The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1868-09-05

The American Watch Factory at
WAlthaHn, Mass.


The American Watch Factory at
WAltham, Mass.
That which brings labor and capital to.
gether, benefits both the laborer and the
capitalist. Even in Great Britain, where
capital acts but too often like huge tyrant,
and labor is its slave, as in the colIicries and
great manufactures, political economists
have still observed this as fundamental
principle. How much more, then, must
such an institution as the Waltham Watch
Factory be regarded as blessing to the
community. Here the most perfect of all
machinery, backed by an abundant capital,
suffers nothing TO remain imperfect for want
Of means TO rec;ify it, and the most exreri.
enced aud skillful labor. at wages Of from
l,75 to 81 and S per day, are combined in
the production Of watches, all registered
90 as to run in most perfect time, like chro.
nometers. So perfect are they that if any part
whatever is broken or injured, a new piece
can at once be supplied. There are now
three Of these companies in the United
States, but this one at Waltham is the old.
est, and for the last nine or ten years has
been a oe prosperity 70 the proprie-
tors, and still more obviously 80 10 the seven
hundred persons employed in the various
departments. The watches thus produced
are so superior in uniformity to any tina.
are or can be made by hand, that the time
will soon come when We shall cease 10 i'm.
port all but the very cheapest aud common
est sort made, perhaps for chow and sale,
but not for use. Already there is consid-
erable demand for them abroad, notwith.
standing their high price, and we hope the
day may not be far distant when our city
may be able to boast that this manufacture
is carried on in addition TO all tho others in
which we now excel.
The building forms three sides Of a
square. 1t is light, airy, wholesome, aud
beautifully clean and we'll finished in every
one of the twenty FIVE distinct apartments.
Water is on every floor, and in almost every
room, for drinking and las well as fifty fire
extinguishers) as prccaution against fire.
The building is heated by steam, and in all
its appointments nearly perfect.
All those employed exhibited degree OF
neatness, respectability, aud refinement
such as is scarcely TO be found elsewhere
The main-springs are, we believe, mainly
bought in Philadelphia, and the wire for the
hair springs is brought on the reel from Eu-
rope; but, except these, everything, includ.
ing the finest steel tools and machinery, are
made on the premises. One complicated
machine, for cutting ono piece of the hard
steel, works in three distinct ways, and cost
over a thousand dollars, though invented by
one Of the workmen in the establishment
The steel screws used on some parts Of these
watches are 80 fine that to the naked eye,
the thread is invisible. These are some,
times sold separately to watch-makers, 1t
takes three hundred thousand Of them to
make pound, and the iron, which ut first
may have been worth two or three cents, is
thus converted into a value of $4,000. Such
is the value Of skilled manufacture. The
preparation of the jewels for these watches
forms of itself most interesting depart
ment. AT first they used to be imported
from Europe, where they were made by
hand but now they arc all cut, shaped,
polished and drilled in the establishment
ana by machinery, far more exactly and
uniformly than any made elsewhere in the
whole world. The sapphire and beryl arc
used where the hardest and best stones are
required. These are first cut with q wheel
of tin, into which diamond dust has been
forced by the superior hardness of the best
steel. This cuts up the stone as marble is
sawn. Then Clipped round like the old
flint arrow.heads of the Indians, further
revolutions, with the aid of diamond dust
and proper machinery, hollow out a little
cup, and polish the whole, of one uniform,
exact size. To bore with the point of O
diamond the pivot holes, first half way
through on one side, and then from the other
side the other half, till both meet smoothly
in the middle and form microscopic tunnel
through the jewel, in which the pivots may
run smooth and frictionless, is the work
which the delicate fingers of only two or
three of the girls employed in the whole es.
tablishment, guided by the jewellers glass,
can, with all the aid of machinery accom-
plish with sufficient exactness. Even then
the most accurate tests and measures for
every hole are used, and every thousandth
part of an inch is carefully noted against
the number of each watch, in case they