Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-11-03
HOW TO TREAT A WA TCH.

Having obtained really servicea-
BILE article you should, in order TO pro-
duce satisfactory results, follow out
these rules: Wind up your watch
every day at the same hour. This is
generally done at the hour we retire to
rest, or perhaps better still the hour we
rise Avoid putting watch on a
marble slab or near anything eXces-
sively cold. The sudden transition
from heat to cold contracting the metal
may sometimes cause tie main spring
to break. Indeed, the cold coagulates
the oil, and the wheel work and pivots
working less freely affect the regularity
of the time keeper When we lay our
watch aside we ought to slope it on
watch-case, so as to keep it nearly in
the snme position as it has in the pock-
ct. In laying aside your watch be
sure that it rests on its case, as by sus-
pending it free the action of the balance
may cause oscillation, which may con-
siderably interfere with its going If
you would keep your watch clean you
must be quite sure that the case hts
firmly, and never put it into any pock-
ct but one made of leather. Those
pockets which are lined with cloth,
cotton or calico give, by the constant
friction, certain quantity OF huff
which enters most watches, even those
the cases of which shut firmly. If the
watch is not "keyless" one, the key
should be small, in order that we may
feel the resistance of the stop-work;
then we can stop in time without fore
ing anything. 1t is also necessary
that the square of the key should cor
respond with that of the watch. If it
be too large. it may in short time
cause the wind-up square to suffer
from under wear and tear; the rectlfy-
ing of which is rather expensive. The
hands of an ordinary watch can be
turned backward without much risk.
1t is, however, always better to move
the hands forward to adjust your
watch to correct time.
A skillful matchmaker one day thus
reasoned with a customer who COM
planned of his watch: You complain
ed" said he, "that your watch gains
minute month Well, then, you
will congratulate yourself when you
have heard me. You are aware that
in your watch the balance, which is
the regulator, makes five oscillations
every second, which is four hundred
and thirty-two thousasd a day; so
that your watch, exposed to all the
vicissisudes which heat and cold occa-
sion it, the varying weight OF the air
and the shaking to which it is subject
ed, has not varied more than minute
month or two seconds day
1t is only acquired with each vibration
of the balance a variation OF the two
hundred and sixteen thousandth part OF
second. Judge, then, what must be
the extreme perfection of the mechan-
ism of this watchW
A watch cannot go for an indefinite
period without being repaired or
cleaned At the expiration Of a certain
time the oil dries up, dust accumulates
and wear and tear are inevitable re-
suits to the whole machinery, the func-
tions becoming irregular and frequent
ly ceasing to act altogether. A person
possessing watch of good quality and
desirous of preserving i. as such
should have it cleaned every two years
at least. But care should be taken to
confdc this cleaning or repairing to
careful hands; an incapable workman
may do great injury to watch even
of the simplest construction.