Wichita eagle., 1888-10-21
CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
LONG PERIOD OF INVENTION BEGIN
MING WITH THE SUN DIAL.

MIMI With HE SUN DIAL
The ''Oepsydra" of the Azcients-The
Water Clock-Cse of a Spring Instead
Of Weights-The First watch-An In
portant Improvement.
Between the sun dial and the little, golden
cased, ticking. pocket time piece is a long
period OF invention Thirty-one years ago
the first American watch was made. It was
cumbersome affair, constructed under diff
fculties, but was a wide DEVELOPMENT from
even the theological devices that followed
the sun dial Earliest among these was
clepsydra, or ''water stealer,n a transparent
graduated vase filed with the pure liquid of
nature which slowly stole away through q
little aperture in the bottom. The receding
surface marked the going Of the hours The
clepsydra was used ii ancient China and
Egypt under the Puolenies. Ponpey intro
duced it into Roman courts, and the Britons
used ii when Caesar went among them. The
mechanical ingenuity and skill of many ma
tons were employed in the construction of
the clepsydra- L was devised in statuary,
with tears flowing from the eyes; it was
made in floating forms that arose and fell
graved upon an upright scale.
An Improvement was made in this kind of
timepiece by the introduction of a little
wheel, on which the water fell thus COM
nlunicating motion 70 the hands upon a dial
Finally the clepsydra grew into an ingenious
and complicated water clock 4 thousand
years ago Persian caliph sent one 10 the
Emperor Charlemagne which had a striking
Of
twelve hours twelve doors in the face opened,
from which issued twelve automaton horse
men, who waited until the striking ceased,
aud then rode back again The tirnekeeper
Of the Puritans was but modification Of the
primitive clepsydra. Fine sand was substi-
tuted for the water.
INVENTION OF The CLOCK
The invention of the clock is claimed by
many different people and attributed to many
eras. The Chinese declare they owned clocks
1900 years ago. The Germans insist that the
first mechanical clock was made by them
only eight centuries back. The word origin
ally signifed bell and the French ''clochen
still retains It's meaning. Clocks were re-
garded SIS curiosiries until the Eleventh
century. when they were placed in all the
monasteries, In this manner arose the
fashion Of placing clocks in church towers
Even the use Of clocks by sanity men did
not keep the common folk from regarding
them as the devils own handiwork.
In the early part OF the Fifteenth century it
was discovered that o'clock work could be set
in motion as well by the gradual uncoiling
Of a spring IS by the running down of weights,
and that these motions could be made iso-
chronous BY a balance wheel acting upon the
- I
discover the great principle Of the pendulum
and reveal il TO mankind Applied to the
clock the pendulum added greatly TO its
accuracy. Until after the Revolution scarcely
a clock licked on Americas coast. Sun dials
and hour glasses sufficed for those slow days
Of religious rigor. Now the American clock
tells the hour even in far of Jerusalem, in
tee Chinese capital, in the heart Of Siberia.
The first watch devised was called pocket
clock" or Nuremberg animated egg 1t
was made in 1t77 by Peter Hele, a clock
maker Of Nuremberg. It took g years labor
TO make il. When it was finished it varied
nearly an hour day from true time. Il re-
quired winding twice q day, and the price
asked for il and similar ones subsequently,
made was 1900. II was the size and shape
OF goose egg. 1t had only one hand, and
no watch with more was made for many
years. Nothing was known of hair springs
in the days of the one handed watch Hels
invented the fusee. But for I25 years the
fusee chain was made Of catgut, material
peculiarly susceptible TO atmospheric changes.
The library of the Waltharn watch factory
contains a watch bearing the date Of 1900
which has the catgut fusee chain
TIE coILED HAIR SPRING.
The application Of tie coiled hair spring
was the most important improvement in
watch making II is attributed both TO Dr.
Robert Hooke and the astronomer Hugheus
Jewels were first used in the construction Of
watches in 17o0 Previously the pivots ran
On metallic bearings, which soon wore
out, making constant repairing q ne
ceSsity. The diamond ruby, sapphire,
chrysolue, garnet and agate are the
precious stones used for the bearings
upon which the pivots rest. Pivots Of brass
or steel viii run for generations in jeweled
bearings without any perceptlble wear.
Very rare watches are jeweled with dia-
monds, sapphires and rubies For all prac-
teal purposes garnets and aqua marines an
swer as well Montana IS beginning TO sup
ply ga-netS Precious stones for watch fac
tory use are bought by the carat
One popular little time keeper for ladies
has fifteen jewels, all OF ruby. The stones
are cut into ''plankS,7 and then into "joiSts'
by circular saws and afterwards broken into
cubes. Then each is turned out IN lathe
exactly as bed post Is turned out in fur
ntture factory. By this time it weighs less
than one-eighty-thousand-h Of a pound Troy /
Il is afcsrward FURNISHED into It's settinS-a
little circle Of brass.
The English watch attained high develop
meaV with John Harrison's invention OF the
compensation balance wheel in 1867. French
and Swiss watchmakers very nearly aban-
dOned two OF the chief features Of the Eng
liSh watch, considering them unnecessary.
These were the fusee chain and the vertical
escaPeuleut They threw out more than COO
Of the So parts OF the cumbersome English
watch Fer fifty years were the Industrious
Swiss the chief watchmakers OF the earth.
The operatives Of the Elgin factory are
about equally divided, male and female.
Girls are taught their trades in the factory.
but men usually are practical workers before
beingenployed IN any depsrmena-Chicaso
Herald
STOPPING RUNAWAY HORSES.