Griggs courier., 1894-03-16
WATCH DISEASES.
SOMETHING LIKE THOSE OF THE Hu-
- MAN MECHANISM.


A Jeweler Calls the AiIments of n Wat =,
Consumption, Rheumatism and Hear,
Failure nnd Explains tho Analysis II
Each Case.
That's tho twenty-third today
'~e re going to have ah electric storm. ="
remarked a,d5wn town jewelcr us he
was handed watch having broken
handspring for repair.
How do you make that out?" in.
quired the customer.
Why, by the number of broken
rainsprinas. to be sure. was the reply.
There is regular epidemic to which
watches are subject, muci, as human
ity is to smallpox ard cholera. 1t is
produced by certain electric conditions
OF the atmosphere. Tho handspring be-
GENES magnetized and moro brittle, and
& slight shock will break it. Occasion
ally twill snap with no apparent cause
whatever. l have had it happen to
watches lying in the showcase or upon
the rack there. You know of course,
that such atmospheric conc itions fire.
Guently disturb telegraph and telephone
lines and even prevent communication.
That might be expected, as they are
operated by electricity. but the effect
on watches is singular. Frequently
even severe thunderstorm will produce
it. but an auroral display. which seems
TO be an electrical disturbance, is sure
to result in many broken watch springs,
and no better term could be applied to
the trouble than epidemic.
No. there is no reliable protection
against it, though many things have
been tried and many thousands OF dol
lars have been spent. Attempts have
been made to temper the springs by
electricity, sort of incubation against
tue disease. Then email plate or disk
OF soft iron placed within the case TO
absorb tho magnetism, a disinfcctant,
S, tospeak, has given some ec5l results.
do yen k"ow." he continued in a
discarsive tone, THAT watch is SINH
lar in many ways to Il Luman being: It
has its diccases and decays. its cpidem-
les. old ago and finally dissolution.
Yes, and each watch has it's individual
ity and special characteristics. and the
finer the watch the stronger this person.
ality, if it can be so'calied. exactly as
culture develops and Strengthens indi-
vidual character among mankind.
Now, in this epidemic this watch
feels the atmospheric condition as you
do before thunderstorm.- only more
acutely, as does equity or rheumatic
person. being specially susceptible to
such influence, and, perhaps having an
inherent weakness at one point in the
handspring that snaps, fractures lvital
ergan. Heart failure' it might be
termed, for the handspring OF the
watch is its hears, its driving force.
True. we can replace the mainspring,
which cannot be said for the human
heart, but there is no telling how soon
surgery will attain that result.
Then there's the hairspring of the
watch, equivalent to its brain. It is
affected by proximity to strong local
lied electric force-for instance, the
generator or dynamo of an electric
plant. 1t becomes magnetized and stops
"a sort of paralysis. The nonmagnetic
watches have hairsprings made of q
composition metal, tin. zinc and other
varieties. The soft iron plate or disk /
mentioned before givesprotection to the
hairspring as we'll as the handspring by
absorbing the magnetism. A few years
since number of railroad companies
had these iron disks applied to the
watches of many of their employees,
but they are by no means complete
disinfectant.
The lever of watch, also is subject
to electric influences, and when polar
lied. having forked end, it becomes q
regular. horseshoe magnet.and first re-
tards. then stops the hairspring-a sort
of spinal meningitis. you see. r.
''The jewels and bearings are it's
joints and processes and are subject to
sprains and dislocations as we'll as in
or too much friction. Any.
severe shock may result in sprain or
even dislocation to these joints. The
latter will stop it and probably have
attention, while the sprain
may remain unnoticed, hut will render
it's movement irregular and eventually
cause far greater injury than an actual
breaking of the joints. At seas on the
approach of storm the ships chro-
nometers, spf which three are usually
carried, are put to bed, as it is called,
being packed in pillows to prevent in
jury by sudden jar from the ships vio-
lent motion. A few minutes error in
the time Of making observations might
throw vessel many miles out of it's
course.
"Then q watch has kind of rhea-
matism. The oil with which its Joints
are fabricated dries and forms corun-
dunn, which irritates and cuts the pin
iors and bearings. creating friction or
Inflammation.
Dirt to a watch, like biliousness
to humanity, is its most frequent, dis
agreeable and least dangerous ailment.
1t come from all sorts of things-sman
ibers from the pocket, fine dust. micro
scopic matter from many sources, work
through into the case and collectively
disturb, retard and finally prevent mo-
tion altogether. The system becomes
clogged. and thorough cleaning out is
the only cnrroetivo In both those lot