Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-11-10
What Time is Ii.
By AMANDA T. JONES.

bl AMANDA SON1Ss
A few years ago went with a party of
merry friends to spend several days at a
beautiful place in the country, where We
expected to see flowers and fountains. riv-
ers. forests. lakes and the most wonderful
bridge in the world, called Portage Bridge.
1t was late when we arrived, and there
was nothing to be seen that night; but the
next morning-awakened by the roaring
waterfall Just before the house-I crept
down stairs, thinking would take walk
before breakfast. Some one had risen be-
fore me, for the front door was set open
and the wind was blowing through the
hall, bringing in the swinging branches of
a climbing rose, set thick with flowers.
There was just one red ray darting from
the east to kiss the sweetest bud of them
all; only one ray, it was so early.
clark what was that2 There was q
rustic in one corner of the hall, near the
ceiling; some bird has been sleeping there
all night I thought, and looked up expect
ing he would fly out and hurry gway for
his breakfast.
What happened then? A little door open.
ed rnd the bird flew out, but did not fiy
away. He nodded his pretty head toward
me and sang Cuckoo" five times, to let
me know it was five o'clock and then dart
ed back and the door shut, for he had said
all he had to say that time.
'I bought that clock in Switzerland"
said gentleman who came into the hall
momentafter; ''and although have bought
a great many curiosities In my travels over
the world, / have nothing that 1 prize so
much; it is so pleasant to have each hour
begin and end with q song"
Pleasant indeed But although my
frr0 fa rroa q frao ocr1rn fhar
clocks in the world much more wonderful.
The most wonderful of all is at Strasburgh
cathedral in France.
When it is time for the hour to be struck,
a figure. with wings. to look like an angel,
opens door, makes low bow to the inn
age of Mary (the mother OF Christi and
strikes the right number of times upon a
bell. Another angel stands holding an
hour glass which be turns as soon as the
first has finished striking. A golden cock
flaps its wing and crows twice. A bell is
struck once at each quarter of the hour;
first by child with an apple, then by a
youth with an arrow, then by man with
a staff, and last By an old man with a
crutch. There are several other curious
things besides these, SO that this clock is
really one of the wonders of the world.
But what did people use, before clocks
were invented, in order to tell the time of
day? and how was it, that, out of all their
many contrivances for that purpose, there
came at last to be a real figured, wheeled,
ticking, cuckoo-singing time-piece. such as
my friend had found in Switzerland?
The earliest Southern nations began to
mark time with a sun-dial; not the flower
of that name, but an instrument consisting
of two parts; plate of metal called
qnome1a, which was set on edge IN such a
manner as to point exactly north and south;
and another plate, called dial, set 81 that
the shadow of the gnomen would always
fall npon it on one side or the ot1er ex-
cept at exactly noon. The dial had marks
for hours, half-hours, ETC., and when the
shadow touched certain mark, its number
would tell the hour.
That did very well for beginning. Still
there would be times when the SUD did not
shine all day long. Quite lately-only o
thousand years ago-Alfred the Great, q
good and wise king of the Ssxons, in Eng
and, invented curious plan of telling the
time by night as well as by day. He made
wax candles twelve inches-long, marked at
equal distances, and six of these
candles would burn twenty-four hours.
To be sure the winds would sometimes
whirl in and put them out, so he made
cases for them of thin white horn; that is
the way lanterns came to be made.
There was q way of telling time several
thousand years ago, by putting water In
something that had q hole in the bottom
When it had all slid through, it was called
the end of the hour; not very correct
measure you may guess.
You may have seen hour glasses; they
are so made that small quantity of sand
I'll .I,~> l,f<la frrho from. opa
glass to another. When the sand has all
run out of the upper glass, an hour has
passed, and you turn the curious clock
upside down to set the sand running
again.
think the first time wheels were usod
in making clocks, they were turned by lit
tie streams of water. About seven hum
dred years ago, wei yhts began to be used,
that by sinking very slowly, turned the
wheels.
In those DAYS clock was thing to be
taken care of Only four hundred and
fifty years ago, King Henry vi of England,
selected trusty man to take care Of the
courthouse cloca, and paid him what
would be, in our currency, twenty-five
cents day for so doing.
It is but little over two hundred years
since q man in London, named Richard
Harris, invented a clock with pendulum,
and soon after watches were made. Not
until that time had the clocks told anything
but the hour the minutes and seconds
had to take care of themselves.
| So you see that there have been sun
clocks, water clocks, candle clocks, sand
clocks, wheel clocks and pendulum clocks;
and have heard OF many others that were
very strangely made; one in particular.
that was kept running by a mouse; SO that
was q mouse clock. But the pretties clocks