Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-11-17
THE DAYS AND HOURS.
Origin of our System of the Division
of Time.


If you pull your watch out or your
pocket you will have in your hand
one Of the most wonderful pieces OF
machinery ever constructed. Think
how it works throughout the day and
night and how 1t keeps it up year in'
wear out. Think how the second
hand points to $500 divisions of time
during every hour. 1t never sleeps.
II 1t is like the average watch, II
will be built up Of no fewer than l75
different pieces. These pieces Will
have passed through more than 2,4OO
separate operations, each being dis
tinct form Of manufacture
The fourth jewel wheel screw IS 20
very small that it is almost invisible.
To the naked eye it appears to be but
a speck of dust. When examined un-
der magnifying glass 1t will be seen
to be a perfect screw having 26O
threads to the inch, each thread be-
ing we'll cut. Actually the diameter
of this screw is so little as the four
one-thousandth part of an inch. and
it would take no less number than
100000 similar screws in order to fill
an ordinary thimble as used by the
ladies.
Each screw has a double head and
has to be hardened. After the harden
ing process the screws are arranged
in frames. being placed in with the
heads upward. This delicate opera
ton is done by the sense of touch
alone instead of the sight, and great
rapidity marks the skillful operator.
Somewhere about hundred screws
are placed in each frame, and the
frames are attached to a machine
which polishes the heads of the
screws 10000 at a time.
1t will be seen how marvellous these
screws are, yet one of them forms but
one tiny piece of a watch. Still, this
will show the remarkable nature or
that everyday article. When special
watches are considered there is in
deed room for wonder.
For instance, take the watch which
was presented to Catherine /, on her
coronation as empress of Russia. This
watch was one of the most remarkably
constructed instruments ever made.
On the opposite side of the works
of this extraordinary timekeeper
there was an exact representation OF
the holy sepulcher. with a carved
image of the Roman guard stationed
outside 1t. AS soon as the watch
case was opened the imitation rocks
would roll from the mouth of the
sepulcher, the soldiers would kneel.
angels would appear at opposite SIDES
of the opening, and sweet strains or
music would be heard. This remark
able watch took nine years uninter-
rupted labor in order to construct.
The first clock in any way resem-
bling those in use at present was
made by Henry Wick in the year 1870,
and it made for Charles V. Of France.
This monarch was surnamed the
Wise, but his education was imper-
feet in many respects, and he knew 1t
well. AS a result he was very OBJ
stinate in his claim to know every
thing. He showed his obstinacy when
Wick brought the new timepiece for
his approval. The king could not
find any fault with its working, so he
criticised the figures on the dial.
He told the maker he had made a
grievous error, as the figure Of de-
note the hour should be four rs.
Poor Wick ventured to tell the king
that he was wrong. Il am never
wrong!" thundered the irate mon
arch. Take the clock away and cor
rect tine mistake at once upon pain
Of my displeasure!"
Wick had to do as he was told, with
the result that all Of our timepieces
have the fourth hour labeled iii in
s. cad of w, as should be the case If
the correct numeration were follow
ed.
How many people have the slight
est notion why sixty seconds make a
minute and why the hour is divided
into sixty minutes, and sc on? Why
are there not ten hours to the day and
ten to the night?
The reason is very simple. 1t is be-
cause the people of Babylon reckoned
not only by the decimal system of no.
tatiOn. but also by a seXagesimal sys-
tom. That IS to say they not only
reckOned by tens. but also by sixties.
The RabylOnianS were very clever
people, and they saw that the deci-
NAL system was by no means the
best.
They knew that no number had so
ma ~ divisorS as has sixty.
How about the division of the day
into hours? The Babylonians began
by comparing the progress made by
the sun on its daily journey to the
distance covered by good walker,
this being done at the time of the
equinox. The astronomers divided
the suns journey into twenty-four
parsangs whence our hours.
The Babylonian system was adopt
ed by the Greeks. 1t is one of the
most remarkable facts in history that
the system has survived through ev-
cry change made since the day of
Babylonia When the French revolu-
tioniZed all weights and measures, go
ing so far as to alter the days of the
week, still they left the old system Of
notation so far as regarded the reck-
oning of the flight of time. Even our
own lovers of the decimal notation do
not suggest that the old sexigesimal
method of reckoning time should be
IL r., ID.