The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-07-18
DANES AND SWISS.
What They Exhibit at the
Worlds Fair.
THE Art OF MAKING WATCHES

Marvellous Manifestations OF Mans Skill
To Be Seen in Ssitzerland's Pavilion in
the Manufactures Buiiding-Relics of
Hans Christian Andersen IN the Danish
Pavilion-Eonors to Great Men.
WORLDS FAIR, July Is. = Especial =
Two OF the smaller countries of Europe
make exceedingly interesting exhibits at
this fair. These are Switzerland and Den
mark. The latter somewhat surprises
those visitors who were not aware OF the
remarkable artistic touch of the Danes.
Denmark takes very high place here,
and Switzerland does well, but not as
well as it might have done. The Swiss
government which is even more economic
ally managed than our own government at
Washington, made a very small appropria.
ton to assist its citizens in their work oi
making creditable display at the fair
But for the watch and jewelry manufac
turers of Geneva there would not have
been any Swiss exhibit at all. These bust
ness men knew. they could not afford to
miss this grand opportunity to popularize
their wares on the western continent,
which has always been liberal purchaser
Of the finest Swiss work, and they accord.
tngly made arrangements for the erection
of a handsome pavilion in Manufactures
building.
1t is not a costly pavilion, but light and
graceful. A happy idea in connection
with it was to run all around its margain,
within the walls, a panorama of the Alps,
well painted by native artists. The result
is that these blue and white mountain
peaks look down upon the scene with sur
prisingly close imitation of nature.
Within the chain Of Alps is industrial
Switzerland, making watches and fine
jewelry, music boxes. carvings and knick
knacks. The most interesting part of the
swiss display consists of the fine, hand
made watches. In bold and pleasing de-
signs, in ornamentation in the deft mix
ing of precious stones with their time
keepers, as well as in the excellence of
their movements, the Swiss perhaps excel
all other nations In the making of fine
watches they exercise uncomfortable pa
thence, and the art has descended in many
families from generation to generation.
There are whole villages in Switzerland in
which the population does nothing but
make watches. 1t is one of the principal
industries of the country.
Until within the last few years the
Swiss have not used machinery at all in
matchmaking. To this day the time
keepers which they pin their reputation
upon, the beautiful little things costing
from one hundred to two thousand dollars,
and warranted not TO vary more than six
seconds in a month from true time, as
tested at the astronomical observatory
of Geneva, are all hand work. But when
the Swiss came to the Philadelphia Cen
tennial exposition and saw how easily and
cheaply the Americans produced very
good watch largely by the use Of machin-
cry, they perceived that if they were to
have fair chance in the worlds markets
they must find some means of making
good watches that could be sold for less
money than their handmade thermometers
must sell for in order to afford a livelihood
to the workmen. and decent profit to the
employer. So they began to contrive ma
chinery for producing some of the simpler
parts of the watch, aud are today making
good time-pieces partly by machinery and
in part by hand work.
This is but one of many examples of the
benefit country may obtain from COM
petition in these worlds fairs, where the
best that every nation can do is shown and
where the observing may, learn how to i'm
prove their own wares or processes. 1t
would be difficult for one to estimate the
good that is to be done the worlds indus
tries by this exposition in the way of bet
tering and cheapening products SO as to
bring them within the reach Of larger
humber of people.
That the Genevans show most beautiful
watches goes without saying: and that
Sheir cases are constantly surrounded by