Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-30
ESTABLISHED 1850.
HUMAN POSSIBILITIES.
The Marvellous Piece of Work of an
Unlettered Man of PennsylVania.

James McGlynn, an unlettered man in
the Hollenbeck colliery at Wilkesbarre.
has just completed, 1900 feet under the
earth's surface, wonderful piece of
mechanism clock. Other marvellous
clocks have been made, but none as this
one was made. McGlynn began nine
years ago to practice wood carving in
his spare moments He had no tools,
and to the construction of these he first
devoted his attention. He built an engine
to propel a lathe, and from such scraps
of old materials as he found lying loose
around the cOlliery, put his lathe to-.
getheT, and commenced fashiOning bits
of wood into whatever forms his fancy
suggested Then he conceived the idea
of making a clock upon an elaborate
scale, and went to work with the devO-
tion of an enthusiast, until at the end of
nearly decade he had produced piece
of mechanism that, says a cOrresp0n-
dent who has inspected it, IS certainly
wonderful to contemplate, considering
the conditions under which it was made.
The clock stands about nine feet high.
and is encased in an elabOrately carved
case of black walnut, consisting OF 406
pieces of perfect finish. Each Of these
pieces was turned in the mine by the en-
thusiastic miner with a tool that would
make cabinet-maker smile, being no.
thing less than broken saw file. But
the workmanship is perfect, and the sym
metry of the several parts would do
credit to the best wood carver in the
country. How did | make nv mea-
surements ?" said McGlynn. with
string. Oh, never run short of mater
ials. If one thing didn't do take an
other" 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 ma
chinery, so deftlY arranged as to produce
interesting historical and biblical scenes.
1t 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.
The front of the clock shows three
balconies, rising above a massive and
elegantly carved pedestal, and upon
these the moving figures appear. The
lower balcony shows a procession of
continental soldiers, headed by a mount
ed General and marching past, while the
old liberty bell proclaims its welcome
notes of freedom. A sentinel salutes
the Continentals as they pass. and just
at the moment door is opened from an
upper balcony and reveals Molly Pitcher
with her cannon, which she fires with
startling and realistic effect. To show
how well the maker of the clock has
considered the details of his naudiwork
he has placed small revolving fan IN
the clock, to be actuated after the firing
of MOlly's cannon, for the purpose of
clearing out the powder smoke Stimuli
taneous with this the 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. Tho apostolic
procession is similar to those hith- rto
seen in such clocks. fhe Twelve Apos-
ties file past, Satan appears, and the cock
crows in warning to Peter A figure of
justice raises her scales as the fory, :.
Christ appears, and durin@ 20 econo
a large representa-: Of death tolls off
Tue nlnu'SS~ u 1pon bell. When one sees
- Clock, the tools with which it was
made, and hears the miners story of
how he bought the wood for ii bit bV bit
as he could afford from his spare change,
he is sensibly impressed with human pos
sibilities.