Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-03-30

Sir, you should wear IN opsnTAcs:u
watch il you desire to be accurate IN
yoar time, !" said Matchmaker 90 Chest
nut street TO the stout man; you are
"Why. what the dence has the case
got to do with itT' was the inter1o3aiive
reply; -v.h;no yoor watch has a hunt
inc case, necessitst:ng steel springs for
openinQ and shutting. By constant as
eociation with your body those springs
become rnaqnefized. and they generate
their condition to othsr necs ssarIly steel
portions Of the watch works. and thus
render their NOV sments imperfect.
"Thep. il | wers no. fss, my watch
vould not iosc two minutes, more OF Less,
q day.n said tue puzzled stout Liam.
Exactly," returned the Matchmaker.
81 have worn yoar watch for over week.
and il has neither gained nor lost doz.
en- seconds; but then am, from a cor
porai point Of view, ,our antithesis. ]
am exceptionally thin and slender
The stout man unused.
. Accordingly" said he, open faced
tickers for fat lncn, closed clses for thin,
eh?'' .
mot at ALL replied the other. Thin
mer, have at times more magnetism IN
thar systems than fat men. Everybody
ia more or less magnetic; you happen to
be particularly so; | happen TO bs quite
the reverse; hence ing remarks and ad-
vice. FOR the rest. open-facod watches
are always more accurate than hunters.
They are moro air-tig.t, for one thing.
Az for the steel springs in hunting cases,
mechanical science has not yet disc1v-
cred anything else To replace them. The
uublic like double cases, and there the
matter remains for the present. There
are. however, many iil-coEtriyed parts
in watches; and, while the demand con-
tinues Tor watches OF q certain price, II
In impossible, from a commercial point
az view, to think OF improvements.
Long used methods aud Ingenious en-
Qines have boon specially provided TO
fashion and cut out every one OF the MI
mute parts which go to compose the ex-
isting instrument. Every watch consists
of over 200 pieces, employing over 30
persons, distributed among forty trades,
70 say nothing Of tbs tool-makers for
the artisaus. II the construction Of the
watch were materially altered, all the
trades would have to be relearned, new
tools aud wheel-cuttiug engines would
have TO be devised. and the majority of
working watchmakers would become
useless. The consequences would be that
the watch would become enormously en-
HANGED in value, and its possession a
token Of wealth. You see, in your COM
plicated state Of society, even machines
In tho process Of time come to surround
themselves with q circle Of vested inter-
osts which embarra3s attempts ut i'm
prOvoment.
"You are interesting me-" remarked
the stout customer. a. be replaced his
watch In his pocket. You have been
many years, suppose, In the business.
OF cnurae there must have been some
improvement in your timer
"Of course. Watches during the past
ton years have grown much in thickness.
Old. fashioned watches are thin and fat.
have had a watch in my charge AZ thin
A. trade dollar. 1t IL impossible TO
properly adjust the works for heat, cold
and position under such circumstances
should have to give you long explain
alton Of the packing mechanism to ex-
plain to you why"
Well, has tho increased thickness
raised the value?'
Ne. Tn the contrary, watches are
now worth % per cent. less than they
were twelve years ago. That fact, you
will say, bears against my previous re-
marks. am referring to the cheaper
grades Of watches worn by the majority
Of people. There arc watches which
bring 41500 and watches which can be
purchased - Hl8 dozen. II you are
willing I costly work. almost
ny gsaD i. he'd;
6to60 81 ring not much larger
than pea. Il had only second hands.
= was perfectly accurate, and was used
BY the doctor 10 time the pulse Of his
patients. That cost 500. Watches are
made from the sizo of ten cent piece
10 half dollar. and worn AS trinksts by
ladies'. They are also fixed in bracelets,
brooches, tops of watches. eyeglasses,
and even umbrella haudles; but they ara
very luxurious toys"
The stout man paid his bill and went
home.
---------------