The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-05-02

.a Modern Clocks and Watches.
~ 1&,hAA9 le&4A &.
The first people who appear to have
allotted the day into portions were the
& Assyrians, who invented the clepsydra,
or water clock, at a period too remote
for precise calculation. All that is
known for certain is that the apparatus
existed before the overthrow of the first
Assyrian empire by Abaces and Beleses,
in the year .759 B. c.
This water clock was nothing more
than a brass vessel of cylindrical shape
holding several gallons of water. A
very small hole was bored in one of its
sides, through which the liquid was al
lowed to trickle, and it was calculated
that the vessel.eould empty itself about
five or SIX times day. Under the
reign ofPhul,S the royal palace of Nine
yah, and each of the principal districts
of the city possessed a water clock of
the same shape and capacity. They
were all filled together or as nearly as
possible together, at the signal of a
Waterman stationed aloft on a tower to
proclaim the rising of the sun, and
they remained all day in the keeping
of officials, whose business it was to
fill them as soon as they became empty.
There was irregular staff of criers en-
ployed in connection with each of the
time offices, and as often as the water
clocks were replenished they passed
through the streets shouting out the
fact for the benefit of the townspeople.
In this way sort of rough compute
ton of the flight of time was obtained.
The intervals between the filling and
emptying of these vessels were called
watches" and were of about two
hours and half's duration. 1t is hard
to suppose that the water clocks kept
very steady pace with each other The
difficulty of making by hand vessels of
the same size, of drilling them with
holes precisely the same diameter and
of supplying them with water of just
the same density must have given rise
to great deal of irregularity in the
working of these machines.
The clepsydra remained in its print
tive condition for many centuries, and
it was not until the invention of the
sun dial at Alexandria, $50 years be-
fore Christ, that it underwent any i'm
provement. About that time an Egyp-
tian of Memphis added a dial, with a
hand, to the clepsydra. The hand re-
volved on a pivot, and Communicated
with string which was fastened to a
float AS the water leaked out the
float fell with it, and the tension of the
string caused the hand to move around
with spasmodic Jerks.
This reform, though meritorious in
theory, proved deficient in practice, for
the old difficulty about getting the
clocks to keep step was doubled OIL
.trebled when the system became com
plicated with dial, needle, string and
float. but Notwithstanding its draw
blacks, the Improvement was valuable
one, Because it prepared the way foI
further changes and led to the perfec,
ton of the water clock by the substitute
ton of system of dented wheels fol
chose already in use. The wheels were
set to work on the water-mill principle
andgthe addition of a second needle al
lowed the clock to mark the factions O
The different ''watches."
This was the plus ultra so far as the
clepsydra was concerned. 1t dates
from 250a wears before Christ, anC
aN1llCuA HhNl- uGOOluC VIC RICd
mart of the new time-piece, exported
them to the different countries of the
East as rare curiosities and at fabulous
prices. When Pompey returned t.
Rome, in. the year 90 before Christ
from triumphing over Antiochus ant
.Mithrilates,, one of the most valuable
trophies he brought with him from tn
treasures of the King of Pontus was al
Egyptian clepsydra, marking the hour
and minutes according to the metho'
of horology in use in Rome.
The cylinder which served as a re
ceptacle for the water was of gold, a
was also the al plate. The hand
were studded with small rubies, an,
each of the ciphers that denoted tn
twenty-four hours of the day was Gu
out of sapphire. The cylinder onl
needed replenishing once day.
sp Then came the age of total darkness
that followed the overthrow of tn
Roman Empire. The bacbarians VIII
conquered the imperial city had yer
primitive modes of marking the cours
of time At the break of day, whe
the chieftain of the camp or villag
rose, boy slave came and took b
position at the entrance of the hut an
sat there with two helmets, one full {
pebbles and the other empty befol
BIN, His business ives to transfer Il