The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-29
Keeping, Tab on Time.

New Orleans Times Democrat.
 Tn spite of the genius of modern watchmakers. and in spite of the fact that seconds of time have become of vast importance in the affairs of the world, !" said q New Orleans jeweler, it cannot be contended that man has been able to keep anything like absolutely correct tab on time. The fact of the business 10 that there are certain variations which the most exacting rules have failed to do away with, and even with railroads where scrupulous accuracy means the preserva- tion of life and the protection Of vast property rights, no exact system of keep ing time has yet been devised.
 "Railroads probably come closer to un- varying exactitude than the average man or the average business concern. In the first place there are certain natural vari- ations which enter into the government s system of keeping time. The work at the observatories where the ball falls when the sun Is crossing the meridian at the noon hour. has overcome, to some extent, these natural variations, but even with this system a second or two will ac. cRsiopaliy slip away unawares. , But at these places the standard agreed upon Is fixed The railroads are jealous of the seconds, as jealous as the judge who keeps the time on modern race with a split second watch. Inspectors are em- ployed by some of the larger systems to look after the watches of conductors and engineers and others who are required to observe the schedules of the companies.
 But I was thinking more particularly of the watch of the average man. Very few men know how to treat a watch. They handle this useful article in any sort of way, and then expect 1t to Keep good time. Ninety-nine men out of every hundred wind a watch up at the wrong time. The man who winds his watch up just before going to bed Is foolish. In this respect at least. Watches should be wound up in the morning. man Is in terested in keeping correct time during the day, when he must catch a train, get to the bank at certain hour and keep his business engagements generally. If he winds his watch at night the spring begins to lag during the time when he wants to know the exact hour. There are men who wind their watches several times a day. They make mistake. watch should be wound once every twen- ty-four hours, and no more than once.
 The watch should be kept in one po- sition, too. If carried In the vest pocket, where the stem remains upward; It should be left in the vest pocket at night, and the vest should be hung up so the watch would remain in exactly the same position in which 1t Is carried. Do not sprawl it out on it's side under the pillow or on the dresser. If you do you VIII in- terfere with the balances of it's internal mechanism and 1t is likely to vary tick or two in twenty-four hours, and when you remember that watch ticks about 800 times a minute, or about lS,OOO times every hour, and 432 900 times every twen- ty-four hours, you can see that q fellow might lose a number of ticks in days time and since 1t takes only i've ticks to make a second. according to the stand ard, fellow might get behind. But 1T a man will do the square thing by his watch, he will have no trouble.