Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-09-30
MARVEL OF INGENUITY
Detroit Man Produces n Clock that
Tells More Than Father
Time.


When old Father Time passes Louis
Meiers jewelry store and workshop II
Detroit he must pause a moment in hi.
flight to look at the ingenious way II
Which the clock maker keeps track OF this
old personage's movements. There are
clocks by the thousands in Detroit ticking
out information as to Times whereabouts
az different moments of the day. but they
do It only for Detroit. The clock that
Louis Meier built follows Time around the
world, to the moon and to we'll nigh
everywhere with which time has to do.
| In the FIRST place the clock stands thir-
teen feet high and weighs ton, or to be
accurate, $500 pounds. So high is II that
Some OF the ornamentation had to be left
off until II can be moved out of the work
shop. So long are parts of its machinery
that a hole had to be cut in the floor be-
fore the work could be completed with
any degree OF ease.
The clock is behind long black curtain
that hangs from ceiling to floor.
The curtain is drawn and an exclamation
of surprise Involuntary Nescapes you.
Meier himself stands silent. The brilliancy
of the mahogany case, thirteen feet high,
seven at the base. beautifully carved
and embellished with the angels of the
Apocalypse whose trumpet shall one day
proclaim that time shall be no longer, the
base carved into figures of denizens of the
prehistoric seas before time began TO be
counted, the top ending in the symbol OF
that which transcends tlme-the mahog-
any case CLOVIS with the light that the
setting sun is shooting through the western
windows of the little shop and makes as
rare q sight as can be found in the city.
A thousand details claim your attention at
once and you let the whole soak into
your imagination until you get the inclina-
ton to get down to the prosaic work or
enumerating the details.
Begin at the top. There is the moon In
the same phase as 1t appears in the sky
that moment. The opaque side that does
not catch the sun at this time of the month
is dark and tho purest kind OF moonlight
CLOVIS from small quarter. The illumina-
ton within is electricity, but the glass that
gives the moonlight is the result Of many
months of search and experiment in get
ting glass OF the proper shade and con-
sistency
Then comes the large plate glass dial,
black around with gold lettering. Around
its edge are twelve smaller dials. giving the
time of day in Paris. Berlin. London,
Rome, Pesing, st. Petersburg, Manila,
Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia,
st. Louis and New York. While this is
not a new idea. It has new attachment;
each dial showing whether the time regis
tered means morning, afternoon or night
in the cities named. OF course the year,
month and day are also given.
Beneath all this is a twelve-inch globe.
which follows as accurately as science can
make 1t the diurnal movement of the earth.
AS you watch night come down in De-
troit, you can see day dawn across the
Pacific, sunset at the Golden Gate and
another day breaking over Siberia. China
and Australia. Just as certainly as the
shun moves so does this globe move, and
for moment 1t is as IL one had taken
his station between the moon and the
earth and was watching the mystery OF
the day merge into the mystery of night.
BY a wonderful continuance which can
be adjusted to suit the taste every ten
minutes a march of the better class is
played and a colored porter near the base
of the clock opens the door and repre-
sentatives OF the nations march past. First
comes Uncle Sam and then in order Eng
land. Scotland, France. Germany, Ireland.
Austria, Spain, Russia, Turkey, japan,
Zululand and an Indian chief. Meier calls
them his little people" He made them,
dressed them himself and their footwork
as they march aros-d and back in through
another door opened by lackey is truly
remarkable. The clock chimes the hour
with music. four notes for the first quarter,
eight for the second, twelve for the third
and sixteen for the hour. whereuDon thcrc
follows the striking OF the hour by fine
set OF Westminster chimes.
The clock is built TO Withstand any
change in temperature, the mercury PEN
dulum being adjusted to compensate ex-
panslon and contraction.-Detroit Tribune.