Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1908-12-18
CRIME OF THE
CLOCKS
Man Who Missed a Train Frees
His Mind About Com
mon Nuisance.

Il am firmly convinced said the
man who sat swabbing his face in the
railroad station waiting room, he! and
indignant because he had missed his
train, that the man maintaining In g
public place a clock that does not keep
time ought to be found guilty of fe-
lonious misdemeanor, if not Of some
thing worse. and punished, if that
were possible. with penalty in some
measure commensurate with his crime.
Il am not sure that [ would hang
him for the first offense-at least !
would not make such a punishment
mandatory; I would leave something
to the discretion of the judge and i;iry
but | would make the penalty cumu-
iative For instance. | would have the
law so read that after a 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 ard
electrocute him.
! For | can conceive of no higher
crime than that of a man who sets up
a clock in public place and then fails
to keep II going correctly.
Understand ME clearly. / do not
refer now to clocks in church steeples,
on which l 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
ranracaut tho oonoraIatiCn u dividad
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 | permit myself to be mlsled
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 /
scrupuously by those who owned I
them, but up so high. so near the sky. 7
and though looked at daily by many,
they seem sometimes to be quite over
looked and forgotten by those whose
business it should be to keep constant (
watch over them; and I have learned
by experience not to rely on tower
clocks.
And | have long since ceased to
rely on clocks simply because they
had the word Regulator printed on
their face. I 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 sign up read
ing Grand Palace Hotel? But that
sign didn't make the shack a palace
any more than printing the word Reg
ulator' on the face of a two-dollar
clock makes that perfect timekeeper.
So 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 find clocks show
ing the correct time, clocks that are
off | never rely on a clock
simply because | see it in a jewelers.
Nor do l rely on the barber shop
clock, nor on any of the many clocks
that find in many semi-public places.
and least of all do | rely on clocks
found in homes; for clocks are as -vari-' !
BUS and as irresponsible as men.
And now | am coming to the real
point of what | want to say. There is
one sort of clock set up in public
places upon which we should be able
o rely with absolute security, and that
s the clock that is set up by a bust
ness man in front of his place of bust g
hess.
Now there is a clock that really ;
ought always to be kept in perfect
,rder and keeping perfect time. For
loes not this man place it there to at. a,
ract attention to himself and his n
FOODS for his own profit? Does he not
hereby expect to derive benefits from
he public, and should not the public
,e able to rely upon receiving a recip- O.
ocal benefit from him? Does he not d
hereby substantially say that what he q
las to offer is good and worthy OF at u
ention, and is it not reasonable to -
oppose that he invites our confidence A
n his clock as well as his goods?
And would you not suppose that
he most commonplace considerations
f selfshness would prompt him to
eep that clock always in perfect or :.
err, to confirm and increase for his I
wn profit the confidence that he in
ties? You'd think so. wouldn't you?
tut how many clocks are So" 4
Il infer from what you say said the -.
ranquil man waiting for his train to l
HON these remarks had been made A
that you have trusted some public
lock somewhere and so missed your Il
ain
Your inference is quite correct"
aid the hot and indignant man, and
bat | said to you as to the penalties
lat think ought to attach to this
rime of failure to keep public clocks -
order is only a brief, limited, short. L
mild, abbreviated, attenu. z
tad and oypurpatad cfatemant NJ ,