The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-06-08
A HUMAN cHRoNoMErER,
The Wonderful Instinct OF a Man Whs
Tells Time without a watch.

1 Achs Athe WtHOut u Wdtchs
To measure time to the second in
periods of ,minute-that is, with an
accuracy of at least 9S.3 per cent
would be regarded by most persons as
a remarkable, though not perhaps a
| particularly valuable accomplishment
| There is man, however, according to
a correspondent, who can do better
than this. He is veritable human
chronometer. lie can time a sprint
race more accurately than most of the
stop watches used for that purpose,
and is a great deal more reliable than
a majority of the men who officiate as
timers at foot races, even when they
hold good watches. Smith-whlch, by
the way isn't his name-can call the
turn of the watch to the fifth part of
a second.
Smith owns an deliberately con-
structed split second watch of Swiss
manufacture, which was presented to
him by the athletic club to which he
belongs for winning more prizes in a
year than any other athlete in the
| club. To test the watch he used to
time all sorts of things until timing be-
came habit with him.
In his leisure moments Smith would
tick off the seconds mentally as he
watched the long timing hand move
over the fifth second divisions on the
dial of his watch. In a short time he
found he could count the seconds with
out the help of the watch.
When Smith competed in a race he
could tell the official timers Just how
fast he had run. OF course his accom-
plishment was of great service to him
both in training and in racing in en-
abling him to judge his pace.
1t is well known that the time re-
corded by the watchers at foot race
tions of astronomers vary usually a
fraction of a second. Sometimes this
is due to the construction of the watch,
but orten to the personal equation of
the timer or observer, that is the diff
ference between the observed result
and the true depending on the personal
qualities or peculiarities. Thus the
personal equations of well-known as
tronomers are matters of record and
/
When Smith timed a race without a
watch, however, this personal equation
was eliminated.
Timel1eepers see the flash of the pistol
that starts the race and the breaking
of the tape that ends it instantaneous
ly. 1t is in transferring these impress
sions from the mind to the watch
through the comparatively slow me-
dunn of nerve and muscle that mistakes
creep in. Smith didn't need to make
this transfer from the mind to the
watch He was the watch. The men,
tai timing hand in his brain moved
simultaneously with the flash of the
pistol, and stopped as the runners
dashed through the tape. 1t was only
necessary for him to keep cool. OF
course if he got excited over a big race
the whole mechanism was thereby dis
turbed, and he was no more trust
worthy than the timekeeper.
Smith would start his watch and
holding it in such position that he
was unable to see the face, could say
exactly where the hand was. If an.
other started the watch on a signal
from Smith, unless Smith heard the
snap Of the spring that set the mechan.
ism working, he could not tell exactly
how much time had elapsed when the
watch was stopped. The variation be.
tween the time he announced, how.
ever, and the real time indicated by
the watch would be the personal equa.
ton of the timer.-N. Y Herald.