Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-01-17


are now manufactured in England and
America, still the hereditary skill of the
Genevese hand causes the art of watch
manufacture in Geneva to be held il
high esteem all over the world. 1t j,
not to be wondered at that the Swis,
have made watch manufacture Nation
| al industry, and, in order to perfect tn,
art, schools of Matchmaking have beer
| established. Foremost among these in
stitutions is L Ecole Municipile d'Horlo
gerie, situated In Geneva. Heie Swis-
boys pay only one dollar month for
their instruction, while foreign boys pay
trife more. The pupils pay for the
| material employed in tAeir work; so al
the end of five years, when they leave
the institution, the twelve watches man
ufactured by each boy are his own prop.
erty.
A boy enters the school at fourteen
gears Of age, and begins in every elias:
by making the utensils required in the
manufacture OF a watch, even the wood
en- handles; then he makes the model
watch in wood. They work from
September until July, having only one
month for vacation. From five to 81,
months are passed in this class. Ter
hours day are passed in school, but no,
all at the work bench, for each pupil
gives seven hours of every week to til
study OF drawing, the elements of phys
les, mathematics, mechanical science and
chemistry. There are different classes
for each Of these studies in the school.
which the boys are required to attend
The second class requires q stay o.
seven or eight months. This is called
the classe de blanc. Here are made by
hand the inside cases for watches,
chronometers and repeaters. The cage
or inner case and some of the wheels ale
made CT metal which is a mixture
copper and zinc; other wheels and screws
are made of steel. The apprentices are
required to make twelve lever escape.
ment cases, one cylinder escapement case
and one case for watch that strikes the
hour, half and quarter hour. You eau
get an idea or the amount of patience
and work required in this class when you
learn that their are twenty. one small
pieces to be made by hand for the inside
Ease of every ordinary watch and thirty
pieces for repeater.
In the third class, where from six to
seven months are spent, the mechanism
for winding the watch is made. There
are seven small pieces in each mechan-
sm, all made by hand.
A period of six months is required in
the fourth class, where the art of making
the different parts of the chronograph is
learned. Here the pupil makes one hun.
dred different small pieces for watches
that strike the hour, and perpetual cal
endar watches that denote the DAYS,
months, year and change of moon. As
the work proceeds it becomes more com
plicated. Eight months are given up in
the fifth class to the making Of eight
pieces of the watch, the wheels and
screws which move the works and regu-
late the hands of the timepiece. Here
the pupil Is required also to make mi
crometer, which is an instrument which
can measure the least possible thickness
of either wheel or screw. The exact
position of the different movements is de
termined by mathematical problems.
Given the positions on the inner case OF
the watch, the pupil can determine the
exact diameter of the wheels and screws.
Machines are used to pierce the metal,
and also to make the teeth in the wheel
but all is finished by hama.
In the sixth class of the school the
greatest care is required in the work,
for here the pupils are taught to make
both lever and cylinder escapements, five
or six of the former aud one OF the latter.
There are ten essential pieces In each
lever oscapement, including three
ru5ies, which are polished and shaped
here from the rough stones. Rnbies are
used in watches on account of their
hardness. Each tooth of the wheel OF
the lever passes nine thousand times
over the ruby in an hour. The time
Fpent in TINS class Is about thirteen
months.
In the last class the pupil works for
rear, verifying all the calculations made
in the other classes, and putting together
pill the different parts (Which are first
tidedl to make a watch. The dial,
bands and handspring of watch are
made by special factories. Chronometers
have cylindrical or spherical hair
springs, while fiat ones are employed
for watches; it is this hair spiral which
regulates the watch. The springs are
made in a mold, three at time-the
steel being wound round and then heated
To keep it in shape. The hair springs
FOR watches are made principally by wo-
iucn, their hands being better adapte.
to the delicate work. Now that the
vatch is finished it must be properly reg
Ilated so as to keep as nearly exact time
IS possible. In order to accomplish this,
i is submitted first to certain degree OF
cat and afterwards to a certain degree
pi cold.
1t is required that every watch made
y pupil OF the school be sent to the
Observatory, in order to be astronom-
cally regulated. According to the de-
i.ree of perfection of regularity of his
watch the pupil receives certificate
rom the Observatory.
The different parts of a watch are or
linarily made by machine, and then fin
sled and put together by hand, but In
rJer to be a master of his art the
'atchmaker should thoroughly under.
nd the making of each piece by hand.
tached to this institution there is also
nechanjcal department, where all the
fereut parts of a watch are made by
g. I.ree years nave TO be given
.p to learning the mechanical work Of
the school. The first year is spent in the
preparatory, the second in the interme-
1iste, and the third in the superior class.
There are fifty machines employed hero
for the manufacture OF the different
l. IL. II :.