Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-06-13
HE TINKERS WITH TIME.
A MAN WHO REMEMBERS WATCHES
EUT FORGETS FACES.

The PhysiogDomy of Tirepiece-Have
Regular Hour for yyinding-The
Watch Case Esecord-EEow a Man Sent
q Valentine to Gas Son.
In jewelry store not thousand miles
from the City hall the watch department
is in charge of pleasant faced, good ma
tured man, whose weight must be close to
200 pounds. Among his other duties is
that of winding watches, and this is a
duty which has to be attended to on Sun
days as well as other days. 1t is his custom
to look after the finer grades of watches,
particularly when they are being regulated,
with especial care and he says that good
watch ought to be wound about the same
time in each twenty-four hours.
TIE wINDER's WORK.
eff you are in the habit of winding your
watch about 10 o'clock or Il o'clock every
night" he remarked in conversation the
other afternoon, ''if you are wise you will
not leave it until or 2 o'clock on the
nights row and then when you happen to
be up SO late Always wind it within the
space Of one hour in the twenty four-that
is, if your average time is half-past 10,
make it rule to wind it regularly between
10 and II; but the nearer you keep it to a
certain definite time the better. Of course
it is impossible for me always to wind all
of the large number OF watches here in the
store on the minute every day. But with
the best watches try hard to be very reg
ular When come down here on Sunday
forenoons of course | am wholly undis-
turbed, and am able to get through the
work in about two hours. On other days
am very likely to be called away by the
demands of customers, 50 that it may be 2
or 3 O'Clock in the afternoon before am
able to complete this part of my days reg
ular duty. But it is always the cheaper
and less trustworthy watches that / leave
to the last.
do you know that there is something
singular about what may call the physi
ognomy Of watch? A good many people
will come here that don't recognize at all,
but the moment l look at their watches l
recognize them, and in that way am able
to identify their owners. Ihave not good
memory for faces, but / know watches
from the word go, and though it may seem
singular to you that the inside of a watch
should convey more definite idea to my
mind than a human face, it is really not
singular at all. | have made a life long
study Of Watches and it is the easiest thing
in the world to remember how the inside
of one watch varies from that of another
Of course anybody could see the difference
where they are made by different people or
are Of different sizes. But have, in par
ticular, to remember how the regulators
stand. If customer has his watch regu
lated and then comes here few weeks or
few months afterward to have it touched
up again, unless I remember just how far
moved the regulator the last time | might
easily botch the whole job So there are
many ways in which l differentiate one
PERSONS watch from another, though
couldn't point them out in detail any more
than mother of twins that look just alike
to the casual observer can tell precisely
why she has never any difficulty in telling
one from the other.
HOW HE GETS HOME.
81 said that didn't have good memory
for faces Let me tell you another thing
have an excellent idea of locality, and if
had once been in place believe that
should recognize it again if were suddenly
dropped into it blindfolded and then had
my eyes uncovered Now, you may find it
hard to believe, but it is an actual fact that
do not know the number of my own
house. 1t happens to be the third in the
row, and in that way never have any diff
Guilty in finding it. How would it be, you
ask, if it were the seventeenth in long
row Of houses all alike? No, I should not
count up to seventeen every time in that
case, but | should choose some landmark
on which could depend, such as tree or
lamppost, and take my bearings from
that. On last ST. Valentines day wanted
to send a valentine to one of my boys, and
would you believe it'll actually had to
go to the book here in the store in which
the addresses of all the employees are kept
in order to find out where / lived. am
afraid if were called as a witness in court,
and was not able to tell my street number,
the judge and the jury would not have
much confidence in my testimony; and
shouldn't blame them, either. But what
have told you is an actual fact
Speaking of regulating watches once
more, there is a recent simple device which
makes it much easier for the matchmaker
than it used 10 be. II is ...erely ey circular
piece of paper made larger or smaller SO as
Just to fit the inside Of watch cases of diff
rerent sizes. 1t is divided into columns for
dates and other entries, so as to show the
condition OF the watch at the time the en-
UIl Is iilduc. AL " lIulCtlutS Vildu UIlc WdUCu
has been regulated; star shows that it
had run down and had been set going
again An L indicates right and that no
change is needed. A plus sign shows that
the watch runs too fast, and a minus sign
that it goes too slow, and the number Of
seconds entered in the next column shows
the rate of loss or gain per day. A charac-
ter like V turned upside down indicates
set This watch case record, as it Is
called, is great convenience to us and it
causes no trouble to the owner Of the
watch in which it is placed. Instead Of
having to go to our books to find out how
watch was running the last time we saw
it, the record is right under our eyes, and
if the man whose special business it is to
look after the regulating of watches hap
pens to be out, his assistant knows pretty
well what is needed. 80 if a man goes to
another city and has occasion to consult a
matchmaker, the latter can get on speak
ing terms with a new watch, SO to say, in
very short order. New York Tribune.