Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1905-11-09
HE DA KS a N D H() 8 RS
ORIGIN or Our SYSTEM or THE:
DIVISION OF 4 IN eli

! u yvas Devised ~ the Bally,lopians,
Who Were q cry Clever People,
was i a siopted ~ the creeks and
Has snrvtvea srhronxh All Changes.
33s II you pull your watch out oil your
& pocket you Will have in y our hand one
sof the most wonderful pieces Of ma.
chinery ever constructed. Think how
it works tliroug iout tile day and night
and how it keeps it up year in, year out.
Think how tie second hand points to
Z sel, isisio,,s line during iii every
hour. 1T never sleeps.
1T ii fl like the average watch, 1t will
Il be builtsup of no fewer than It's differ
emf pieces. These pieces will have
passed through more than 2,40O sep
arate operations, each being u distinct
form of manufacture.
The fourth jewel wheel screw is so
very small tlrat 1t is almost Invisible.
10 the naked eye it appears to be but a
" speck OF dust When examined under
d llagnifying glass it will be seen to
4 he a perfect screw, having $50 threads
B to the inch, each thread being well
ext Actually the diameter of this
screw is so little as the four one-thou-
sandtll part Of an inch, and it would
take no less a number than 100000
similar screws IN order to fill an or
binary tllimble as used by the ladies'.
Each screw has double head and
has to be hardened. After the harden
ing process the screws are arranged IN
frames being placed in with tlse heads
4 upward. This delicate operation is
done by the sense Of touch alone in
stead OF by sight, and great rapidits
marks the skillful operator. Some,
where about a hundred screws are
placed in each frame, and the frames
are attached to machine which pol
ishes the heads of the screws 10000 at
q time.
1T Will be seen how marvellous these
screws are. yet one Of them forms but
one tiny piece of II watch. Still, this
will show the remark able nature Of that
everyday article. When special watches
are considered there is indeed room for
{ wonder
For instance, take the watch which
Z was presented to Catherine l. on her
coronation as empress Of Russia This
watch was one of the most remarkably
& constructed instruments ever made.
On file opposite side of the works of
this extraordinary timekeeper there
! was an exact representation of tile
{ holy sepulchcr, with h carved image
Of the Roman guard stationed outside
1T. AS soon as the watch case was
opened the initiation rocks would roll
Z away from the mouth OF the sepnlcher,
the soldier would kIeel, angels would
appear ut opposite sides OF The opening,
and sweet strains Of music would be
] heard This remarkable watch took
I nine years uninterrupted labor In or
der TO construct.
The first clock lii any way resem-
bling those IN Use int present was made
by Henry Wick in the year 1870, and it
4 was made for Charles N.#of France.
This monarch MAS surnanled the Wise.
but his education was imperfect in
many respects, and he knew 1t we'll
AS II result he WIS very obstinate in
his claim to- know everything He
: showed this obstinaey when Wick
1 brought the new timepiece for his APP
provsll. The king could mot find any
fault with It's working, 80 he criticised
the figures on the dial.
He told the maker that he had made
note the hour Of 4 should be four rs.
Poor Wick ventured to cell the king
that he was wrong. am never
wrong! tllalndered the irate monarch.
IKE the clock AVA and correct the
mistake ut once upon pain OF my dis
pleasure!''
Viek had to dc as he was told, with
the result that all our timepieces have
the fourth hour labeled I'LL Instead Of
Iy, as should be the case II the correct
nnlneration We're followed.
How many people have the slightest
notion why sixty seconds make ii min
ute md why the hour is divided into
sixty minutes, and SO ont Why are
there not ten hours to the day aud ten
7 to the night
The reason is very simple, 1t IS be-
& ~ WsesStuG llt-Ople VI IsdpyIon ISChoHSh
not only BY asliecimal system OF nota.
ton, but also by d sexagesinal sys
tenn That Is to say, they not only
reckoped by tens, hut also BY sixties.
The Baby lonians were very clever peo-
pie. and they saw that the decimal sys-
TEN was BY no means the best
They knew that no number had SO
many divisors us has sixty "A
Flow about he division OF The day
into hours The Bah ylonians began By
comparing the progress made by the
sun on Its daily Journey to the distance
covered BY ID good wa ker, this being
done at tie time Of the equinox. ,rhe
! astronomeFs divided the suns Journey
Into twenty four parsangs whence our
hours
The Baby lonian 81 tenn was adopted
sbys the Greeks. IL is one Of the most
feInafk able facts Of history that the
system has survived through every
chang Nude since the days of Bal5y7
aonIa Then The the French revollis
ttonixed all weights and measures, So
sing Az Tar asl to d tier lie days of tho
week still they left fl1e Old system az