Smyrna times., 1884-01-23
Queer Freaks of Watches.
HOW MAIN SPRINGS BREAK WHEN TIE
AURORA BOREALIS APPEARS.

Decidedly, watches are queer |
things" said d. II. Hopkinson. of The
JeWelierS Circuldr. of New York. !
seated in the easy chair of his editorial /
sanctuary. They possess some unac- |
countable peculiarities. For instance, |
some time about the beginning Of last |
Summer, when there had been a sue
cession OF fine displays of the aurora
borealis, ii was estimated that in sin
gle night in the city of New York the
main spring of not less than three
thousand watches trnkc. mis- V~ti-
mate is based on actual inquiries.
Fine, sensitive watches are particular
ly liable to he affected by electrical at
mospheric disturbances. During the
months of June, July and August,
when these phenomena are most ire
Quent, there are more main springs
broken than during all the remaining
months Of the year. They break i'll
variety of ways. sometimes swapping
into as many as tWcHty-seVen pieces.
at is a fact that since the introduc-
ton of the electric light has become SO
general a large number of watches,
some of them very fine ones, have
! become magnetiZed. While in this
! condition they are useless as timekeep-
! ers. This defect used to be consider
! ed incurahle, and because of it thous-
/ ands of watches have been thrown
away after much money had been
! 81 ent on them in vain attempts to per-
suade them to keep good time. Among
the methods resorted to were washir g
the parts in garlic juice. refnishing and
| v,as-iprr than tbronUb tbo fro Rut II
these devices were entire failures or
only in part effective. | know of a
man who had a fine and valuable
movement which kept excellent time.
He transferred it from silver case to
a secondhand gold one. Immediately
it lost all its characteristics Ofsteadiness
and reliability, and in fact it did not
keep time at all. When replaced in
the silver case it kept good time again
The owner, jeweler, puzzled himsel
and experimental in vain to discover
the cause of this strange partiality OF
the part of his watch for silver. A
length he sent it to an expert. He dis
covered that the lifting spring of the
gold case had become magnetiZed. Oh
substituting another for it the watcl
kept as good time in the gold case a
in the silver case.
There are occasions when it is
very serious matter to have your watc
? magetized. The most striking instanc
in point is one which lately came unde
my notice. Captain w X. Smith CON
mands the steamer DeldWdre. whicl
plies between New York and New
London. Before putting to sea on
ha ii 70 ir-
an electric light dynamo machine, an
examined its parts closely. Soon afte
getting on board the steamer he ohserV
ed that the compass became strangel
affected when he approached i
Whether he stood on the right or tn
left or Immediately in front of the con
pass the needle would invariably poi1
TO him. The compass was worse tha
useless when he came near it. 1t wG
dangerous and might wreck the shil
You can imagine that this phenomena
alarmed and puzzled Captain Smit
not little. At length he recalled h
visit to the dynamo machine, and II
true solution of the eccentric behavit
of the needle flashed upon him. II
watch had become magnetiZed. Whe
he removed it the needle resumed il
constancy to the polar star. On his r.
turn to the city he took the watch I
- Mathey Brothers & Mathey, who d
magnetized it for him. This firm b
invented some machine, the mechanis
of which is a secret, by which they d
magnetic a magnetized watch speed
and effectually. They get watch
sent them from all parts of the wor
to be thus treated.
T Watches frequently get magnetic
III in iron mines or in machine shOI
n where they are incautiously brOug
near swiftly-running belts. knew
workman who used to hang his wat
between the parts of running be
He expended a small fortune on ma
springs.
9 at is a well-known fact amo
horOlOgists that no watch will keep t
same time with two people. The eau
has not yet been definitely ascertaine
but it would seem that in some M
terious way watch is affected by
temperament of the wearer. The me
n physical difference in gait and mov
y ment between different people is l
W sufficient to account for all the var
tions that have been observed"