Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-11-15

A VISIT TO TIE GREAT FACTORY AT wALTnAU.
BosroN, Nov. IL, ISIS.

luht was eNSA maui Wy DGllnOu4d5 III
1863, marvellous changes in the manuiac-
ture and the extent of the use of watches
have taken place. 1t has occurred TO me
that it would be Of interest to the reaiers Of
the FREE Press to observe with me the most
interesting parts of the manufacture OF
watches, as now carried on at Waltham-
pleasant town ten miles northwest
of Boston, on the banks of the
beautiful river Charles - which holds
the same relation to the United States,
to-day, that Geneva and Neufchatel held
to Europe, six years ago.
We will stop to take a general view
neither of the large quadrangle Of sunny,
two-story buildings. nor Of the spacious
lawns in front, but will hasten at once to
the department where dials are made, cram
eled and painted. On a bench is a large
number of fat, circular copper plates,
and beside them are plates of white,
glossy material, tnat look like China
ware. Near by is mortar, in
which the white material is ground to the
EXTREMIST fneness, as the Indians used to
grind their corn. With a spatula the copper
plates are covered with layer Of the moist
ened enamel, and, so covered, they are sub
jected to the white heat of furnace In
moment they are removed with hardened
enamel and glossy surface but the surface
IS uneven. To make it smooth it is rubbed
with sandstone, but through this process
it losses its former polish. Again it
is subjected to the white heat of
the furnace, and a smooth surface is
secured. Thus far only the first step has
been taken. 1t still remains to cut circu-
lar hole in the centre, to make circular in
dentatiOn in which the secondhand shall
rotate, and to mark the dial. A hole is
ground through the enamel by means of
emery after which, the surface is coated
with bees-wax and glass tube of the proper
size being set in it, the tube is filed with acid
which eats away the copper. In the same
way the enamel and copper are removed
where the indentstion for the secondhand
Is required and an enanelled piece is cement
ed in at the proper depth. Marking dials is
an art of itself, and, unlike nearly every
other part in the manufacture of en- Ameri-
can watch, it is done solely by hand. llay-
ing ruled the dial with the utmost exactness
by means Of a gauge, the painter dips
camels hair brush into paint composed of
black enamel and lavender oil, and, with
pair of dividers, strikes the circles. Then as
he quietly turns his quasi canvas
first right, then left, with a skilled and
steady hand, unguided by anything except
an accurate eye, he draws and shades the
straight and the curved lines. All these,
even letters microscopic in their proportions,
are drawn with a readiness that Is truly
amazing. On those dials which are black
and have white lettering, the letters are
drawn BY removing the paint while it IS
dial in substantially the same way as black
lettering. The green paint is invariably
burned in as soon as it is applied. 1t IS
thus rendered inefaceable.
The jewel department is, perhaps. the
most interesting of any in the whole factory.
As often as We speak of the jewels of a
watch, however, doubt if half the people
who carry watches know that the sole use of
jewels is. to prevent friction and wear.
suspect, indeed, that not few people think
Jewels are useful chiefly as ornaments
And it is owing to this error that they
expect to find not only ruby, shrysolite,
garnet, and aqua-marine among the Jewels
of watch, but diamond, also; while the
fact is, diamonds are never used for watch
Jewels, but only in making jewels.
1t is in the Office Of the genial manager
of this department that we get our first in
sight into the manufacture of jewels. .'In
that DISH" said he, pointing to a little dish
that he had just taken from the safe, ''are
ten Thousand dollars worth of diamonds"
They are apparently few paltry, dirty
specimens, such as could be picked up in
any mountain brook. They are worthless
for gems, but for drilling and smoothing
they are invaluable. Some are used in solid
form, and Others are ground to dust in
mortar, The diamond dust thus formed is
allowed to settle in olive OIL In fifteen
minutes the first grade is taken from the
bottom, in one hour the second grade. and
the last grade is not taken till five or six
weeks have elapsed. These various grades
of dust are used on drills of various sizes to
drill and to polish the hole through the jewel.
The precious stones, as they came from
Ceylon, are first sawed into slabs, as the
woodman saws the forest logs. 1t was the
old English way to pound them with ham
mer and then grind them fat. Evidently
the new way is far superior to the old in
point of economy. While the jewel is still
in the rough slab, a hole is bored with
I-.1 tbot, -, h., tha tatr ~
after the jewel has been fashioned, the hole
is polished to the utmost smoothness, as the
running of the watch depends, in great
measure, upon perfect smoothness in the
Jewel. Furthermore, the hole must be in the
very centre of the jewel, and its sze must be
exact. To determine its exact diameter,
guages are used which measure to the one
ten-thousandth part of an inch. A record is
KEEP. ofevery jewel that goes from the shop,
SO that, by merely naming the jewel and the
number of the watch. the broken part may
be replaced. A similar record is kept of
every part of every watch that is made.
"How," | asked, as We watched the
intelligent appearing yourg ladies in this de-
partment, ''do you avoid losing large
numbers of these valuable little Jewels
through the dishonesty of employees? The
question was hardly pertinent one, con-
sidering the appearance of the employees be-
fore US; but, remembering that employees
supposed to be honest sometimes prove dis
honest, it is the custom, he said, to give out
two hundred jewels to each emplOye every
morning, and they are counted when re
turned to the office.
Thus far we have given threadbare
sketch Of the most interesting processes.
dial making, enamelling and painting, and
Jewel making. Let US now hastily glance
at the workmen cutting piniOns and wheels
in countless numbers By machinery, and cut
ting them, too, with nicely that IS far
superior to such work done by hand. An
other glance at the way in which hair
springs and main springs are made, and we
are brought into u wstchmaker's mammoth
shop where are to be found thousands OF
watches of all values, from seven to two
hundred and fifty dollars. The silver cases
for the cheaper watches are made here from
) 900 per month In the department where
they are made silver shaSingS lay scattered
on the floor like so much DIRT but, never
theless, scarcely a particle is wasted, even
the water in which the employees wash their
hands being saved. All the gold cases are
made on Bond street, in New York.
said these watches varied in value from
seven to two hundred and fifty dollars. The
train of a cheap watch is made by the same
kind of machinery and of the same kind Of
as that of costly watch. Some
times, indeed, third-rate watch will keep
As exact time as a frst-rate watch, but the
probabilities are IN favor of the latter. A
better class of workmen is employed on the
most costly watches; all the parts in them
are finished with greater care and they arc
adjusted to the extremes of heat and cold
and to six positions.
The capital of the Waltham Watch Com
pany amounted in 1876 to Sl,S00,0O0. The
Galue of the movements and cases made an
1ually exceeds $4,000, 900. At the present
lime Y50 hands, forty per cent female, are
Employed five days per week, and the
laily product is about $50 movements.
l.. T,rtr