The Holly chieftain., 1900-01-26
OUR CLOCKS ABROAD.
TImEPIECES SENT TO EVERY
QUARTER OF THE GLOBE
Demand For Cheap Goods 90 Grsa; the
Manufacturer. Cannot Meet It-P.cuu-
arIries OF the Trade-RoUnd Clocks
for China

are now shipped direct from this port
to every qaarter Of the globe where
civilization has made or is making It's
way, says the New York Evening Post
They are for the most part Of kind
with the nickel alarm clock and the
dollar nickel watch-naChiue-ma
goods. with which the foreign manu-
faCturer cannot compete The export
demand OF last year has beeE the
greatest the manufacturers have
known; they have not resources sufh-
cient 10 supply the whole Of H. The
shipments in the ten months ending
October aggregate in value nearly ST.
800 O00; which is the same as saying
about a million and a quarter clocks
and watches. In 1873 the exports were
valued at about 81 900 900; in 1859. at
about 81 300 OOO ami IL IS estimated
that for 1899 the value viii reach about
SiTGO 900. The clocks 90 % Hong
kong. BueuUs AyTes. Bombay London,
Cape Town, Manila, Arabia. northern
Atrica-eVerywh even in some
considerable quantity, to Switzerland.
The cIOckmaking Industry in the
United States is just as old as the CEN
ruFy. II Is on record. however, that
Eli Terry patented and manufactured
an equation clock In 1874. In 1901 this
same Terry entered into q contract
with a Clockmakcr OF Waterbury 10
make 1000 thirty-hour clocks with sec
onds pendulum. dial and hands and
all for ST each He was given three
years to complete his contract There
was then a clUckmaker at Plymouth
another at Salem Bridge and another
at ROXbury-all distinguished in their
profession. In 1914 Terry perfected q
thirty hour clock OF new cOustruc-
tiou and at once all the makers took
1t up successfully.
Since then the industry has rapidly
developed until now one concern. the
Ansonia Clock company, makes eight
clocks and cheap watches a minute or
5000 a day or 100000 a year; and
another. the Seth Thomas Clock com
pany. makes Of clocks alone. two a
minute, or 200 a day. or 400. 900 a
year. 1t may be said, in passing that
the cheapest nickel clock requires $50
"handllngs" to complete
Il estimate said manufacturer.
that about 10000 clocks a day are
made in the United States That this
enormous supply continues is simply
explained Tho cheap clock or watch
will keep good time for about two
years. Then the oil dries and clogs
the wheels; and the owner buys a new
one rather than go to the expense OF
having the old one repaired. Here's a
little clock called the bee It was in
vented in twenty minutes II has gone
all over the world. and / shouldn't
wonder II II held Its own in the mar
ket until 2O.0o0.OOO ara sold. You must
know that cIockmaking some time ago
reached point in progress near per
fection. The important improvements
of recent years have been few"
In ten months OF 1893 SlI 900 worth
OF clocks and watches were exported
10 China and $4,000 worth to Japan
The Japanese are teaching themselves
clOckmaklng; in the corresponding ten
months Of this year only $50 900 worth
of clocks and watches were exported
to that country. The demand in China
however. has Increased; and it is pc
culiar concerning it that nothing but
round or octagon clocks can be sold to
the Chinese merChants-old fashioned
wooden large dial clocks. such as have
hung in country schoolrooms and
churches for years, and which now
must be made to supply this demand.
The Chinese are beginning to make
the cases for themselves, as the Japan
ese did long ago: for the most part
only the movements to fit are sent to
these countries. The amount saved to
The buyer is extremely small. The
manufacturers have tried yaiuly to in
troduce clocks of an improved form
and movement; but there is practical
ly no sale for anything other than the
octagon style which can be shipped in
any position, and therefore first made
their way so far east.
The nickel alarm clock goes to the
mining camps of Alaska and the Hud,
son bay posts of British North Amer
lea and to North Africa and Arabia
even to the tents of the Bedouins. In
the orient. however. the sale is small
as 1t is 20 all indolent peoples Queer
orders come to the manufacturers
from such places The catalogues o
the various firms drift through many
countries, being carried to this place by
a commission salesman and TO that ~
a travelling merchant, being lost ant
found and traded and sold. gatherins
business for the firm all the time Otter
orders arrive in New York that wer,
put in the mail in some out-of-the-wa,
corner of the world six or nine month