Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-12-30
THE CLOCK WINDER.
A NEW YORK MAN WHO MAKES HIS
LIVING AT THIS CALLING.


whims % Some ef isis Pstrons whess
TimepIsess re Lsoas After--sEystesy ef
the Cioek THAT weuid Noe Go on Friday.
Twensy Clocks In One House.
Clock winding seems simple enough
task to be performed by owners for
their respective timepieces, but there are
many people who find IL sufficiently
burdensome 20 make them delegate it to
some ono else Hence has arisen the
profession Of clock winder, which as
yet claims probably fewer members
than any other calling In the city. For
some years jewellers have attended TO
the repairing Of clocks which they sold
and have even looked after the winding
where this WIS especially desired. but
they never tried 20 obtain this kind Of
business. and II was done merely az an
accommodation 20 their customers. Now
there In ut least one man In New York
there may be more. though not many
whose only occupation il the wind
ing. regulating and occasional cleaning
OF clocks for numerous families He
makes daily rounds so as TO cover his
entire route. but he never visits the
same house oftener than once q week
Un that day his coming Is expected. and
he has free access TO ell the rooms,
whether they are occupied at the time
or not Through the various halls and
apartments he goes. from the top of the
house 10 the bottom. winding the clocks
and giving a touch here and there 10 o
regulator where he finds it necessary
OF course he does not pay any attention
to the little nickel alarm clocks. which
run for only one day His care. being
given weekly, is spent upon the eight
day clocks OF more expensive design and
workmanship
The clock winder whom The Tribune
reporter saw had several stories to tell
about the pursuit OF his occupation.
Some people are very particular about
the striking of their clocks. he said.
They will ask me II can't arrange to
have all the simepieces In the house
strike together Now. as general
thing. that Is an impossibility. and III
tell you why Some clocks are arranged
TO strike Just half minute before the
hour. some for q quarter of a minute
before. some for a few seconds after the
hour aud so on. You see If fixed them
so that they would strike together they
would not DO exactly together in point
OF actual time. which is more important
In one house on my list the family owns
20 clocks OF these suppose or g.
perhaps more-strike in unison. and
the others all within minute My or.
ders in this house are TO have all the
clocks except one nc precisely the cor
rect time. This odd one is the timepiece
IN the bedroom of the mistress of the
house. aud she wishes il kept three
minutes fast ! think that is the only
instance among my customers Of any.
body who wants q clock perpetually
fast, and ! am very certain there is no
one who asks me to keep one slow
when undertake the care of the
clocks ia house. nobody else is allow
cd TO touch them, and the servants in
particular have orders never to move OF
interfere with them in any way Some
times this Is done accidentally. and il
IS hard TO find out how the clock has
been injured A fcw months ago lost
one OF my best houses because there was
one clock which | could not seem to
put in proper order | would take il
away. clean IL thoroughly and looS to
every smallest part of the mechanism.
Apparently il made no difference The
clock positively refused to run right
Finally s. gave IL up. and that family
had mighty poor opinion of my abil-
titles rs clock repairer
Some weeks after that came across
n clock IN another house which acted i'm
exactly the same way was puzzled
for awhile Finally noticed that it nj.
ways stopped ON Fridays That was
queerer than ever. until by chance hit
upon the solution of the mystery. The
servG 1t. while busting the room on that
day. was IN the habit of passing her
cloth along the mantle under the clock.
This would have made no difference
with many timepieces. but this one had
an open bottom. through which the tip
OF the pendulum projected The busting
cloth inst touched this enough to stop
f.. it The girl did not know what she had
done. and thus the family were mysti-
fled anew each week by finding that the
clock would not go ON Friday
= clean all my clocks regularly once
IN two years. and in that way keep them
IN proper running order Most people
think that IL is just us well to let n
clock run until II stops, fairly clogged
up with dirt but that ism Z so. By that
time &c may be SO bad that it will be
impossible ever TO make it run as accu-
rately as II did before
am usually paid by the month to
take entire charge of all the clocks in a
house. 1t being understood that make
weekly visits Sometimes. though,
am employed by the year In the case
OF the house was telling you Of, where
they have 30 clocks. they pay me 800
annually for the work Il takessa good
deal CT my time In the course Of l2
months. anal don't fill my pockets rs
fast Us some folks seem to think
Caght. concluded the clock winder