, 1885-11-04
WATCHES AND STORMS.
EFFECTS OF THE EoulNocTlAL UPON
THE DELICATE TIME-KEEPeRS.
What the watoh-sIakers ssy-Kush of
broken Watches Mt Particular Seasons
-PeculiarItie. of the Break-1hs
Experience General.


About the 21st of March and Septem-
Der. or as soon thereafter or before as the
sun crosses the line. watch springs begin
to break In great numbers. This fact Is
automatic and is discounted by watch
makers. Promises of speedy repairing
are not made so readily then as at other
times. Electrified disturbances Of the
atmosphere is the eau Sc assigned for this
phenomena. but Just why electricity In or
out of the atmosphere should have this
elect none of the crafts can explain. All
the testimony Is circumstantial in its
character. but all clock and watch repair
ers assert aud vigorously maintain the
theory.
we sometimes have. " said a Chestnut
street lewcler, such n pile OF watches
come in upon us when the e%quinoctial
storms make their appearance that We have
to send round 10 the smaller shops and
pay premiums-and big premiums, at
that-for a iourneyman or so for a couple
of days. IL only takes about forty eight
hours to do the business.
And II is not the %eluinoctial storm
alone that plays havoc with the delicate
spring mechanism OF clocks and
watches. " said he. 81 have noticed that
~northeastcrs ut all seasons of the year will
have the same devastating effect. Some
times in April. when thunder showers are
50 frequent and lightning Is peculiarly
vivid. watch main springs break: but
this sort is OF rarer occurrence than the
Jther two.
REGULARITY OF II BREAK.
But the most remarkable. and. at the
same time, most unexplainable part of the
phenomena is yet to come. A large per
centage Of watch springs that break dur
ing the prevalence Of an equinoctial storm
/ do not foil in fkvn nfanao lint guafafu "a
clean cut fracture across the entire barrel
Of the spring. dividing the spring into as
many fragments as there are concentrics
In the coil, And. more remarkable still.
if that were possible, the line of the frac.
ture or cut is perfectly straight, and. as
nearly as can be ascertained, passes
directly through the point which would
be the center OF the spring coil.
A prominent Camden dealer. who was
IN the establishment at the time said. 81
had a wonderful Illustration Of that
character a year or so & and caused a
mechanical artist TO photograph 1t. II a
break occurs ina watch spring, It in.
SANITY u%ncoils, of course. 1t would be
impossible with the finest u adjusted tools
to strike a blow that would cuta watch
into twenty or thirty fragments. leaving
no rough edges TO indicate the manner of
fracture: yet in this photograph the ends
are as sharp and as clearly defined as
though made by a razor edge and when
the skilful mechanic had placed the tiny
pieces Of steel in order the line of fracture
was found to be straight and cutting the
center.
TiIE EXPERIENCE GENERAL.
This experience is ommon. A gentle
man in another establishment declares
that the ele trical disturbances that occur
on the list Of March and September in
variably produce a huge crop of broken
mainsprings lie corroborated the state
ment Of the peculiar breakage across the
spring coil and said he had seen many
Illustrations Of the peculiar phenomena.
81 can not explain il. " said he, but by
recourse to the la kneyed reason assigned
ly watchmakers all over the country,
which is electricity in the atmosphere. |
once heard an electrician, to whom the
subject was referred. explain that the
polarity Of the metal was unihed-what-
ever that meaus-but how unified polar
ity can accomplish such work am at a
oss to understand. And why isn't the
amt effect produced on the balance.
springs2 1t is seldom that balance springs
are broken in larger numbers during an
equinox than at other times. and | never
saw one with the clean cut across tho en-
tire coil.