Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1906-10-06
THE SUNDIAl-.
II Should BE Marked For the Lati-
tude In Which 1t Stands.


In an old shop In lower New York a
man keeps up his trade OF dial making.
The dialss square, octagonal or circu-
lar, are hand chased. They do not re-
ceive a high polish, and any acciden-
tai effect Of weather stain or other
tone OF time" is carefully preserved
II not skillfully added These dlals,
fitted with the gnomon, or stylus, are
then artfully slipped into the show
windows of uptown curiosity shops
umong selected debris of Sheffield
plate, prism candlesticks, inlaid tea
caddies and old blue plates.
A visitor to one of these shops asked:
How old Is that brass dial over there?
It's all hand work, Isn't it?"
"It's all hand work." said the proprie-
tor, whom we will call Truthful James.
Il can testify to that, for l know the
man whose hands made 1t. It's about
a. month old, If you .ywant to know.
You're like lots Of other people-you
want an old Scotch or English dial.
Don't you know it would be useless, if
you found 1t, for practical purposes
Excuse me, but haven't you ever stud
led geography and heard of latitude?
A dial ought to be marked out scien-
tifically for the exact latitude In which
1t is to be set up. So unless you strike
the same parallel in the states that the
dial left in England, 1t will tell lies
from morning till night. You'd, be sur
prised how many people pick up dial
that strikes their fancy which perhaps
stood In the garden Of an old Virginia
estate, intending. to hurry it OF to the
big grounds Of some place in Minneso-
ia; or they'll snatch at some tquaint
dial from New England, with the Idea
of rigging 1t up in Texas.
more people would make the same
blunder, except that many haven
caught on to dIals. Too bad. Nothing
Is prettier than a simple dial at the
crossways Of garden paths, or by {
fountain or on terrace or at the en-
trance of a pergola or near a rustic
seat or arbor. You don't have to hire
q head gardener and two assistants t.
keep a sundial. Marble platforms ant
pedestals are very grand, but unless
you're running big Italian gardel
with clipped hedges and yews ant
statues something simple is what yo'
want The dial will keep just as goo(
| time, once it's engraved right, If IT.
mounted on a tree stump, with, Nv.
planted round it, or on bowlder, or OF
the coping of an old disused well, or Oh
column of cobbles mortared together
or on top Of the old hitching post tina
the family doesn't use in these auto
mobile days. but doesn't want to roo
up and throw away.
You'd be surprised at the ingenuit
Of some people,, said Truthful James
who himself seemed of ingenious benz
II mean people who haven't niue
money. to spend and are fond of thei
own old stuff for associations sake
They're the ones who get effects wit
piece of junk, lump Of sentimen
and q pocket of small change that can
be bought with blank check. Nv
known people who used AN old mil
stone to set the dial on, OK who laid
slab over an old stone garden urn, c
who saved the capitals from pillars o
a house being torn down. or who eve
rugged up standard. from the brick
of a chimney OH an old homestead tbs
had meant u lot to them. One famil
made Il sort of cairn out of geolog
collection some ancestor had FORMED
Another took flag pole for the gnomo
and laid out dial with pebbles in IL
grass around the pole.
mo, 1t doesn't require any skill to 81
up the dial Get the noon mark for I'll
gnomon on several days, nick it on IL
slab and then set the dial in a bed {
cement. There you are."-New Yor
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