, 1884-10-04
ELECTRIFIED.
Danger to the Time-Pieces Of visitsfs
to the Electrical Exhibition.
Watches masnetized when Brought
Too Near Ia DynRmos-DemaE-
netiziug Tinle-P5rce--Fr~ak-
Of nodIIy Ets-etrfvitJ.

Behiud the counter Of ga uu-r.-ufe
little wntrh-iepairing shop. sirInt.i i.a1y
oppos-t, tls main entrance u the iri,sss,-
tional Electrical Exhibition buff; u lstls
this sign;
BEWARE or TIus DYEAuoS
Watches Of visitors b the Electriol EsAlAi-
ton checked and aiken carr o..
"D5-n-a-u.-o-, shat mu { Lc = new mrmo
they have got for pickpockets. - saiI a young
fellow, who spelled the word Tor his eouf
panioiis
As The reporter crossed the thrc holt The
matchmaker looked up from his work
~H1~ do you dof I merely wished 10 IN
quiTe about tho sign"
~The sign: yes, everybody seeus u think
it strange, but just wait until tho exhibition
opens, after the great electrical machines got
in running order, then you will se the people
coming in here to leave their watches after
the first experience
"Of WHAT
why, the effect Of an atmosphere sur
charged with electricity acting upon the del
icately adjuqted steel parts Of a watch.
Those parts become magnetized charged with
electricity. Simply standing beside une OF
those powerful machine Is sufficient ~ mag
nctizo a delicatsly adjusted time-piece. HIVE
you never seen n magnetized watch. Here
Is one l allow to remain SO for the purpose OF
showing skeptics. Wait e moment until |
wind It up.
aIta an old Swiss movement that belonged
to a young man Wit worked in one OF tho
electric light and power companies down
town. He came Ia here about two months
ago to have the watch put in order. He sup
posed IL merely wanted overhnuling and
cleaning. It hnd run down, so l wound it up
and examined the movement. In a minute
l knew what was the matter. l said to him:
'Yon work in some place where there Is a great
deal OF Electricity, don't youf oh, yes he
answered. Il work at the Electric Light &
Power conpany's place.' SO l toll him TINT
the watch WAS magnetized. He bought an
other one Of me and / took his In trade.
aThere, now. just notice those two springs;
sec how the coils strike aud CULVER. Every
pinion in that watch is magnetized. Look at
Tint piHior cap through the mngnifier; see
low it TEMPLES. The watch may run ten
Loars all right, then stop for two or three
hours and so ON, or It may stop dozen times
~ nj hour. In fact a mngnetized watch acts
g. II II were hewitched. In fact people have
s-larsd TO mo that their watches were be-
IS tciei. / laugh ut the notion and demag-
ietlze The affected rarts. Then they think l
lia,tioe tie blncs art.
Yen roracmbar tho electrical exhibit IN
Iglis In 1881 and 'e2s Wen, it was then that
horologists took ccgnizance Of tic to them
startling fact that watches were affected | v
electrical currens. Watchmakers there for "a
time were completely psIzzled at the errRtic
actions of the time,pieces brought them for
repair. At length a bright young fellow
named La Force discovered tho cause. AMI
almost made a fortune demagnetizing
watche7. Ia charged IL high price for his
work, for he kept his knowledge to himself"
"Magnetized wntchost oh, yes; we now and
then have them brought to Us for treatment"
said nm expert watch repairer in the estah-
li.hment at Seventh and Chestnut streets.
IT had d case Of that kline only a short time
ago. A gentleman brought me a valuable
ciironometer balance watch. 1t had fits us
he expressed it. The watch would stop for
twenty or thirty minutes, then 90 on us wei
rs ever. then stop again, and $40 on. It was
not q very bad cass ~ M snstism; he had
only teen in tho habit Of visiting
the electric light works on Arch street and
standing by the maciiine. | d~emagnetixed
his watch IN fnrty-cight hours by using the
English garlicjuire remedy, but it Is very
slnw work. Three or four days are usually
Required to demagnetizs a serious ease. Il is
very common 70 have watches affected dur
ing u display Of aurora borralis. Some very
curioui things concerning watches come
under a matchmaker observation at TINES.
I remember lady "A who used to bring NE her
watch sometimes rs ofton as once Il week: it
was either too fast or two slow with her;
while it hung up in TIE shop il ran as steady
ms the statc house clock. I studied that
watch aud one day I came across something
IN an English Theological magazine thnt
opened my eyes. II was simply n little item
saying that sometimes delicately adjusted
watches were affected by tho temperament
~ their wenrers.
aThe whole thing flashed upon me in a mo-
rnent. The womnn's watch was affected 10y
herself, found out that she was of a highly
nervous temperament, but woul |
at times suffer from attacks of
dependency. The watch only recorded her
temperament. When she was vivacious it
went fast, when she was in a low mood it
went slow. Very often it is impossible to
regulate a watch for some men by keeping
the timepiece in the shop. There is some
physical popularity about the man; it ma v
he his gait, his temperament or an excesso If
bodily electricity. In those cases let the
man wear the watch continually and then
regulate it to his peculiarities.
Bodily electricity is very marked in GER
tain persons. | knew IA young matchmaker
in whom 1t became 50 strong that he was
obliged to give up that branch Of the trade,
because il was found that hs maanetized the
delicate hlir-springs."