Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-07-26

ten sections, aud engaging n Oh man
ner Of occratious for the advancement OF
| the watch trade generally. II a, however,
| 10 the public observntories OF Switzerland.
| and In particular to those OF Geneva and
| Neucbaiel. that The Swiss matchmaker Is,
| above all things, indebted for the degree
| OF precision to which his art has been en-
| allied 70 attain. That at Geneva was built
| IN 1913 and restored In 1917, since which
special arrangements have been made In II
| FOR testing and regulating the ehronoms-
| ters brought fos inspection. ii COM
municates by electricity the exact
| time 10 all the principal factories In the
| city. The one at Ncuchatel, which was
| foundee In 1853. similarly regulates the
| time for the chief matchmaking centres
| and telegraph offices in the canton. aud
| even beyond. In both these oDservatorics
| there Is held yearly competition OF chro-
| nome,ers, with prizes offered either By the
| Society OF Arts or by Government. There
| appears 10 be an absence OF reliable statis-
| teal information On the subject OF watch
making In Switzerland, but, from calcula-
| tons which were made in 1866 a. to the
| number Of workmen employed and the
| watches turned out, 1t appeared that in the
| canton of Neuchatel there were 1906
workmen. turning out yearly 1.000.000
| watches, valued at 50.000,D00 francs; Ia
| the Jura Vaudois, 200 workmen: IN the
rest OF this canton there were 5000 work.
men engaged in this manufacture and In
| that OF musical-boxes; in Berie, about 1900
! arti1cers, producing watches valued at 30
100000 francs. AZ the present day II il
estimated thai the total annual production
OF watches in Switzerland exceeds 1,60O,-
600, with an aggregate value OF ss,000.0o0
francs, the total number Of workmen en-
ployed averaging 10000. DR.. Adolph
Hirsch. the director OF the Seuchatel OBJ
seryatory. in his report on the watches
Of the Vienna Exhibition, gave IL ~
bis opinion that, $50 far as regards
watches. properly 80 called, Switzer-
land might be said to occupy the first rank
among the nations. and even in respect OF
thermometers, to be fully the equal OF Eng
land" The total expectation OF watches
in 1882 was 1880 Kilograms, or $500
more than IN 1881, while 46.400 Kilograms
were imported; the latte". however, were
chiefly articles in the rough intended 10 be
finished and roeXported Mr.. Thornton.
in conclusion. says that nsyel kind OF
watch has been recently invented by
NJ. Paul Kramer. AZ Ncuchltel, but owing
TO the defective state OF the law in
Switzerland, the inventor has been Obliged
20 patent II in France. This watch
is called a aigulles uniuerseileS, and inli-
Gates simultaneously the times OF different
countries; one, for example, shows the
different times for Paris, SueZ, Bombay.
and Hue; another for New York and San
Francisco. Any such watch might be con-
structed TO suit the wishes Of tue purchaser.
The hands pointing to these different hourS
are painted upon small movable dial
placed IN the centre o. the principal face OF
the watch. Mr.. Thornton says: "Whlt
is perhaps more generally needed
than anything else for the recovery
and maintenance Of the old Swiss
reputation for solid excellence in watch
making Is the passing OF a law for the pro-
lection Of industrial inventions, models,
and designs. Such law was proposed
eighteen months ago, but was, unforiu-
nately, rejected by the popular vote for
reasons entirely disconnected with It's in
trinsic merits or dement's; there Is, how
ever, little doubt that its more important
provisions will, before long. reippear IN a
similar measure, which viii this time meet
with better fate"