Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-10-25
THE CLOG K AYINDER.
4 NEW YORK MAN WHO MAKES ttis
 LIVING AT THIS CALLING.

Whims of some of His Patrons Whose
 Tifnepieces He Loolis After Mystery of
 the cioel. That Would Not Go on friday.
 Twenty Clocks h One Hoase.
 Clcck winding seems q simple enough task to be performed by owners for their respective tiinepieees, but there are many people who find it sufficiently burdeasome to make them delegate it to some cne else. Hence has arisen the profession of clock winder, which as vet claims probably fewer members than any other calling in che city. Tor some years jewellers have attended to the repairing of clocks which they sold and have even looked after the winding where this was especially desired, but they never tried to obtain this kind of business, aud 1t was done merely as all accommodation to their customers. Now there is at least one man i'll New York there may be more, though not many whose only occupation is the wind- tug, regulating and occasional cleaning fl makes daily rounds so as to cover his entire route, but he never visits the same house oftener than once q week. On that day his coming is expected, and he has free access to all the rooms, whether fheys are occupied at the time or not Through the various halls and apartments he goes, from the top of the house to the bottom, winding the clocks and giving touch here and there to a 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.
 Tine 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 if I can st arrange to have all the timepieccs in the house strike together. Now, as q general thing, that is an impossibility. and I'll tell vou why. Some clocks are arranged to strike just half a minute before the hour. some for quarter of q minute before, some for | few seconds after the hour and so on. Ton see if I fixed them so that they would strike together they would not be exactly together ill point of actual time, which ismore important. In one house on my list hefamilv owns 20 clocks. Of these ] suppose or c. perhaps more-strike in unison, and the others ali within minute. Ny or ders in this house are to have all the clocks except one at precisely the cor rect time. ThiS edd one is the timepleee ill the bedroom of the mistress of the house, and she wishes it kept three minutes fast think that is the only instance among my customers Of any body who wants a clock pefpetualIy fast, and an YeIv# certain there is 10 one who asks me to keep one slow.
 When l undertake the care of= the clocks in q house. nobody else is allow ed to touch them. and the servants in particular have orders never to move CT interfere with them in any way. Some times this is done accidentally, and 1t Is hard to lind out how the clock has been injured \ few months ago I lost one of my best houses because there WAS one clock which I could not seem to put ill proper order 1 would take iH away, clean it thoroughly and look to every smallest part of the mechanism. Apparently 1t made no difference. The clock positively refused to run right. Finally I gave ii up, and that family had q mighty poor opinion of nly abil- ities as clock repairer
 Some weeks after that l came across a clock in another house which acted in exactly the same way. was puzzled for awhile. Finally noticed that it a1- ways stopped 0n Fridays. That was queerer than ever. until by chance 1 hit upon tue solution of the mystery The servant, while dasting 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 dusting cloth just touched this enough to stop 
 done, and thus the family were mysti- fed anew each week by finding that the clock would not go on Friday.
 "I clean all my clocks regularly once ill two years and in that way keep them in proper running order Most people think that it is just as well to let q clock run until 1t stops, fairly clogged mp with dirt. but that isn't so. By that time it may be SO bad that it will be impossible ever to make it run as aceu- rately as it did before.
 '.I am usually paid by the month to take entire charge of all the clocks i'll q house, it being understood that 1 make weekly visits. Sometimes, though, l am employed by the year. ll the casa of the house was teis.1ae y4u of where they have % clocks. they pay he $l0o annually for the SYork. It takes a good deal Of ny time in The conrse of 42 months, and | don fill my pockets IS 4asf as some folks seem fo thiule