Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-09-01
SOME FAMOUS CLOCKS.

Cludpc tuCIc arc SOluc VI lily uttic
readers who are, at this very moment,
anxiously watching the clock in the dim
ing-room or hall for some happy mo-
ment to arrive. Have they ever thought
how singular a thing is the measure
ment of time, or ever wondered about
the first inventors OF the artp
Perhaps none of them could tell the
time of day by the shadow of tree or
house, yet just in that way was the sun
dial invented.
The first on record belonged to King
Ahaz, who lived about 742 years b. G.
Hour glasses and water-clocks-or Clep-
sydras, as they are called-were also
invented about this time, and of course
you know how King Alfred measured
magne's clock, which was the first
striking clock on record.
1t was sent to him by q King of
Persia, and is thus described by an
Abbot who saw it:
The dial was composed of twelve
doors which represented the hours,
each opening at the hour it represent
ed, when out came the same number of
little balls. which fell, one by one, on a
brass drum. AT twelve o'clock, twelve
round the dial, shut all the doors.
Some of you have been to St. Paul's
Cathedral, in London, and most of you
have seen pictures of it. Well, the first
wheel-clocl in England was set up in
this famous cathedral in the year 1886.
1t was made by a horologer called
Hatholumme, who received loaf of
bread and a bottle of beer each day for
l. -, -
after this, it was improved by q man
called Walters, and King Edward the
Third ordered q new dial to be made,
with two angels pointing to the hours
of both day and night.
How the clock Jared for four hun
dred years we scarcely know, but the
fire in 1866, and the present building,
with its magnificent clock, was finished
in 171O. The clock is remarkable for
fneness of its works. 1t has two dials,
hour numerals are little over two feet
in height. The minute hands are eight
and nine feet long, and weigh seventy
five pounds each. The hour-hands are
five and six feet long, and weigh forty
four pounds each. The pendulum is
sixteen feet long, and its bob weighs
one hundred and eighty pounds. It
needs winding every eight days. and
strikes the hour on great bell, which
bears the following inscriptions:
"RICHARD PHILIPS MADE ME, I7l8."
The clapper of this bell weighs one
hundred and eighty-four pounds, and it
can be heard at a distance of twenty
two miles, on a clear day.
Once, during William and Mary's
reign, a soldier, called Hatfield, who |
was on duty upon Windsor Terrace, fell |
asleep, but he managed to escape pun
ishment by positively avering that he |
had heard the clock of St. Paul's strike |
thirteen at the very time when it was |
said he was slumbering. This was
doubted by the court, on account of |
the great distance between Windsor
and ST. Paurs; but, while he was I'M
der sentence of death. several persons |
swore that the clock did strike thirteen |
instead of twelve, which evidence his |
Majesty King William accepted. and |
granted him pardon, and he lived TO
be one hundred and two years old.
The bell which Hatfield heard was
the ''Great Tom" of Westminster, which |
was granted TO st. Paurs in 1898, and
is never used now except on the death |
of one of the Royal family, the Bishop
of London or the Lord Mayor. a.t
The hours of St Paul's clock were |
struck before 1884 by two figures, which
were called "Paurs Jacks" and from !
which comes the expression, His Jock |
O. the Clock" meaning servant of |
yours or anybody's time. s,l
The first clock in Westminster was
paid for from fine imposed upon the !