The Portland daily press., 1898-12-22
TOWER CLOCKS
Iy NEW YORK.
How the eity's Oldest Public Tim
pieces Are Put Together.
TRlNITY'S Is THE HEAVIEST.
st. PauI's Has Pointed the Hours for a
Century.
IN. Y. Times. J

~. i. lines.
Our forefathers counted time by days;
our fathers by hours; we, by minutes and
seconds.
Our grandsires travelled by sail, and
started on a certain day at any time to
suit themselves; our sires, by stages, that
left at a given hour or when they got
ready; we, by steam, on the minute. Our
grandparents thought a clock a luxury;
our parents were proud to possess a
watch We all carry watches; even
schoolboys begin carrying them, for we
must have our independent seconds. The
old saying of our great philosopher.
Franklin, was that "Iime is money"
10 start tour among the towers, we will
commence at st. Paul's. For century
the face of her clock was gazed at, in
sunshine and in storm, and ever faithfully
did she point out the hours as they rolled
Washington used to worship there. The
frame OF St. Pauls clock stands feet
long, feet inches wide, and feet high
1t bears the date ''l798, made by John
Thwaites, Clerkinwell, Lond.' The four
columns at the corners have connecting
bars near top and bottom tenoned into
them. and screwed firmly together. Bolted
to these crossbars are three upright bars
on each side, which hold all the working
parts; the time train of four wheels on
the left, the strike train on the right, and
the dial and locking parts ssin the centre.
,n.. -l,on &c
strike ~ The scape wheel is inches,
and too5hed. The pallats are dead beat.
The pendulum is of wood. l3 feet, and
giving thirtytwo beats. The bali weighs
about seventy five pounds. 1t regulates
from the bottom like common clock.
The pinions are lantern, made by driving
on the arbor two heavy coliets. and cut
ting in them as many slots as there are
leaves The train wheels are all of brass.
the winding wheels of iron. The brass
work is well finished, but the iron parts
are just as they came from the hammer.
The arbors are only turned at the collets
and bearings. The arbor bearings are
brass bushings. The barrels are 3 inch.
es in diameter. The time weight is
wound by pinien and crank, but the
strike has ships wheel set so that 1T
st. Johns clock is almost identical
with St. Paul's, except it is better fin
ished in some respects, but has poor
escapement. The scape-wheel teeth are
very long and slim, the impulse angle
near sixty degrees, a dead drop OF near
one-eighth, and, to finish, short PEN
dulum of 1-2 feet, it gives the pallats
q blow rs it escapes that shakes the whole
movement. Nearly every tooth in the
scape wheel has been broken out. The
weight is too heavy, but being solid
casting cannot be reduced, and II, like St.
Paul's, large amount Of the pendulum
spring, one would not know where 1T
would spring. The scape wheel teetn
slide on the pallats an inch, and yet the
curve is so perfect that one fraction of
motion in the wheel cannot be perceived.
We now come to two clocks built by
Stokell--one in the Dutch Reformed
Church, one of the most interesting
church organizations in New York, on
account of it's historical associations. 10
1T belongs the honor of being the tirst
Protestant organization not only IN this
city but in America. Its history dates
back to 1929 in which year the leading
Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam began
to worship in large room over horse
mill. where for seven years they contin-
ued to hold religious services; after this
they erected wooden church ON what Is
now Cdllcu O1u OH pa Ao pISoOho 51oo VI
the Dutch Reformed Church is Fifth
Avenue and Twenty ninth Street.
The other venerable church editice in
the city which we will mention is ST.
Marks, at Second Avenue and Tenth
street. For years it was the only church
on the island above the city, and the
people of Harlem made toilsone journeys
to it each week. The present building is
the successor Of chapel built upon the
same site by the Dutch Governor, Petrus
Stuyvesant, whose remains are buried be-
meath the church. When this building
was erected in 1926, the surrounding
country was devoted to farming and gar
dening, and from the portico an unob.
structed view could be had OF the East
now go back to the description of the
clocks of these two churches. The FIR st
is copied literally from st. Johns. except
ing the escapement, and the same may be
said of the other, only it is reduced IN
size. In both Stokell made slight reooll
to his pallats, which deadens the motion
and keeps them within bounds. Stokell
made some of the finest and best Iegula-
tors we have in the country, ana IL seems
strange that he should make two clocks
opied from one known to be interior.
Iriniby is the heaviest clock III America.
1t was built by Jam3s Rogers in 1876. In
building this clock he seems To nave made
an effort to see now mucn lneGal coulQ De
nut in III. The frame stands feet long,
5 feet high. and SO feet wide The main
wheels are 80 inches. There are four
wheels in the time train and three each
in the striek and chime. The scape wheel
is g1-2 inches The pallals are dead beat
rounded impulse, and well Jeweled; all
the pinions are lantern. The barrels are
20 inches, turning three times in twenty
tour hours The winding wheels are
solid casting, 80 inches diameter, and
inches thick, and are driven by pin1on
and crank, and it takes $50 turns of this
crank to turn each weight up. 1t takes
20 feet of S-inch rope for the three cords,
aud over an hour for two men to wind it.
The retaining power is operated by hand
Two arms project from an arbor, on one
of which is fastened an iron bell weighing
about twenty-five pounds, and the other
has "a knuckIe joint and finger, that when
let down, takes into the teeth of the Sec
ond wheel and carries it forward but
passes the teeth freely when brought back.
The pendulum makes twenty five beats,
and it is about l8 feet long. The Ginning
train is the same as the striking, which
is regular one. Above the main wheels
the moement is contracted in width to 2
feet, thus shortening all the arbors above
m tbot Ioputh The main arbOr BEARINGS