The morning call., 1893-09-24
UNIQUE WATCHES.
Queer Timepieces at the
Worlds Fair.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS.
The. Silver Watch Worn by Lady
Jane Grey Beside That Carried
- :. by Queen Elizabeth.

long. long years ago, says the Chicapo
3: CORRESPONDENT of the PHILADELPHIA Times
some one writing about the watch said
''eThere is no dead thing so like living
one" Some of the truth of this remark has
been extracted in these modern times
= when electricity and steam have so trans.
formed inanimate machines that they
- seem 10 have almost the living souls of
the human kind. 1t can still, however. he
safely said that there is no article invented
forReTsonal use that seems more instinct
:. With life aud, On account of this liyeliness
and intelligence. becomes more of a real
= companion to man than this little marker
otthe flight OF time. Any ornament or
belonging in constant use seems to partake
the personality of the wearer, but 9TH
Ing so much as the watcL, because of the
intimate communion and constant COM
panionShip between it and its possessor.
This is why a number of antique watches
exhibited in the Manufacturers building
hold such a human interest for all who
stop to learn their industry. There are
:, two Of these antique exhibits, one by an
d. English and the other by an American
: firm. The English holds more of historical
: value, for in one little section there are
twelve old watches, each one owned by a
: man or woman whose name stands marked
m history.
The Oldest in this case is a small silver
watch once worn by the haplesS Lady
g. Jane Grey, who, after brief reign of ten
T.. days as England's Queen, paid the penalty
= of death for her ambition. This strange
= little silver toy IS safe and sound to-day,
= centuries after the human body whose
sorrows 1t measured has been turned to
. dust. Another Queen, more fortunate in
public lie, at least, Is represented-fOr
p little affair Of enamel and silver is said TO
have been worn by Eliza beth, and it takes
no very strong fancy to imagine the moods
and lenses OF this capTiciOus lady TO which
this little monitor was witness and conf
6ant
Side by side lie the watches of Milton
and Cromwell. the latter of silver. plain
and heavy, as beftted the man of war and
terror. The blind poets little companion
is in quaint silver case, and the figures
are raised on the dial so that touch could
take the place of sight. 1t was made in
1860, after Milton, by excessive study. had
IN. the case are equally interesting and
would more than repay visit from all who
. are interested in such things.
-. If these illuStrious people had lived In
earlier times they would not have found
-: watch such convenient thing to carry. for
the earliest ones made were very bungling
affairs, run by weights and hung around
tue neck. Near the close of the fifteenth
century one Peter Hele substituted the
handspring for the weights. Itwas merely
=: a straight piece of steel and occupied much
space. still it so reduced the size of the
:. watch that ii could be worn in the pocket,
aud hence watches were called pocket
3: CLOCKS, name which still obtains in Ger
: many.
-: ApJopos of this important change in the
watch, 1t is curious TO know when the first
. watch was invented. 1t is on record that
. the Clepsydra Or water clock (saId to have
been Invented by one Ctesi bus OF Alex
enGrla) was introduced into Rome in the
=. 5S5th year of the city, and consequently
many years before the birth of Christ.
THt simple timekeeper was so constructed
> that water issued drop by drop through
. hole in the vessel and fell into another, in
=. which a light floating body marked the
height of the water when it rose and by
-. this means the time that elapsed. These
instruments were set full of water In the
courts of law to time the speeches of the
lawyers who had a propensity to speak
Il :beyo their allotted time, which fact goes
. TO show that never mind how much the
watch and other ancient things may have
been modified by years, the man of law, in
one respect at least, Is the same ''yester-
day, to-day and forever"
:. ::'f-he next step from the water clock was
the hour or hand glass, which also origin
= -afed in Alexandria, and was introduced
into Rome 158 years before the Christian
:-era.-The earliest watch known was during
the reign of Henry Viii We are told that
!: tickle monarch presented the ill-starred
- Anne BOleyn with jeweled watch as
bridal gift, which same is now shown in the
= kenslngton Museum, if my mem ory is cor
rect. Some of the most ancient watches
were strikers, and il is said that such hav-
ing been stolen from both Charles V and
Louis Xl while they were in a crowd the
thief was detected by their striking the
:. hour.
= Speaking of striking watches brings me
70 the American exhibit mentioned above,
(which, by the way, is a Philadelphia one),
toI in that case there are two of the most
70, beautiful repeateTs, both $50 years old and
of French make. The mechanical parts of
- herepeating train are exposed and tiny gold
figures strike upon little bells, telling off the
hour in a most musical and pleasing man
ner. In this collection th ere is another
watch for the blind, used, perhaps, this time
by "5ome mute inglorlOuS Miltop, whose
name is unknown. but whose battered old
tmepiece is said to have lived with him
more than 80 years ago. 10 tell the time
. the blind man removes the crystal from
the face and lightly touches the hands and
the raised number to which it points.
Such use would tend TO hurt the move
ments of the hands 1t would seem, but so
marvellous is the delicacy of touch in these
sightless people that no change is made in
the movement.
A most curious watch is one with
wooden case and movement made by
deaf mute OF tennessee, VINO maze the
watch before he learned anything of
matchmaking. and whose tool were only
"A three-cornered file and a case-knife.
This piece, however. il more curious than
beautiful, though the whole thing shows
an ingenuity and skill wonderful from
such untutOred hands.
A beautiful Geneva watch 100 years old
has the twenty-tour-hourd dial. One half is
white to mark the day and the other half
dark blue enamel studded with gold stars
to represent night. There are two 250-
year-old watches, both of English make,