The Russellville Democrat., 1882-02-09
4 MINERS INGENUITY.
noudios 1yonderrfai clook shh i,oor
Tools ip n Coal Mine.

-'NN tEh T Attd+ IT
 u,slIaaicai marvel, tlie product Of 14eat4r-' patienttou on the. part of an uRltfcred miner, who made it in his Q" ra h,urs' in the Hallenback Colliery ;. Wlikcsbare, 2 uO0 feet below the sur. lase Of the earth has just been complet- cl in the srgpe of Q clock, by James MGGtynu. It is built on the plan of the eastfenDmical elockn recently exhibited in this country, but is much more com uiitatcd in most of its parts, and derives au added interest from the manuer of it's c9nstruction Nine years ago MeGlynn. hayu. had much spare time on his hands, thought he could turn it to agrees able ac3ountby depoting his attention to wood carving. He had no tools, and to the construction of these he first de- voted his attention. He built an engine ty propel lathe, and from such scraps oIold materials as he found lying loose around the colliery. put Lis lathe togeth- CT, and commenced fdshioning bits of wood into whatever forms his fancy sug geSted. Then he conceived the idea of making q clockmpen an elaborate scale, and went to work with the devotion oI an enthusiast, untiha' the-end of nearly a decade hs @ias produced a piece of mechanism hat is certainly wonderful to contemplate considering the condi- tious under whic it was made. ffft tf f
 The clock stands about nine feet high, and is incsssd in a eiaborately carved ease of black walnut, consisting of 406 pieces of perfect finish. Fac Of the pieces was turned in the mine by the euthusi 3stic miner with atool that would make cabinet maker spIi le, being noth- ing less than q broken saw file But the workmanship is perfect, and the sym lnetry of the several parts would do credit to the best wood carver in the country. "How8 did T make my meas urcments2" said McGlynn, in reply to the inquiry of the Times correspondent. with string.pvOh, laae yesr ruhs nostof materials. If enething dosefl't do take another. 1 have built miniature engine in the Hallenback mine, owned by MT Parrish, weighing only l54 ounces, and they say it is perfect. I used d quarter dollar piece for a circular crank" It really seems incredible that with such tools as he exhibits, and in such dreary surroundings the depths of the mine afford, anything like clock could be con- strueted, but there are plentyof witnesses among MeGlynn's fellow workmen to corroborate his story, and there is the
 
 some difficulty in the matter of holding his lamp while he worked. It did not show as good light anywhere as when carried in his hat the way. miners usual ly carry their lamps in the mine, but the flame burned the front of his hat away and made 1t rather uncomfortable. Then he made him tin helmet, with place to hold the lamp seeurel V, and after that he had no trouble with Uhis light. In addition to the 400 turned pieces. in black walnut which comprise the frame work of the clock, it has sixtY-three moving figures, actuated by machinery, so deftly arranged as tD produce interest ing historical and biblical scenes. It is the intention of the miner-mechanic to make the number of figures hundred as soon as his means, which are rather limited, shall afford such an additional outlay. ~t E.s est
 The front of the clock shows three balconies, rising above a massive and el- egantly carved peieStal, and upon these the moving figures appear. The lower balcony shows a recession of continent a! soldiers, headed bya mounted general and marching past, while the old liberty bell proelaims it's welcome notes of freedoni A sentinel salutes the conti nentaEs as they pass, and just at the mo ment a door is opened from an upper balcony and reveals Molly Pitcher with her cannon, which she fires with start ling and realistic effect. To show how we'll the maker of the clock has eonsid- cred the details of his handiwork he has placed a small revolving fan in the clock, to be actuated after the firing of Molly's cannon, for the purpose of clear . ous with thistth portraits of the twenty presidents of the United States pass in panoramic review on balcony just above the patriotic tableau, of which Molly Pitcher is the central figure and Thomas Jefferson holds up the Declara- ton of independence. The apostolic procession IS similar to those hitherto seen in such clocks. The twelve apos- ties fife past, satan appears, and the cock crows in warning to Peter. A fig ure of justice raises her scales as the form of Christ appears, and during the scene a large representation of death tells of the minutes upon bell When one sees the clock, the tools with which 1t was made, and hears the miners story of how he bought the wood for it bit by bit as he could afford from his spare change, he is sensibly impressed with human possibilities Sometimes, saws Mcjilynn, "I could not bny more than 2j cents worth of wood at a time but l was never idle" He was working at the clock five long years in achamber of the mine before anybody knew his secret. Then he was taken sick, and, during his rawlings, talked continually of his plans. The doctor hha9y asre rtained from him what it was that worried him, and made him promise notto work atit for q year; but as soon as he was able To go to tue mine he was at his clock once more, and toiled patiently along until he had it in a hapc t1show his friends. The figures uscl in the biblical and historical illus. tratious were cast by him in molds of his own design, and there is very little iu the entire clock that did not come from his hands Now tbat it is finished he scarcely knows what to do with it. He has been offered 5 900 for it, but lie hrsltates to sell as if he did he would have to drift back to his ola place in the lla.ienbatlC mihn and probably begin building snother .H
 1ef appo's t.nent of Gen. Gourko 2 ten, pofafy Governor 'nuersl of odessa has beer gazetted.