Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-08

The "Clepsydra' of the Ancients-The
Water Clock-Use of Spring Instead
of weights-The First watch-An I'm
portant Improvement.
Between the sun dial and the little. golden
cased, ticking. pocket time piece is long
period of invention. Thirty-one years ago
the first American watch was made. 1t was
a cumbersome affair, constructed under diff
ffculties, but was wide development from
even the theological devices that followed
the sun dial Earliest among these was
clepsydra, or water stealer,n Transparent,
graduated vase filled with the pure liquid of
nature which slowly stole away through
little aperture in the bottom. The receding
surface marked the going of the hours. The
clepsydra WAS used in ancient China and
Egypt under the Ptolemies Pompey intro
duced it into Roman courts, and the Britcns
used it when Cesar went among them. The
mechanical ingenuity and skill of many ma
tions were employed in the construction OF
the clepsydra. 1t was devised in statuary,
with tears flowing from the eyes; it was
made in floating forms that arose and fell
with the water and pointed to the hours en-.
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
municatiug motion to the hands upon dial.
Finally the clepsydra grew into an ingenious
and complicated water clock A thousand
years ago Persian caliph sent one to the
Emperor Charlemagne which had a striking
apparatus. With the completion of each
twelve hours twelve doors in the face opened,
from which issued twelve automaton horse
men, who waited until the striking ceased,
and then rode back again. The timekeeper
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
| 1000 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 "cloche'
still retains its meaning. Clocks were re
garded as curiosities until the Eleventh
century. when they were placed in all tht
| IIlOnaslSTltS. IN IHlS HlAllner ATDSe lut
fashion of placing clocks in church towers
Even the use of clocks by sanity men die
not keep the common folk from regarding
them as the DEVILS own handiwork.
In the early part of the Fifteenth century i
was discovered that ''clock work" could be Sc
in motion as well by the gradual uncoilinl
of spring as by the running down of weights
and that these motions could be made iso
chronous by balance wheel acting upon tn
escapement. But it remained for Calico L
discover the great principle OF the pendulum
and reveal it to mankind. Applied to tn
) clock the pendulum added greatly to it
accuracy Until after the Revolution scarcel
a clock licked on Americas coast Sun dial
and hour glasses suff1ced for those slow day
of religious rigcr Now the American cloo
tells the hour even in far off Jerusalem, i
the Chinese capital. in the heart Of Siberia
The first watch devised was called ''pocke
clock or Nuremberg animated egg"
was made in 1477 by Peter Hele, clocl
) maker of Nuremberg. It took a years labc
to make it. When it was finished it varie
nearly an hour day from true time. 1t n
quired winding twice day, and the priC
asked for it and similar ones subsequent
made was $500. It was the size and shar
of a goose egg. 1t had only one hand, an
no watch with more was made for man
years. Nothing was known of hair sprinl
in the days of the one handed watch. He
invented the frsee. But for l25 years Il
fusee chain was made of catgut, materi
peculiarly susceptible to atmospheric change
The library of the Waltham watch factor
. contains a watch bearing the date of 16
which has the catgut fusee chain.
: THE CoILED HAIR SPRING.