The Osceola times., 1882-02-18
A MINERS INGENUITY.
Bui lding "A Wondel ful Clock with Poor
Tools In Coal Mine.
New York Times


A mechanical marvel, the product Of
nine years patient toll on the part of an
unlet,ered miner, who m de 10 in his
'sparc hours in the El'lenback Co'iery
mt WIlk, share, . coo feet below the sur
face of the earth, has just been clmplet-
ed in the srape Of q clock, by James
MCGlynn. IL is built on the plan Of the
Astronomical clock recently exhibited
in this country, bat is much more COM
piicated i'm most of its parts, and derives
an added interest from The man er Of its
construction. Nine years ago McGlynn.
having had mush spare time on ms
hands, thought he cOuldturn it % agraa-
able account by dcyotinl his attention
10 wood carving. lie had uo tools. and
10 the construction OF these he first de-
voted his attention. He bui.tan engine
TO propel lathe, and from such scraps
ofold materials az he found living loose
around the c1lliery, put his lathe tJge'h-
Cr, and commenced H,hj0niug hits Of
wood into hateyer forms his fancy slg
gestsd. Then hc conceived the idea of
making p clock upon an elaborate scale.
aud went 90 work with the devotion Of
an en- .husi, t, until ot the end Of D. ariy
a decade Joe has pf,dru.d a piece Of
mechanism that is certainly wonderful
10 contemplate considering the ,auli-
tians uule- whic itw made.
The clock s1ud. about nine nt D. .h,
and is n ssl In an eIaborstely cav a
c Sc of black w. Uut, consisting of 3.b
pieces OF pnritt. iu sh. Each OF She
pe.ss wa tanned Iu the mine boy the
enthusiastic miner W.I4ut11. t.s. #.Ii
make q clbinep maker smile bsns u0tl-
ing less than broken saw lie Bat the
workmanship l. perfect ANA the aem-
meuy Of the sav4rl paris vHr'd do
credit 90 thc best wood Calver iu the
country. clio. olI / make my meas
urcmeu % ,I8.yun. iu reply .o
The inquiry of the Times cortc. .u5u,out
with stlUg Oh. urvgru arr-. uf
materials. |. one tuial j1seut DO j {. ke
another. | h We built miuitf"-e engine
in the H2llcuhJ * m.u,, owned b. Mr.
Parish, weighing only b! ourros, and
thcN y 70 ls perfect, used q gr.l.g.
dollar Tt.u fr 90 u.r.Hlar c,guy.
really seems incredible that with 81. ia
too "a, le exhibits aud pro surh 6.EaJy
surround iae 'elth- 1i the mine
aGo =. .usIiug l.iH ,..,. could ne cone
strdcc1. Jat ,Agiv.on onI'uirof N.tHe gs
among Met 'yu.a ..4Irv ND rWou 20
tr-I.@--tv MS story, lL. lh.Ye IS the
clock lt,.f A A.t D.. exp. s..cd
some difficulty Il the matte. % holding
his lamp hike hg worked !. tii not
show as good llgIt yu.Waere gs when
o'frci lu h's AaJ Tire way miners usuai-
Us carr. t.yir lam Is iu the mine. huf Tie
ilna bI ned the front OF his bat Cd yav
aud made /. rather JUueouiur.g0,e. Then
he made IA ga helmet, with pare
10 hold the lamp sy,Ire. > and l.Ier Ina
he h1d a. 10.u.. with Dol i.ht ln
addition &, tie 900 turned pieces .1
black Wa lt which cJmpr -e tln fIamc
work of the clock. it has siN'r-t.rce
moylr- ii aciua'ed D mac 'u,.,.
50 de ~ Hyran ,ed a3 - pro .Iec 'u'ere,.-
ing historical ald bhleG -u .. II
the iu.en on OF the m'ner-me ia c to
make the number oI imreS o h.nlred
as soon as his means, which ..- rather
lim' od, shall a.ipd Ich an dIluonaI
oHt' ~.
Tn. rom. of I1. clock shows lree
b..e uI niu.gu1. massive auH el-
e.. .y lr. p.I. .a| gni upon 'ue-a
thn mF.lu. tgu.. .nne.r The lower
ba O.. y .UuN. ...uc -.uH U, goutIHtut
a sold .r., h-gugi .. mounted r.ucrI
and DAD I'N.Ug ul-l. while 90. U.U liberty
bell pro .aiW- II N..Urmc notes uf
freedom. a sentinel aan.e- ..g routi-
nent8l- a- .ley HH-. .ud lusD the mo-
men, a door l| opened .rum .u upper
balcony and reveals Molly P.. L.r with
her cannon. vhI,l She trr- VI.h start
ling and realistic effect. To show how
well the maker %. tine ylu,k I.s con. ld-
ere the details of h.s handiW1rE hc has
placed q small revolving ian in lue
clock, 10 be g.'r.fua after ilu 'rIg of
NOIly's cannon, tJU tine purpose OF clear
in- ont the powder smoke. SImHltrue.
o1s with this the portraits Of the tVyu.y
presidents of the United States pa a.1 in
panoramic review on a ba 'cony l'-t
above the patriotic tghleau. Of which
Molly Pitcher Is the celtru Ggurn, and
Thomas jefferson holds zip the DeI1rt-
tiou Of ludcUeudeucc The apostolic
procession ls similar TO those hit grtO
seen ia such clocks. The twelve apus
ties iite past satan appears, and the
cock vtows I'm warning 90 Peter. \ liz
ure Of Justice raises her scales n the
form Of Christ appears, and during the
scene a la-ge representation of death
tells off the minutes upon bell. When
one sees the clock, the tools with which
it was made, aud hears the miners story
Of how he bought the wood for it bit boy
bit as he could afford from his spare
change, he is sensibly impressed with
human possibilities Sometimes SAYS
McGlynn, u could not buy more than
25 cents worth Of wood at a time, but |
was never idle" He was worhlnga the
clock five long years in a chamber Of the
mine before ANYBODY knew his sn.~e'.
Then he was taken s.ck. and du -g his
r-yi.E-, g. lked continual Of his pans.
= C0-tor finally Ia erta ned HJm him
vrt IL " that wOrr ed him, and made
him promise not to work at it for year,
but a. soon as he was able to 90 TO the
mine he was az his clock oune more, and
toiled patiently along until he had il in
a shape 10 show his friends TIE tiglres
used in the biblical and historical Illus
tratiors were east by him in moils OF.
his own design, and there is very little
In the entire clock that did not come
from his hands. Now that It Is finished
he scarcely knows what to do with it.
He has been offered 5 900 for it, bnt he
hesitate3 70 sell. a. if ne did he would
have to dTiit Back TO his old place in the
H.llenback mine and probably begin
building another.
THE appointment of Gen. Gourko .. teu
porery Governor General Of odessa has beer