The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-02-20
Tho Strange Yarn Of mn Idolized
Town Clock.

gazed DeSeecnlnRly At tue cUMM ueeks
and said:
gentlemen, far be 1t from me to In
trude upon the preparations which you
have made for indulgence in the noble
game Of whist, but can remain silent
no longer. feel that / must speak and
reveal the terrible secret which burns
in my bosom like a white hot brand
Yes, / must tell all The weakness
grows upon me now, but ere die lis
ten to the story Of the downfall OF the
village of my nativity, and when you
have heard 1t let your sympathy go
out to me, and perehance my troubled
soul may find the respite and the balm
which it seeks. ListenT" The COM
muters listened.
"My name" continued the stranger,
ssis Harkins-H. Ellington Harkins-
and i've, or, rather, lived, in Back
Vile. Conn. 1t is of this town that /
intend to speak and the downfall OF
which makes me what / ana nissan
thrope, a wanderer upon the face OF
the earth.
ssBackville was very old town, and
its inhabitants had lived there for gen.
Grafton upon generation. A new FAM
fly rarely moved into the town, and
no one ever moved out Of 1t except
when he or she died. Backville was
very peculiar town. 1t had little OF
nothing to do with the rest Of the
world and considered itself sufficient
unto itself.
"Now, like all small towns, Backyiiie
had town clock, had had 1t for 90
years, and In all that time the clock
had rever been known to deviate a
fraction of second from the exact
time. Backville swore by that clock.
1t was the acme Of all that was faith
full and reliable. Indeed may say that
all the cardinal virtues clustered
around that clock. When citizen Of
Backville said that a person was as ac-
curate or as perfect as the town clock,
he could say no more; he had touched
the heights OF praise. Children were
directed to emulate the goodly exam
pie Of the town clock. The office OF
winder of the clock was the most i'm
portant and withal the most lucrative
place in the gift of the town. The
conditions of which l speak had ex-
listed for 40 years, and In every one of
those years faith in the clock had in
creased until it finally became an OBJ
ject of worshipful alteration. You may
readily understand how such might be
the case.
zone morning. three years ago, the
town awoke as usual and prepared for
the days work. 1t soon began to be
rumored about. however, that some
thing was the matter with the town.
This rumor became an established fact
when 1t was discovered that when ev-
cry clock and watch in town pointed to
o'clock the town clock. the re-
liable and faithful town clock, gave In
dubitablo evidence that 1t was but
o'clock. OF course there was but one
thing to do. The town clock couldn't
be wrong, so all watches and clocks
were ser back to o'clock or taken to
the jewelers. to be regulated. My
watch was not. was very proud of
my timepiece and let 1t alone in the
interest of science. purely in the inter-
est of science, gentlemen. | reasoned
that my watch could not by the least
possibility have gained an hour In a
single night and the possibilities Of the
town clock losing an hour In the same
space were equally remote. The only
solution of the case which presented
itself to my mind was that time had
slipped back peg and that the old
clock had adjusted itself to the change.
But the other inhabitants gave the
case barely thought. The old clock
said o'clock, therefore 1t was Z
o'clock and life In Backville went on
as usual
"From my diary, In which recorded
the results of my researches with my
watch, which allowed to pursue its
headlong course down the grooves Of
time, l found that when 1t recorded
noon that day the town clock recorded
10 o'clock. The following morning,
Dec. 2, l found that the town arose as
usual at o'clock, town clock time, 8
o'clock my time. Men went to their
WOlh III Lie ClOICH dAQ llA4A6 ut .
o'clock, town clock time, and quit work
at o'clock, town clock time, o'clock,
my time. The next morning another
hour was lost somewhere. When my
watch recorded ! o'clock, the morning
of Dec. 4, the town clock recorded 10
o'clock, the night Of Dec. 8. 1t was
plainly apparent that day was being
lost somewhere, and the next after
noon, when the town clock struck 8. it
was 8 o'clock by my watch.
when the townspeople saw that 1t
was dark at 8 o'clock, a great fear
came over the town, and public meet
ing was called. Explanations as to
what might be the matter were solicit
ed, and many theories were PROFOUND
ed. 1t was finally decided, however,
that great change In the solar system
had occurred. This theory seemed
plausible. and 1t was adopted as being
the only solution Of the phenomena.
You see. Backville impeaohsd The gun.
but the town clock-that could mot be
at fault. Thus time went ca, or rather
back, and things went from bad to
worse. Sometimes two hours were
lost In one hour. Backville celebrated
Christmas when, according to my
watch, she should have been celebrat
ing Washington's birthday. Next year
Fourth OF July was celebrated with
snow on the ground. while the Thanks
giving turkeys were eaten with the
thermometer at 80 degrees In the shade.