Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-11
English and Scotch Clocks.

Peterborough Cathedral mas tHe oIuese
working clock in England. This timepiece
was erected about 1920, and is without
doubt the work of some monastic clock
maker 1t Is the only one now known that
is wound up over an old wooden wheel. ms
wheel is about twelve feet in circumference
and the galvanized cable. about 800 feet
in length, supports a leaden weight or three
hundredweight which has to be wound up
daily The clock chamber lies in the north
west tower about 100 feet high where the
sunlight has not penetrated for hundreds
Of years and the winding Is done by candle
light The gong. the great tenor bell OF the
cathedral weighs thirty-two hundredweight
and is struck hourly by an SO-pound ham,
mer The working and the striking parts
OF the clock are some yards apart, com
munica ton being made by slender wire
This clock has no dial; and the time is
shown on the main wheel Of the escape
ment which revolyes once IN every two
hours
Edinburgh, Scotland which lies between
two hills has a time-marking device en-
tirely its own. On one of the hills. known
as Cation Hill, there is an observatory
tower, on the top of which large black
ball is suspended. Across the valley, prob
ably mile away. is Castle Hill, surmount-
ed by the historic Edinburgh Castle. One
of the large guns In this fortress, pointing
toward Cation Hill, is connected by cleo
tricity with the ball in the tower. Every
evening at @ o'clock the gun Is fired: and
at the same moment the ball falls. The de-
vice sets the official time for all Scotland.
1t Is interesting to stand on Cation Hill at
the appointed hour, to see the simultane-
GUS flash of the gun on Castle Hill. and the
fall of the ball close at hand, while the
roar of the gun Is. of course, some mo-
ments in crossing the valley. On the other
hand II IS equally interesting to stand be-
side the big gun at dusk. to watch the ball
on Cation Hill fall just as the shot Is fired.
A traveller, after seeing the modus operandi
wrote:
1T occurred to me It would be more ex-
citing to watch the crowds of passing peo-
pie especially since not one was apparently
thinking of the shot from the cannon. Wnen
| the took place absolutely without
warning. hardly yard above the heads of
| the crowd, the scene well repaid my walt
| ing. Everybody lodged. Children screamed
and men and women jumped to the side of
| the wall or course, II was all over In a
second. but in the meantime 1t seemed that
| an electric shock had passed through the
crowd"
"Big Ben"
| Foremost among all the famous clocks
| of London. Is that of the houses of parlia-
ment, where big Ben sings out the hours
| TO the busiest metropolis of the world The
| dial measures - feet in diameter. and the
| minute hand is IA feet long. There are four
| dials: and one stands inside the clock.
| II Is easy to see the minute hand going
| around. The works take up whole cham
| ber the pendulum is splendidly balanced,
and hangs down into the rooms below,
| through the floors. Two men require ten
| minutes to wind up the clocks works. and
| this has to be done twice week But the
winding-up of the striking apparatus is
| quite another matter, and occupies ten
| hours-five for the chimes, and five for the
striking of the hours. The clock, as a time
| keeper, has no superior in the world, its err
ror being only one second In eighty five
| days, or seconds year. The time is not
| regulated by Greenwich; but the clock re-
| ports itself twice a day by wire at Green
| wich. and thus 1t Is regulated. The chimes
are struck by four bells. weighing respect