The Red Cloud chief., 1884-01-25
Oqeer Freaks Of Watches.

decidedly watches arc queer
things" said ID. H. HOpkinson, of the
| Jewellers' Circular, 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 Fad been q succession of tine
displays of the aurora borealis, it was
estimated that in a single night in the
| city of New York the main sp,ings OF
not less than three thousand watches
broke. This estimate is based on &C
tual 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 all the re-
naming months of the year. They
break in a variety of ways. sometimes
swapping into as many as twenty-seven
pieces.
ut is a 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 to persuade them to
keep good time. Among the methods
resOrted to were washing the parts in
garlic juice, refinishing and passing
them through the fire. But all these
devices were entire failures or only in
part effective. l know of a man who
had a fine and valuable movement
which kept excellent time. He trans
ferred it from a 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 tirae
at all. When replaced in the silver case
it kept good time again. The owner, a
jeweler. puzzled himself and expert
mented in vain to discover the cause uf
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 a
very serious matter to have your watch
magnetized. The most striking in
stance in point is n which lately came
under my notice. Captain w. X. 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
examined its parts closely. Soon after
getting on board the steamer he OBJ
served that the compass became
strangely affected when he approached
it. Whether he stood on the right or
the left, or Immediately in front of the
compass, the needle would invariably
point to him. The compass vas worse
than useless when he came neal l.. 1t
was dangerous and might wreck the
ship. You can imagine that this
phenomenon alarmed and puzzled Cap
recalled his 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 constancy to the pO'ar star.
Watches frequently get magnetized
in iron mines or in machine shops,
where they are incautiOusly brought
near swiftly running belts. 1 knew a
workman who used to hang his watch
between the parts of Il running belt. He
expended a small fortune on main
at is a well-known factamOng horOl-
ogists that n watch will keep the same
t me with W people. The cause has
yet been definitely ascertained, but
it would seem that in some mysterious
way a 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."-N. Y. Tribune.