Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-03-17
WATCH DISEASES.
SOMETHING LIKE THOSE OF THE HU-
 MAN MECHANISM.

@ MAN MECHANISM.
 A Jeweler Calls the Ailments of Watch
 Consumption, Rheumatism and Heart
 Failure and Explains the Analysis In
 Each Case.
 That's the twenty-third today we're going to have an electric storm," remarked down town jeweler as he was handed watch having a broken handspring for repair.
 How do you make that out?" in- quired the customer.
 ''Why, by the number of broken mainsprings, to be sure, " was the reply. "There is regular epidemic to which watches are subject, much as human ity is to smallpox and cholera. It is produced by certain electric conditions of the atmosphere. The handspring be- comes magnetized and more brittle, and a slight shock will break it. Occasion ally it will 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 conditions ire quently 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, a sort of inoculation against the disease. Then small plate or disk of soft iron placed within the case to absorb the magnetism, disinfectant, so to speak, has given some good results.
 "Do you know" he continued in discursive tone, that watch is simi- lar in many ways to human being? It has its diseases and decays, its epidem- ics, old age and finally dissolution. Yes, and each watch has its individual ity and special characteristics, and the finer the watch the stronger this person ality, if it can be so called, 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 a thunderstorm, only more acutely, as does gouty or rheumatic person, being specially susceptible to such influence, and, perhaps having an inherent weakness at one point in the handspring that snaps, fractures vital organ. Heart failure it might be termed, for the handspring of the watch is it's heart, its driving force. True, we can replace the handspring, which cannot be said for the human heart, but there is no telling how soon surgery will attain that result.
 linen there's the hairspring of the watch, equivalent to its brain. It is affected by proximity to strong local ized electric force-for instance, the generator or dynamo of an electric plant. It becomes magnetized and stops "a sort of paralysis. The nonmagnetic watches have hairsprings made of a composition metal, tin, zinc and other l mentioned before gives protection to the hairspring as we'll as the handspring by absorbing the magnetism. A few years since a number of railroad companies had these iron disks applied to the watches of many of their employees, but they are by no means a complete disinfectant.
 "The lever of watch also is subject to electric influences, and when polar ized, having forked end, it becomes a regular horseshoe magnet and first re- tards, then stops the hairspring-a sort of spinal meningitis, you see.
 "The jewels and bearings are its joints and processes and are subject to sprains and dislocations as we'll as in- dammation or too much friction. Any severe shock may result in a sprain or even dislocation to these joints. The latter will stop it and probably have immediate attention, while the sprain may remain unnoticed, but will render its movement irregular and eventually cause far greater injury than an actual breaking of the joints. At seas on the approach of a storm the ships chro- nometers, of 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 a vessel many miles out of its course.
 "Then watch has a kind of rheu- matism. The oil with which its joints are fabricated dries and forms corun- dunn, which irritates and cuts the pin ions and bearings, creating friction or inhammati on.
 Dirt to a watch, like biliousness to humanity, is its most frequent, dis agreeable and least dangerous ailment. It come from all sorts of things-small 6bers 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 corrective. In both these lat ter diseases atmospheric conditions ma terially, Influence the patient condition, dry, dusty weather hastening the devel- opment and rendering the attack more acute. Rust or consumption is as dead ly to 8 watch as to humanity, and after it reaches certain stage is incurable. Once in the system its effects are never wholly eradicated, and warm, moist atmosphere may at any time induce a return of the disease. ''-Chicago Trib- une.
 Two walnut chairs that were brought