The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-06-02

proceeds to bag his game. At day
break the sun rises, and bells play a
German air, "Phochus Awake. On
the night of the full moon they play
another air, Sweet and Tranquil
Luna There are other features too
| numerous to mention.
The history of the famous Strasblrg
clock and the planct,rium connected
with it bears witness, like everything
else. to the impertection OF workman
ship and the frequent necessity OF
changes and repairs. The clock stands
| in the cathedral, and dates back to
1852, when it was put TIP under the
patronage of Berthold Buchek, at that
time bishop of Strasburg. AS time
passed on, the clock got out of order,
and in l547 three distinguished mathe-
maticians were commissioned to put it
in repair. They all died before the
work was finished and Conrad Dasy-
podius undertook the responsible task,
which he completed in four years.
! The clock worked we'll until 1888, the
year Of the great revolution, when it
struck for the last time. 1t was left
uhdisturbed for nearly fifty years, and
fell into a dilapidated condition, mourn
full to behold. An effort was then
| made for its restoration. This was
found to be impossible, for the works
| had been rendered almost useless by
rust and verdigris. Finally Schwilgue,
an artist and mathematician of Stras-
burg, undertook to repair, modify, and
reinstate the clock He commenced
the task in 1886, and, after working
four yeals, completed it in 1910. A
mythical story is told of him, which
does not rebound to the honor of his
fellow citizens. 1t is said that he had
engaged to construct a similar clock
for the capital of one of the Swiss can
tons, and that his ungrateful townsmen
put out his eyes to prevent his fulfil
ment of the contract.
There are a number of old and curl
Gus tower clocks in New York city.
The one in st. Paul's Church is the
oldest. 1t was made in London in
1915. The clock formerly in old St.
Georges Church, in Beekman street,
was made in Roxbury, Mass, in 1915.
When the church was torn down, more
than thirty years ago, this clock was
spirited away, and it is said that no
one knows what has become oft. The
clock in Trinity Church, on Broadway,
was made in 1916, by James Rogers,
the noted horologist. 1t was his boast
that this clock, on being set in motion
in 1916, never stopped for the quarter
of a century which followed 1t was
stopped in August, 1878, for repairs,
and has since lost some of its reputa-
tiOn as an accurate time keeper. The
clock stands forty feet above the dials,
and carries enormously heavy weights.
The winding crank has to be turned
eight hundred and fifty times in wind
ing up, and it requires the strength of
two men to turn it.
The clock in Trinity Church tower,
in New York, is the heaviest in Amer
lea. The frame stands nine feet long,
five feet high, and three feet wide
The main wheels are thirty inches in
diameter. There are three wheels in
the time tram, and three each in the
strike and the Chime. The winding
wheels are formed of solid castings
thirty inches in diameter and two inches
thick, and are driven by opinion and
arbor." On this arbor is placed jack
or another wheel, pinion, and crank,
and it takes eight hundred and fifty
turns Of this crank to wind each weight
up. 1t requires seven hundred feet of
three-inch rope for the three cords, and
more than an hour for two men to wind
the clock. The pendulum is eighteen
feet long, and oscillates twenty-five
times per minute. The dials are eight
feet in diameter, although they look
little more than half that size from
Broadway. The three weights are
about eight hundred, twelve hundred,
and fifteen hundred pounds respec-
lively.
a perpetual sclf.winding clock has
been invented by Nj. Dardenne, native
of Belgium. \ specimen clock was
fixed in the Care du Nord, Brussels,
in September, 1881. After six months
trial it was found in perfect time with
the Observatory clock, and had not
varied in the slightest degree during
that time. The weight is kept con-
stantly wound up by a fan, placed in q
chimney. AS soon rs it approaches
the eNtrems height of its course, it
aotuates a brake, which stops the fan;
and, the greater the tendency of the
fan to revolve, Sd much the more strong
ly does the brake act to prevent it.
\ patent was granted at Washing
ton recently for what is called metri-
cal striking clock The novelty con-
sists in applying the Morse system of
intervals to the strokes of clock, the
advantage being that, in consequence
of certain pauses in the striking, the
car can detect the hour without strikes