The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-07
o-HRoNoeRArH KArcHrn
They Arc Used by Nurses ne Well Rs Sports
men and Arc About Perfect.

They Arc Used by Nurses ms Well ne Sports
men and Arc About Perfect.
The properly equipped trained nurse, whether
at the seat OF war wearing the badge Of the Red
Cross or waiting upon the aflicted at home.
carries n chronoRraph watch; not the large.
split-second timing piece associated with the
sports of the turf and field. but n handsome
little single chronograph. cased like other gold
watches designed for women's use. These
watches are especially made to enable
trained nurses to take accurately the pulse
OF their patients. The moment the pulse
has been taken tho large sweep second
hand can be instantly stopped by a slight
pressure upon the stem OF the watch: II there
Is n fuctuation In the pulse. the second hand
can be thrown quickly back to the starting
point and the pulse taken over again without In
any way interfering with the other mechanism
of the watch. So much depends upon accurate
knowledge OF the pulse that these chrono-
graphs are an invaluable auxiliary in the work
of the sickroom. While these watches are an
entirely recent idea. many physicians and sur
Reons carry regular chronoRraphs for the same
purpose. The watches for nurses sell at $50;
those for physicians range from 500 upward.
While ordinary watches have been made for
several centuries, the timing watch and its
rapid development to its present high state Of
perfection are the product OF our own time.
The first timing watch was made some forty or
htty years ago. 1t was not designed for timing
horse races or other sports. for it was called q
surgeons pulse,' which proves that one o
the present uses Of the watch by physicians Ia
really going back to first principles. This
original watch was a very crude affair. It
simply had n large second hand that made q
circuit OF the dial every minute. jumping
a second at a time, and there was no way
nf ntt A. -r-s, ill., Ia NIL
subsequent development of the split-second
chronograph and its use in horse racing and
other sports have since caused timing watches
to be associated moro with horse racing than
any other single interest. They are now about
as near perfection as can be attained by human
skill and ingenuity. The fact should not be
lost sight OF that a watch, is, after all, merely a
piece OF mechanism, and, like any other ma
chine. a great deal depends on its handling. A
highly adjusted watch is an excellent indicator
OF the character Of the wearer, particularly as
regards his daily habits. for, while one watch
may run within a second a day with one man. it
may vary many seconds with another: A GUS
ffSmer N New %'9 9ork a iswe SITe@s smd t h5s E2fe tb6 to ia a
the previous six months it had gained Just nine
seconds: in the next three months II lost two
Just seven seconds. OF course. this was really
a phenomenal case, but 1t demonstrates what a
favorable circumstances. The owner OF this
Watch, is a very methodical man. with a DISPOSE
tlOn tnat is never. ruined. he Is punctuallty
itself. winds up his watch at the same, hour
each day. walks at about the same gait and
the same distance daily attending to his
hour each night. and on retiring leaves
the watch in his waistcoat, hung over
n chair. Thus for the same number of hours
each day the watch rests in the same position.
GIVE this same timepiece to a nervous excit-
able person, who runs for and jumps of cars.
whose habit is to wind his watch on retiring.
and who retires at all hours, and the result
would be very different. 1t has also been
noticed that watches vary more or less, as the
case may be, between Saturday and Monday
than in an equal length OF time during the
week, for the reason that the average man is
less active between Saturday and Monday than
on other days. OF course this applies chiefly to
the finely adjusted watches.
With the Improvement in watches generally
the cost of production has also been materially
reduced. so that to-day a gold watch is prac-
tically within the reach of all. Nowadays Jew
ellers sell a much handsomer and neater OPEN
face woman's gold watch for S25 than could be
bought a few years ago for $40. The woman's
richly decorated and jewelled women's watches
the, prices range anywhere from SO to Sl.O
and upward. The same Is true of the chrome
graphs or timing watches. You can now buy a
mans handsome single chronograph. marking
hfths OF q second, in an 1S-carat gold case, for
carat gold cases. range from S125 to 5000. The
cases of all these are of the same high standard
1S-cafat gold. the prices being governed en-.
tirely by the equipment and finish of the move.
ment. The S45O watch Is considered perfection
In horse timers. In addition to the split-second
hand and a minute marker. With this watch
you can take with the accuracy Of n quarter
second the exact time for each quarter or other
fractional part OF the race.