The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1891-07-04
ODD OLD WATCHES.
Hsiiss Of Royal .nd distinguished Fer
soaas.s OF . ny-t1op- Tis--s.n
Oad specimen. of tho Watch
mAk-,'. SAIL.

usAhrfs ~kNls
Som. Of the cnrli.s, wn.ehr. w-r-
mad, ahoa, the beginning Of the six
,rcn,h century and wcrc, Of courrc. Mt
that time considered mEry-ls 81 hlsili.
These iirn, pock.,-cioris, say, the New
York Journal. w-r- made Of aimor;
any shapr except round and had but
one hand and required winding twice n
n day. Some Of them In addition - ".
coriing the hour Of the day. were per-
fec, aimanacs, giving the day Of the
month. the changes Of the moon. the
rising and setting of the sun aud other
item, Of useful information.
In the time Of Queen Elizabeth
watches wcrr suspended round the n"clss
Of their wrnnr, or attached to brace
lets, and for this purpose they were
made In the shape Of crosses and vnri'
ou. other suitable forms. Many Of the
early timc-picccs. however. were
much too large nnd heavy IN t'- worn
In thi, manner. and were, In fact. In.
tended to bc placed on private altar.
such as wcrr Ia L. found In most Of the
noble houses nf the day.
Some Of these watches ar- In the form
81 skull. One OF these curious time.
piece, belonged to Mary Queen Of Scots,
and which she gave 10 the fair Mary
Scaton. one Of her -four Marys." This
strange keepsake !. ornamcn;cd with
various figures. each having partlcu.
lar meaning, and has u good deal oi
opcn work at the bottom In order 10
allow the sounding Of the passing
hours to b. heard. as they are struck
upon silver hell In the interior.
A large number OF the earlier watches
were OF nm oval shape, though some re-
ssmblc those Of the prcscn; day. The
poet Millions watch-upon the face OF
which his name in full Is engraved thus.
ioanni Mil,oni. i03l-nay h. seen In the
British Museum rs well NJ two said 10
belong to- Oliver Cromwell. The case OF
one of these Is made of silver. and Is
ornnincntcd nj the top with the pro-
tcctors initials. 80. e., and u, the bot
tom Is n approximation Of cured
sword. which. doubtless, II intended 10
denote tha; the owner belonged to the
army.
There are many old.fashioncd time.
pieces In the same collection. Most of
these were made during the seventeenth
century. and are in the form of skulls,
crosses, bells and various fruits. There,
also. Is n very curious German book.
shaped watch made about the year 1850.
II Is made of silver and when closed
resembles tiny book with the cover
beautifully ornamented, as was the fash.
ion In those days. When opened the
face of the watch is disclosed.
Among other peculiar watches in this
collection is one that was made in
France between the years 1920 and 1850.
II is in the form of dog. resting. A
little catch under the forcpaws of the
dog secures the outer case. and SO we are
not permitted TO have n glimpse at the
face of this curious watch.
King George Ill. was on one occasion
presented with n remarkable watch. rs
n birthday present. II was less than an
inch in diameter. weighed no morc than
sixpcncc and repeated the hours, quar-.
tcrs and even tine headquarters. This
beautiful timc-piece was designed and
made by matchmaker named Arnold:
and It is related that the King was Sc
delighted with the gift that he sent in
return note of thanks and sum of
five hundred guincas. 1t is said tina,
the clever workman was nftcrward of.
fcrcd more than thousand pounds by
the Emperor of Russia for n duplicate
of the little marvel; but he refused &
make another even for that large sum
of money.
Another very small watch was for
mcrly the property of King George III
II is set in II ring, and the dial. which i
about the size of n sixpcncc, is surround
cd with very small diamonds, with
large diamond on each side. 1t is OF
exquisite workmanship, and must hav,
cost large sum of money.
Some curious watches were mad,
many years ago for enabling II person tc
tell the time during the night by merely
feeling the face of the watch. Thcs,
were called touch Watches and had
only one hand, with raised pins at cacl
hour. SO that n person could feel the
time at night.
Then there were the curious old-fush.
Toned table watches. These were usual.
~ constructed with kind of dome. and
'"cre much larger than the watches in
ordinary use. being made especially 70,
use ut table.