, 1879-09-18
Clock Making IN the Black Forest

The peasantry of the southern portion
of the Black Forest, of Alemdnnic race,
have, from time immemorial, been
known as clever and ingenious hand
workers, both in wood and metal; bnt
during the last two hundred years they
have originated and developed an indus
try which has become world famous.
For to them belongs the honor, both of
inventing, and, to great extent, of
supplying the world with clocks. Who
the first clock maker OF the forest was
we do not know, nor whether he has
ever reaped the reward Of his ingenuity.
His name has not come in story, but we
can well imagine him; the square built,
dark skinned peasant, with long black
hair hanging over his shoulders, and
deep, solemn meditative eyes; seated in
his little wooden cabin beside the great
earthenware stove, all through the long
Winter days, when the snow is piled
many feet high round his cottage world;
puzzling out the great problem, which
through such long hours of patient toll
and ever deferred hope he has almost
but not quite solved-the problems of
the weights and wheels. We can we'll
fancy that earliest clock maker to have
had as romantic and thrilling story as
had Palissy the enameler; and in truth
the results of the Black Forest genius
have been far greater and infinitely of
more Importance to the world than
those of the French potter have been.
But the biography of the clock maker
is unwritten. One of the very earliest
if not the first Black Forest clock is
exhibited in the British Museum in
Furtwangen. 1t is 2ll years old. 1t
only shows the hours, and has to be
wound twice in twenty-four hours, Its
works consist OF three wheels, regulated
by balance, to which string with
great stone as weight is attached. An
improvement was very quickly made
upon this simple mechanism. The pen
dulum was introduced about the year
l740, the application of the pendulum to
the movement of the clock having, It
is. believed, been first suggested by
Calico Striking clocks were in
vented also about the middle of the
eighteenth century. These at first had
to be wound every "a hours. Eight
day clocks were not manufactured until
some 40 years later. in the year 1850
a great spur was given to the industry,
which it was found had begun to de-
cline, by the establishment of clock
making school at Furtwangen. Former.
ly, and until within the last 10 years,
every portion Of the works of these
Black Forest clocks was made by hand,
and each workman began and finished
his own clock in his own COTTAGE being
assisted in his labor by the different
members Of his family. Now, this hand
and individual labo, is to great extent
done away with, being supplemented by
large establishments, where 100 or more
men are engaged, in which machinery is
employed, and the labor is subdivided
into at least dozen processes The
men work twelve hours, are paid from a
shilling to half crown day, and
women are employed as polishers Of the
cases. The old hand-labor system is
maintained only in few remote villages,
and in the inferior kinds of clocks
Since the introduction of machinery the
Black Forest clocks have been, it is said,
not only cheaper but more accurate, al
though it is certain that some Of the old
wooden clocks made 100 years ago, are
still in use, having withstood the vari-
GUS changes of temperature and the
wear and tear Of century with scarcely
any diminution of their powers. In the
ninety-two parishes which form what is
called the clock country are over l, 400
master clock-makers, who employ some
5000 workmen. Altogether, about A.
600 people, including women and chill
dren, are occupied by this one industry.
The number of clocks manufactured
yearly in this district is calculated at
two millions, valued roughly at one mil
lion sterling. The Black Forest by L.
G. Seguin. ,..