Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-01-24
Oaeef Freaks Of Watches.

Immediately after every "bOwl. ~.
Y. Mail and Express.
Qaeef Freaks Of Watches.
decidedly watches are queer
things" said d. H. Hopkinson, of the
JcWeiier$' Cicular. seated in the easy
chair of his editorial sanctuary. They
possess some unaccountable peculiari-
ties. For instance, some time about
the beginning of last summer, when
there lad been 4 succession of fine
displays of the aurora bOreals. it was
estimated that in single night in the
city of New York the main sp4ings of
not less than three thousand watches
broke. This estimate is based on ac-
tilal inquiries. Fine sensitive watches
are particularly liable TO be effected by
electrical atmospheric disturbances.
During the months of June, July and
August, when these phenomena are
most frequent, there are more main
springs broken than during ell the re-
naming months of the year. They
break in variety of ways, sometimes
swapping into as many as twenty-seveD
pieces.
ut is fact that since the introduce
ton of the electric light has become SO
general large number of watches,
some of them very fine ones, have be-
come magnetized. While in this con-
dition they are useless as time keepers.
This defect used to be considered incur
able, and because of it thousands OF
watches have been thrown away after
much money had been spent on them
in vain attempts 10 persuade them to
keep good time. Among the methods
resOrted to were washing the parts in
garlic juice. refinishing and pas sing
them through the fire. But all these
part effective. know of man who
had fine and valuable movement
which kept excellent time. He trans
fcrred it from silver case to a second
hand gold one. Immediately it lost all
its characteristics of steadiness and re-
liability, and, in fact, did not keep time
at all. When replaced in the silver case
it kept good time again. The owner.
jeweler. puzzled himself and expert
mented in vain to discover the cause oi
this strange Partially on the part OF
his watch for silver At length he sent
it to an expert. He discovered that the
lifting spring Of the gold case had be-
come magnetiZed. On substituting an
other for it, the watch kept as good
time in the gold case as in the silver
case.
''There are occasions when it is
very serious matter to have your watch
magnetized. The mos. striking in
stance in point is one which lately came
under my notice. Captain w. II. Smith
commands the steamer Delaware, which
plies between New York and New Lon.
don. Before putting to sea on a recent
voyage he was invited to inspect an
electric light dynamite machine, and
exam ned its parts closely. Soon after
getting on board the steamer he Oh
served that the compass became
strangely affected when he approached
| it, Whether he stood on the right OF
the let, or Immediately in front of the
compass, the needle would invariably
point to him. The compass was worse
than useless when he came near l.: 1t
was dangerous and might wreck the
ship. You can imagine that this
phenomenon alarmed and puzzled Cap
tain Smith not a little. At length he
recalled bis visit to the dynamo ma
chine and the true solution of the eccen-
trio behavior of the needle flashed upon
him. His watch had become magnet
lied. When he removed it the needle
resumed its constancv to the polar star.
Watches frequently get magnetized
in iron mines or in machine shops.
where they are incautious1y brought
near swiftly running belts. l knew
workman who used to hang his watch
between the parts of a running belt. He
expended small fortune on main
springs.
sit is a well-known fact among hOrol-
ogists that no watch will keep the same
tine with two people. The cause has
not yet been definitely ascertained, but
| it would seem that in some mysterious
way watch is affected by the tempera-
ment of the wearer. The mere physic-
al differences in gait and movement be-
tween different people is not sufficient
| to account for all the variations that
have been observed. ~. y Tribune.
j. B. Martin, of St. Louis. eloped
with the daughter of his employer, MIR.
Hamburger, she taking six hundred
dollars of her fathers money TO start
out with. They sought for the run
Always far and wide for four weeks,
without result, and then found them
snugly housed on the same street as Mr..
Hamburger, only three blocks away.
It was time Mr. Hamterger found them,
too; his six hundred dollars was all
gone but thirteen, and the happy pair
would soon have been obliged to return
to ask forgiveness and v;ctuals.-S.
Louis Post.
The floor of the portico of New
York house is made Of a single strip OF
a California redwood plank eleven and