The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-10-23
A WONDERFUL CLOCK.
The Curious Machine that am Altoona
Man mas been working on for Seven-
teen Years,

The Curious Machine that am Altoona
Man ms been working on for seven-
teen Years.
For the past seventeen years a gentle
man of this city has been engaged in the
construction of curious clock which he
expects to have completed by the first of
January next. A representative of the
Call accidentally came across it the other
day and was kindly given the following
description of IL by the inventor who ex-
acted u promise that his name should
not be given to the public at the present
time:
II consists OF sixty-fve automatic fig
urcs and workmen. The base represents
u hill of stone upon which is II large
structure. To the left is beer garden
with beer on draught which one figure
occasionally draws and passes to another
near by.
Two more figures, lady and gentle
man, are seated beneath tree in the at
titudc of lovers. The lady is reading and
Mt intervals turns her head toward her
companion us if for his approval.
The next representation is of an old
fashioned lnseed-oil mill. Here are
workmen engaged in the various parts of
the business One carries large vessel
and empties it into the horpers to be
pressed by the stampers On the outside
is carpenter, hatchet in hand, who as :
cends a ladder in perfectly natural
manner, stopping when half way up, as
if to look over the mill to see that all is
right.
Adjoining this is blacksmith shop,
in the background of which are work
men heating iron, who change the piece
after allowing ii to heat. A man is also
engaged IN shoeing Il horse and strikes
his first blows gently he gradually in
calculated to drive the nail home. An
other is at the anvil and occasionally
rests when his wife brings him some re-
freshments.
A fountain plays near by and in a
small summer house where professor is
reading and when he becomes excited
over some passage, raises his hand and
brings it down upon the page in an ex-
cited and emphatic manner. Below is a
workman engaged in splitting stone. He
strikes repeated blows upon wedge
until the stone cracks, falls away, and
then replaces itself Above the black
smith shop is saw mill where q log is
being sawed. When the end is reached
the boards are taken away and the tlume
replaced.
Still above this is n shoe factory where
a half dozen men and women are engaged
in the different duties requisite for the
manufacture of shoes. One is waxing,
another cutting out, another pegging,
another sewing and still another bevel-
ing.
Over the linseed mill is the gristmill
In front is a miller dressing stone an
other comes out of the room and empties
Il large vessel into the hopper. AS the
| Hour is ground and the bags accumulate
a man carries them away. A large ele-
vator bucket carries up the wheat and
dumps it into bin, making but one as
cent to the before mentioned mans two
To the left is dwelling house, in the
kitchen a servant is at work, who passes
about inside and out to attend to her du.
ties. Upon the top is the residence oI
the owner of the respective mills. Here
visitors occasionally call, with whom the
mistress shakes hands and talks about
her neighbors. The clock proper crown.
the structure. 1t is in all about five fee
in length and four feet high. Each fgur,
has different motion, and some have
two motions, requiring very compile,
machinery to run the whole. Two
buckets of water furnish an unendine
supply OF power, as it is used over anC
over again. The saw and grist mill ar
run by this water falling on an oversize
wheel. Thence the water falls on anothe
wheel which runs the linseed mill. Th
water and all is kept in motion by al
eighty-nine and one-half lound weight
1t is truly a work of art, and over seven
teen years were occupied in its construC
tion.-AUOOnG (Pd,O Call.