The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-10-01
TOWER CLOCKS,
Interesting Machinery In . New York Clock
Store-The Changes That Have Ia
ken Place In the Business.

KEN Place In the Business.
Many people passing through Mas
sau street pause moment at clock
storc, and peer through one OF the
large plate-glas windows at piece OF
machinery within. 1t consists OF large
cogwheels, rollers, and other parts, the
names of which are purely technical,
which rest on an iron bed. 1t is a
mystery, for most people are unable to
imagine what such heavy machinery is
doing in q clock store, inasmuch as it
is far beyond the size of ordinary clock
works and totally different in appear
ance. A reporter for the New York
San, who saw the machinery the other
day, entered the store and inquired.
That's the machinery for a large
tower-clock, replied an energetic
looking young man to whom the re-
porter was referred. II don't believe
You see such machinery in any other
store in the country excepting in our
Boston store and in that of a Connect
icut manufacturer. And yet think of
all the tower-clocks there are In the
United States"
..Were many of them made by
youP'
IA vast majority of those put in dur
ing the past forty years. We have
been in business little longer than
that. The founder of our company
was the first clock manufacturer in
the country-that is, he was the first
man to turn out clocks by machinery.
One of our earliest tower-clocks is that
in the st. Lawrence hall, Toronto,
which we put in during 1843. Before
that time most of the tower-clocks for
American buildings came from En-
gland That was the case with the
Oldest tower-clock here"
1.-The Trinity clockP"
mo. The Trinity clock is popularity
supposed to be the oldest in the city,
but it is not. That of St. Paurs
church, on Broadway. near Fulton
street, is the oldest. 1t was made in
London in 1888 1t is not a fine clock;
the several dials often contradict one
another to the extent of several min
utes. 1t is rather startling to pass the
church at five minutes to IL A. NJ, and
after taking few steps to look up ut
the side dial and find it only two min
utes to II, so that the. three minutes
have apparently passed while you took
three or four steps. The clock in st.
Johns church, Varick street, came
from London in 1915. and is a much
better piece of workmanship than that
of st. Paul's. The clock in Trinity
church is of more recent date. 1t was
made here in 1916.
II Judge from what you say that in
England tower-clock manufacture is an
older industry than hereP"
s.Oh, YES; much older. You can
Judge of that when tell you that the
Westminster clock was built in 1888.
A few years later clock was put up
in Canterbury cathedral. and in 1917 tho
Exeter cathedral clock was made. The
Westminster clock is the second largest
in the world. In point Of size the
great tower clocks of the world run
us follows: Mechlin (Belgium). forty
feet diameter of face; Westminster,
twenty-five feet and six inches; st.
Paul's cathedral, seventeen feet; Shan
don church (Cork). sixteen feet; PAN
cras station, twelve feet and nine
inches; Scarborough, Old church,
twelve feet; St james (Piccadifly).
ten feet, and Kings Cross station. Bow
church. Manchester intirmatory, and
Royal exchange, each nine feet"
'.Iiavc we nothing to compare with
any OF these in this countryP"
II am happy to say that we have
put up two clocks in this city which
rank with tho Scarborough Old church
clock. They aro twelve feet in diam
eter. One OF these Is the produce-cx-
change clock. BY the way, this clock
through electrical connection rings
bells throughout the building to notify
members of the sessions of the ex-
change"
'.ls that the largest tower-clock you
are prepared to make?"
mo. We have machinery ready
for clocks with dials fifteen feet in di-
ametcr. But we can manufacture
them of any size. Tower-clocks are
divided into time-clocks and striking
clocks. The former simply indicate
the hour, the latter, in addition. strike
bells, and are either hour or quarter
strikers. Our clocks run from forty
inch dial plates up. The small clocks
are ordered for factories and stables.
We have one, for instance, in William
FL. Vanderbilt's stable"
''Does the size of the bells depend on
the size of the clOcksP"
lit does. Our clocks of five feet di-
ameter are calculated to bring the tone
out of bells weighing fifteen hundred
pounds, our ten-foot clocks will handle
bells of six thousand pounds weight,
and our tifteen-foot clocks use bells of
ten thousand pounds weight"
lis there any rule for determining
the diameter of the dials?"
''Fhe diameter of the dial should not
be less than q tenth of the height of its
center from the ground. The center
of the Mechlin clock is only three hun
dred feet from the ground; that of the
Westminster clock 1S0 feet. Speaking
again of the Westminster clock re-
minds me that its dials cover an area
of four hundred feet. and cost $5, 1884.
The minute PAGES are foot square
and the figures two feet long"
Usually tower clocks have four dial
plates. Are separate works required
for each dial plateP"
mo. You see here [pointing to the
machinery in the window that the sets
of bands are all controlled by the same
weights. Speaking of the machinery,
while a full description of it would be
too technical to interest your readers,
may say that we employ two kinds of
escapemcnts, the eseapements being
the part of the movement connecting
with the pendulum. The first escape
ment is called the Graham dead beat
and the other the Denison gravity. In
the former the pendulum receives di-
rect impulse on each swing. With q
dead beat We guarantee a clock to run
inside of q minute a month; with the
Denison gravity. inside Of ten seconds
q month. Many vary less than two
seconds. For instance, the produce
exchange clock varies only q second
and half month"
do tower clocks often need regula-
ting and oilingP"
when they are only recently put up
the swing Of the pendulum has TO bs
heightened or shortened by the adjust
ment of a movable weight. A drop of
oil should be put in the oil-hole once
or twice month. When the clock
has settled down to steady work drop
of oil every two or three months will
do"
"Have you put up many clocks in
buildings that are well known besides