that this is so-machinery doing the
hundred little dexterities which have
hitherto been done only by the varia.
bic hena &c <he -~e~L.,a. With tho
machinery once regulated, therefore,
any number Of watches of the same
size and pattern are made with inya-
riable exactness-all equally sure to
keep time whereas, formerly, each
watch was only probability by it.
self.
A small heap Of grains was shown
to US, looking like iron filings or grains
Of pepper from a pepper-castor--ap-
parently the mere dust of the machine
which turned them out-and these,
when examined with microscope,
were seen to be perfect screws. each
to be driven to its place with screw
driver. 1t is one of the Waltham sta
tistics which il worth remembering,
that "a single pound of steel, costing
but fifty cents, is thus manufactured
into one hundred thousand screws,
which are worth eleven hundred dol
lars"
The poetic part of a watch, of course,
is what the truth in a woman's heart
has been so often compared to-the
jewel upon which all it's movements
are pivoted and which knows no wear
ing away nor variation-and to see
these precious truth jewels and their
adjustment was one of my main points
of curiosity. The aid Of the micro
scope was again to be called in, to
see these-the precious stones, as we
first saw them in the glass phial, re-
sembling grains of brilliant sand.
They are rubies, sapphires or chryso-
lites, inferior only to the diamond in
hardness, and to be drilled by the dia.
mond's point into pivoted reliances.
The process is thus described in the
article to which um indebted for my
statistics.
"The jewels are first drilled with a
diamond, and then opened out will
diamond-dust, on soft hair-l k, iron
wire, their perforations having certain
microscopic differences. In like man.
ner, the pivots Of steel that are to run
in these jewels, without wearing out
in the least, must be exquisitely pol.
ished. By this operation their size is
slightly reduced. The jewels and piv-
OTIS, after being thus finished, are clas.
-rrr+sd'y" ~"osr-sr-----ruvgrE pYHre------~-
catcly graduated as to detect differ.
ence of the ten thousandth part of an
inch. The jewels are classified by
means of the pivots, the jewels and
pivots of the same number fitting each
other exactly. The sizes of the sew,
eral pivots and jewels in each watch
are carefully recorded under its num-
ber, so that if any one of either should
fail in any part of the world, by send,
ing the number of the watch to Wal
than, the part desired may be readily
and cheapIy replaced with unerring
certainty"
On this, and all the other operations
too minute for detailed description
the first cutting of the stamps and
dies from sheets Of brass, hardening
and forming the barrels and chambers
coiling and fastening the main springs
gearing wheels and cutting their teeth,
shaping of pinions and axles, cutting
of escape-wheels, burning and mark
ing the porcelain dials, and final put
ting together and adjusting of the va
rious parts-the superintendent, Mr..
Denison, discoursed to us most inter
estingly. could not but think, as
listened to this philosopher of me-
chanic art, telling us these beautiful
secrets with his quiet conccntratiye-
ness Of voice and eye, and his brief
expressive language. how .much bet
ter it was than the " sci da u a play"
or the reading of aSl1oSc My two
hours, of following hiA1odnd' listening
to his discourse with illustrations"
were like the passing of dream.