Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-10-29
SCARED AT A WATCH.
Servants Beat 1t with Clubs and
 Tongs and Drowned It.
An Incident That Happened in 163O-Some Dainty and Wonderful Time-Tellers of the Last Two Centuries-A Re-
 markable Chronometer.

tho Last Two Centuries-A Re-
 markable Chronometer.
 For years Dr. Allen, the Scotch physician, was suspected of being a wizard, says the St. Louis Republican opinion which was con- sidered all but confirmed when, in 163O, he provided himself with a silver watch of the regulation size and style. ChaIcing to stop with neighbor over night and it being somewhat cold he laid the watch near his body and covered it with the bed-quilts so that the chilly weather would not affect the works. Next morning he arose rather abruptly and left the house without remov- ing his treasure from it's cozy nest in the bed.
 In fixing up the room the servant dis covered the s'infernal chattering thing" and immediately concluded it must be the old doctors s'familiar spirit" conclusions winch she hardly arrived at before she flew wildly from the room. Other servants were called, and the whole array charged the "chattering thing'' in the bed. Clubs and tongs were freely used, but the case was strong and the thing still chattered defiant ly. One of the girls, more courageous than | the others, finally agreed that she would l take the tOngs and carry the thing to the | moat and drown it, a proceeding fraugft | with danger, but at last decided upon. The | others followed at a respectable distance | WlCu uoeS, CluDS anu SuoVelS, Wltu WulCu they proposed to bounce on the thing should l 1t attempt to attack the herolc girl. When the old doctor returned for his watch he was informed of what had been done, one of the servants leading the way to where the thing had been drowned. It was found hanging on bush on the bank of the moat The failure to beat or drown the thing to death fully convinced the servants that it was ID reality the old wizards spirit, and ho1y nt he, a6 fn tnnch if
 The story is related to show what rarities watches must have been even at that late period of the seventeenth century.
 In 1769 one of the admirers of George III. caused to be made for that monarch a watch which was marvel in it's way. It had a calendar hand which pointed to the days of the month and of the year. Instead of mak- ing revolution every month like calendar watches of to-day it took the whole 365 days to get once around. The dial-plate was only two inches in diameter, therefore the fig ures must have been very minute, other wise the 365 numerals could not have been arranged around the border. The annual dial-calendar was but one of number of extras with which this watch was provided. A movable diamond performed diurnal rev. olutions as regularly as did the great orb after which it was modelled; 1t struck the hours, the half-hours and the quarters, while an inside dial-plate revolved in a manner clearly exhibiting the variations of the seasons.
 The English House of Commons, follow 1 ing suggestion of Sir Isaac Newton, ap- | pointed committee June Il, TIA, with | power to offer e20, 900 to any one who would 1 invent an accurate time-keeper for use at sea in determining longitude. After many years of labor and study the invention was 1 announced ass perfected. However, the in- | ventor, one John Harrison, did not receive | the reward for his labor until September 1 If, 1764
 Keyless watches have been known for the last one hundred years, but not until | within the past twenty-five have they come 1 into general use.
 It would take columns to enumerate all | the dainty and wonderful little time-pieces l that have been made during the last two l hundred years. They have been made no larger than peas and set in rings for physi- | clans to facilitate the counting of the pulse. | They have been fixed in bracelets, brooches, l eve glasses, tops of umbrella handles, and l even on the heads of lead pencils, where they | occupy the same position as the rubber on the average Faber
 In 1883 a watchmaker of Dresden exhibit | ed watch made entirely of paper. The
 paper was chemically prepared, and the | maker claimed that it would be as service
 able as if made of the material ordinarily
 used.
 The same year, at a fair held at Worces-
 tershire, Eng, Crowther Bros. & Go. ex- | hibited one made entirely of iron. An ingenious prisoner at Kariaus, Bo-
 hemia, recently constructed a watch eight l centimeters in diameter with no other tools l or material except two needles, spool of
 thread, a newspaper and some rye straw
 The wheels, posts and cogs are all made of
 the rye straw, which, it is well-known, is
 quite coarse and tough. It runs six hours
 without winding and keeps good time. Itis
 now in possession of the Prefect of Kariaus,
 who considers it the greatest marvel of the
 nineteenth century.
 The most ingenious, perfect and complex
 watch ever manufactured was sent out
 from the works of Patek, Philippe 6 Co.,,
 of Geneva, Switzerland, Tn July, 1877, and is
 now in possession of Baron Nicholas. It
 is what is known as the full-sized "hunter."
 On one side there is a dial ot the regulation
 kind, exhibiting the hour, minute and sec
 ond hands; also an independent chro-
 nograph hand which marks the jfths of sec
 onds. The same dial has repeating mechan-
 ism which strikes the hours, quarters and
 minutes. The opposite dial has hands
 pointing to the months, weeks and days.
 Another large central hand on thIs dial, if
 set at the beginning of each year, correctly
 points to all moon phases and also acts as
 perpetual calendar. It is so constructed
 as to admit of it's keeping two different
 times, say standard on one side and sun | time on the other.
 | An Inconsiderate Suicide.
 ssI had man commit suicide in that
 barn." said a vineyard proprietor to San
 Francisco Chronicle man who was visitin g