The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1908-11-26
CRIME OF THE
CLOCKS
Man Who AAlssed a Train Frees
HE Mind About Com.
mon Nuisance.

man who sat swabbing his face in the
railroad station waiting room, hot and
indignant because he had missed his
train, that the man maintaining in =
public place clock that does not keep
time ought to be found guilty Of fe-
lonious misdemeanor. II not OF some
thing worse. and punished. II that
were possible, with penalty In some
measure commensurate with his crime.
Il am not sure that l would hang
him for the first offense-at least l
would not make such a punishment
mandatory; would leave something
to the discretion OF the Judge and jury
but would make the penalty cumu-
lative. For instance, would have the
law so read that after man had been
found four times guilty OF this crime
he must be hanged or electrocuted
four times. with no escape, and don't
know but what would both hang and
electrocute him.
For I can conceive of no higher
crime than that Of man who sets up
q clock In a public place and then fails
to keep 1t going correctly.
Understand me clearly. l do not
refer now to clocks in church steeples.
on which 1 never rely; they may be
right and they may be wrong. Nom
inally they are supposed to be looked
after by the sexton. but really they
represent the congregation, a divided
responsibility; and on anything for
which the responsibility is divided you
can never rely. The church clock goes
Its own sweet way through the week
with nobody to look after It, and so on
it never rely.
Nor do I permit myself to be misled
by tower clocks, which. like the church
clocks, may be right and may be
wrong You might think that the
tower clocks would be looked after
scrupulously by those who owned
them, but up SO high. SO near the sky
and though looked at daily by many
they seem sometimes to be quite over
looked and forgotten by those whose
business 1t should be to keep constant
watch over them; and have learned
by experience not to rely on tower
clocks.
"And l have long since ceased to
rely on clocks simply because they
had the word Regulator printed on
their face. / have known such clocks
that were model timekeepers, but put
ting that name on their face didn't
make them so. Have we not all seen
one story shacks with a sign up read
ing Grand Palace Hotel? But that
sign didn't make the shack palace
any more than printing the word Reg
ulator' on the face of two-dollar
clock makes that perfect timekeeper
So I have long since ceased to be mis-
lead by the word Regulator.
For that matter, may we not find in
jewelers. windows, where of all places
you would expect to ind clocks show
| ing the correct time, clocks that are
minutes of? l never rely on clock
simply because l see 1t in a jeweler's
window.
Nor do rely on the barber shor
clock, nor on any Of the many clock:
that l find in many semipublic places
and least of all do l rely on clock:
found in homes; for clocks are as vari
GUS and as irresponsible as men.
And now I am coming to the rea
point of what want to say. There |.
one sort of clock set up In public
places upon which we should be able
to rely with absolute security, and tina
is the clock that is set up by bust
ness man in front of his place of bust
ness.
Now there is a clock that reall.
ought always to be kept in perfec
order and keeping perfect time. Fo
does not this man place 1t there to at
tract attention to himself and hi
goods for his own profit? Does he no
thereby expect to derive benefits from
the public, and should not the publ
be able to rely upon receiving recir
rocal benefit from him? Does he no
thereby substantially say that what b
has to offer is good and worthy of al
tention, and is 1t not reasonable t
suppose that he invites our confidenc
In his clock as well as his goods?
And would you not suppose tina
the most commonplace consideration
of selfishness would prompt him t
keep that clock always in perfect Oh
der, to confirm and increase for hi
own profit the confidence that he II
vites? You'd think so, wouldn't you
But how many clocks are so?"
Il infer from what you say" said tn
tranquil man waiting for his train t
whom these remarks had been made
that you have trusted some publ
clock somewhere and so missed you
train"
Your inference is quite correct,
said the hot and indignant man, AN
what said to you as to the penaltie
that l think ought to attach to thi
crime of failure to keep public clock
in order is only brief, limited, shor