The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-12-08
How TO Treat a Watch.

Having obtained a really servicea-
BILE article, you should, In order TO
produce satisfactory results, follow
out these rules: Wind up your
watch every day at the same hour.
This Is generally done at the hour we
retire to rest, or perhaps better still,
the hour we rise. Avoid putting q
watch on q marble slab, or near any
thing excessively cold. The sudden
transition from heat to cold contract
ing the metal may sometimes cause
the main spring to break. Indeed,
the cold coagulates the oil, and the
wheel-work and pivots working less
freely affects the regularity of the
time keeper. When we lay our
watch aside, we ought to slope it on
q watch case so as to keep it nearly
in the same position as it has in the
pocket, In laying aside your watch,
be sure that it rests on rhe case, as by
suspending it free, the action OF the
balance may cause oscillation which
may seriously interfere with its going.
If you would keep your watch clean,
YOU must be sure that the case tits
firmly and never put it in'O any
pocket but one made of leather.
Those pockets which are lined with
cloth, cotton " calico give, by the
constant friction, a certain quantity
OF fluff, which enters most watches,
even Ose. the cases of which shut
firmly. If the watch Is not a "key-
lees' one, the key should be small, in
order that we may feel the resistance
of the stop work; then we can stop
in time without forcing anything. 1t
is also necessary that the square of
the KEY should correspond with that
of the watch. If it be too large, it
may in q short time cause the wind
up square to suffer from undue wear
and tear, the rectifying of which is
rather expensive. The hands of an
ordinary watch q be turned back
ward without much risk. 1t is,
however, always better to move the
hands forward to adjust your watch
to correct time. A skillful watch
maker one day thus reasoned with a
customer who complaint of his
watch: "You complain" said he,
that you watch gains a minute a
month. Well then, you will congrat-
ulate yourself when you have heard
me. You are aware that in your
watch the balance, which is IT, regu-
lator, makes five oscillations every
second, which is 432, 600 a day; 80 that
your watch, exposed to all the vicissi-
tudes which heat and cold occasion
it, the varying weight of the air, and
the shaking to which it is subjected,
has not varied more than a minute a
month, or two seconds a day. 1t has
only acquired with each vibration of
the balance q variation of the two
hundred and sixteen t%housandth part
of a second. Judge, then, what must
be the extreme perfection of this
watch!"
A watch cannot go for an indefi-
mite period without being repaired or
cleaned. At the expiration of a GER
tain time the oil dries up, dust &C.
cumulates, and wear and tear are in
evitable results to the whole machin- |
cry, the functions become irregular
and frequently ceasing to act alto
getiar. A person possessinga watch
OF good quality, and DESTROYS of pre-
serving it as such, should have it
cleaned every two years at least. But
care should be taken to confide this
cleaning or repairing to careful
hands; an incapable workman may
do great injury to a watch even OF
the simplest construction.