The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-01-17
1T DEMoRALIzzs WATCHES.
Wearers of Valuable Timepisces Must .Ex-
ercise Care in Approaching Dynamos

From the Western Electrician.
In one of THE mJtor cars which run
into the city "a gentleman apologized
whsle asking the time of his next neigh
her the other day by telling how his
watch, which had never done him an IA
turn I'm many years, had suddenly be-
come unrelia BILE The owner of the ly-
ing tjmepiece was thoroughly ign1r3nt
of the cause, and quite a5t1ilished
when 1t was shown that in all proba'oll
1ty 1t was magnetism from the motor
which had demoralzed his tfmekeeper.
The general public does not understand
ishst magnetism, unlike electricity, can
not be insulated. Tt may ibe absorbed,
but the absorbing material must be
Taramagneltc, that is, a metal or some
Thing which can be magn stized. 1ne
most susceptible material Of that Kind
ts iron. esther i'm the pure sbate of car
bombed, or steel.
But how" he asked, ''does magne-
rtSm get into the watch, and wihat does
Vt do when 1T gets uhere?"
To make THE matter plain, something
like this was C1id In the hrst place
know that certain metals have mo aim
fty for magnetism, cannot be effected
by a magnet, as lead, tim, copper, etc,
while others, notably iron and IT'S COM
pounds, are not only capable OF being
attracted by it, but Will retain certain
amount. or, in other worlds, become
ruagnets and remain magnets until that
magnetism is removed. There is a great
deal more of this permanent magnetism
scattered over the daIiUh than Us gener-
ally known. If you take a needle from
a package in a store, if the package has
been lying in a north and south posi-
tion, you will see 1t Us a magnet II You
float 1t carefully ON the surface OF a
glass of water. 1t Will turn Mound ana
point north and south, like compass
needle In that case, 1.-THE magnetism
comes from the eaIlth's polarity. Ii,
with a compass needle. you test the ran
of a street car (nCt an electrlc ro3ul
YOU will find the rails lying east ana
west are polariZed croSswnse, Wnlle
those lying north and south are polar
lied lengthwise. Nearly every piece OF
permanently fixed iron Will show polar
N.Y. that II is a magnet, more or less
powerful, according to ITS clrcumstah-
ces. The purer and softer IT Us, the
more readily II is affected and the soon
eu IN loses THE property OF magnetism,
while the reverse Is true Of impure OF
hard iron, steel being less raariily AZ
feutod but remaining THE magnetic prop
erty more pers9sltently.
Now, although gold and silver and
brass are all nonmagnetic, the watch
is not wholly composed of those metals.
The main spring of your watch is fine
steel, and several other portions of the
watch are of the same metal The
magnetizing of the main spring, the
case spring, screws, etc, Will generally
do a little or no harm. for these are
comparatively stationary. But the lit
tie hair spring, which oscillates back
and forth many times a minute, is also
steel and, being magnetized, is irregu-
larly acted upon by the magnetic force
of the earth1the same force which
tends to hold the compass needle in a
north and south position. When your
hair spring winds up. ii is pulled either
one way or the other by the earth $
magnetism or by some other magnet
according to the position of the watch.
and when ii unwinds IL is pulled in the
opposite direction. and the constant
worrying of the little, delicate spring
will thoroughly discourage Ii from do
ing perfect work. This little spring
averages about five movements per
second, or, in round numbers, $4,000
per day, so that a very slight acclera-
tion or retardation of its motion on
each beat would aggregate many min
utes a week. But there is another af-
fected portion i'm watch, If magnet
ism gete into 1.-THE balance wheel
This is sometimes made up of metals
which have different coefiicients of di-
lation and contraction, so that in all
changes of heat and cold the size of
the balance wheel, and consequently
its rate of movement-five times a sec
ond-will remain constant. This is
sometimes made of paramagnetic met
al and may be affected by magnetism.
Now. as the iron safe in your office.
the iron joists under the floor. the iron
front of the building. the columns and
pretty much everything else iron In
the vicinity of your desk is more or
less magnetic. and as the opposite
ofsf Oh. fl.aY
and, like poles, repel each other. your
watch may be I'm close proximity to a
moderate magnet all day, and II ii is
magnetiZed, why the safe or the rail-
ing would have more effect on Ii than
II II were free from that property. The
motor under the floor OF the car Gre
ates what electricians call a magnetic
field in every direction. and this in
fluence while II is nothing that can be
weighed. tasted. felt or seen. satur-
ates the air and everything surround
ing IL with 2 decreasing density as you
recede from the pole of the machine.
At the pole II will hold several pounds
of iron with a force requiring a hard
pull to release II when in actual con-
tact A hammer, a heavy wrench, a
spike will be jerked out of your hand
at a distance of an inch or more. Now.
there is no insulator for magnetism.
The floor. the seat. a cushion. clothing
none of these is competent to stop the
effect, and distance only weakens the
field of saturation. y plate of iron
may absorb the magnetism in part. but
this acts more in the capacity of a
strainer than a complete shield.
And that. sir. probably, tells where
your watch trouble is.
MI ara's Pow at Buffalo
The signing by the mayor of Buffalo