The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-22
A System for Roaming All the Clocks
az n Civ.

1 VI y Nttys
= Recon, invention has made IL posi-.
bic 10 move and regulate the clocks o!
a whole city by means OF compressed
I air furnished from central stations
Householdcrs are thus able TO always
have the exact time. and are saved the
trouble and annoyance OF attending Il
their clocks themse yes. The pnea.
matte clock, therefore. promises 10 be-
come. like the telephone and the iele.
graph. of great public use. and an i'm
| portant addition 10 the conveniences oil
modern life
At the Paris Exhibition Of 1878 a very
ingenious contriyance for the pneu-
matte distribution OF time attracted
much attention. The inventors, Messrs-
{, Copp and Resch. had previously cSPer-
imen,ed with their clocks in Vienna
but they had not then perfected their
arrangements for moving and regulat-
ing them. When they applied 10 the
city authorities for the privilege OF
distributing time as a monopoly for
fifty years, they were. therefore. unable
10 get the concession. Since that day,
however. they have so improved their
system. and the exact time furnished
by them has become so useful TO the
public, that the municipality are now
willing to grant them what they for
merry asked for, and they have under
taken to do the work on a large scale in
Vienna
In Paris, too, since 1878. . large num-
Der If h~ouseholders have had the time
transmitted [ O their residences by the
pneumatic process, and numerous pneu-
matte clocks have been put up in the
streets. At first pipes through which
the compressed air cOukt be sent were
laid down in the sewers of the first,
second and ninth ACCOMPLISHMENTS Of
the city. There was, however. no dis
tributiOn of time TO private residences.
Soon. however, a company. known as
the Compagnie GeNeraie des Hovloges
Pnc4mahgues, was authorized TO per-
form this service. and a year ago last
March it was ready to begin the work.
Six miles of pipes had been laid down.
and four clocks, which received the
pneumatic time from the central works,
were fixed on lamps on the ~boulevards.
These public clocks came to be of gre It
use. iutII iiHC was ai"dbS tolINCt,
and people got into the habit of regu-
iating their watches by them. Suisse
quently the system was further extend
ed, and now there are sixteen miles of
pipes laid down in the sewers, and
1000 pneumatic clocks in 500 houses
are connected with the central works
and are receiving the time from them.
The number of public clocks in the
streets has also been increased to four
teen, with thirty-three dials.
The 81 stem has worked so well and
has proved of so great public conven-
fence that of late. we are told, the pat
entees have obtained q concession from
the Project OF the Seine which will en-
able them to vastly extend their ar
rangements for distributing the time.
Their plan is to lay down pipes through
which they can send compressed air
which will actuate all the clocks of
Paris, ii necessary. @
This is the way in which the time is
sent: At the central works there is a
great clock, which controls the whole
system. 1t is a pendulum clock of re-
markable precision and perfection of
mechanism. To it is connected a Pc
culiar contrivance. by means of which a
valve is opened and shut every minute.
! When the valve is opened compressed
air furnished by steam engines working
air-cOmpressing machines is admitted
into the system of pipes, and all the
clocks connected with it are actuatcd
at the same time. The opening takes
place at the sixtieth second of each
minute, and the air flows for twenty
seconds. when the valve is closed. This
space of time allowed is the result of
experience, and may be varied accord
ing to the distances through which the
compressed air has to travel.
Ii is not necessary for us to describe
the machinery in detail; o shall we
attempt to explain the mechanism of
the clocks worked by the pneumatic
system. 1t is enough to say that as the
central clock moves SO move all those
connected with it. In this way exact
and uniform time is furnished. and
when the Pneumatic Company take ad-
vantage of their concession, which gives
them a monopoly of laying pipes for
fifty years, it will be supplied through.
out Paris. The cost, too, is so small
that the people generally will be able
to have it. Thus. the charge for a sin
| gle clock is only n cent "A day, and il
there are more in a house the price for
each is much reduced. This price.
however. includes laying the pipes and
supplyingt the clock, OF. if desired. fitting
works to existing clocks. Since the
pneumatic system ave the household
er from all care about his clocks and
all expense for their repair it will be
seen that the cost is at least no greater
than that OF maintaining the old time
pieces. Bysit, too, he can always be
sure that he has the correct time.
The pneumatic clock, therefore. is a
great gain. and is likely to be intro
duced into many cities. We are tod
that not only Paris and Vienna, but also
St. Petersburg and Madrid and two
large towns in France, are Don to have
time distributed by the system, and
that it is t. be introduced into England.
IN. Y. Sun.