Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-09-29
SOME REMARKABLE CLOCKS.
Queer Timepece In Bottle Construct
ed BY a German Matchmaker.

necessary, and The sand glass followed.
Later came the water clock. curious
device in use among the Egyptians,
Chaldcans, Babylonians and other an
cient peoples of the East. This was
tie first approach to a clock as we now
| understand the term. 1t consisted of 4
basin of water set in some public
place. At one end of the basin was a
spout, from which the water dropped
uniformly into a receiver having grad
uations Tor marking the hours, some
what after the fashion of a thermome-
| ter.
The clocks of today do not surpass
| or even equal those of the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries in the wonder
| Or beauty of their construction. Clocks
are common things. Every household
er has at least one. We do not have
| to depend upon the great timepiece of
church belfry or of tower. Relatively
| like everything else in this modern day,
because of its common character. the
clock has lost something in Importance.
| Still the charm endures of creating I'M
| usual types.
| For instance. in the very modern city
of Chicago the spirit of the old clock
| makers lives in the person of one
| Franz Bohacek. a native of PatZau
| Bohemia. Twenty years of careful, pa
| tent labor have seen his efforts crown
| ed by the completion of what is one of
the most remarkable timepieces ever
seen in America. In it the maker has
| combined the artistic spirit of the
| craftsman of the Middle Ages with the
accuracy of the Notwithstanding man
| of science.
Bohacek's clock. made IN of more
than 900 parts. is two stories high Its
| weights are so heavy that two wind
| lasses must be employed to wind them
np It is a very elaborate affair alto
gether. and yet every part has spe-
| cific reason for being. 1t has five dials.
| The first of these is that of the ordi-
nary clock-nerely for telling the time
| of day The second also is for that
| purpose, only in place Of l. numbers
| there are "a, somewhat in the style Of
| the old one-hand Italian clocks. On
| the next dial the dav of the week. the
| day of the month and the month Of the
year are indicated by three series of
numbers and three hands. The fourth
dial, six feet in diameter. represents
| the solar system. with the sun in the
| center and the various planets reVolV-
| ing about These celestial bodies trav-
| ell in exact accord with the real solar
| system itself. The fifth and last dial
marks time. in exact. or practically eN-
| act harmony with the laws of astron-
| omv AS every one knows. the year
| consists of 365 days. hours, as min
utes 46 seconds. Each month, 13 in
| number. has therefore. IS days, and
each day consists of "a hours. min
| utes "a seconds. On Bohacek's clock,
second. as measured by ordinary
| clocks, is O.O0341275 of a second longer.
| This is not precisely right, being in
| day $500 of a second slow-a slight
| discrepancy. all things considered.
This clock has many other remarka-
| bile features besides those already NELL
| toned. There are figures that repre-
sent various events in American his
tory. There are figures for all the
Presidents of the United States. and
one held III reserve. These figures APP
| pear at appropriate moments THIS
remarkable timepece has many other
| extraordinary features, which lack OF
space will not permit to be chroniclcd
here.
Another Bohemian. Joseph Rayer.
glass cutter by trade, resident in the
country of his birth, has employed
glass as a medium for building clock.
With the exception of the spring every
portion is of crystal glass. The three
hands hour. minute and second, us
well as the apparatus for striking are
all Of glass This clock is 16 inches
high.
An Italian. Sirio TihurZi. of Fahriano,
ITALY, has tried his hand at clock
made solely of wicker work and pop
lar twies The mechanism is similar
to that of tower clock with the eX-
ceptiOn Of the striking parts. with
which it is not equipped. 1t stands
eight feet high and will run q hours
with one winding.
Another nationality and another sort
Of timepiece are represented by a straw
clock of a German shoemaker. 1t is
built wholly of this zone material. of
which several thousanc pieces We're
used in the construction. There are
eight pendulums. The mechanisG is
wound up by the pressing of button.
when it will run for five hours. The
hands are set by means of another
button. No spring is used. The weight
Of this ingenious bit of craftsmanship
is seven ounces.
The flower clock while not so novel
as some others. is still a very inter-
esting type of the unusual clock. The
single floral clock of which England
can boast began to run i'm the summer
of 1907 and was started >by the
Mayoress of BridlingtOn. where it is
located. Ten thousand plants make
up the dial, which is - feet in
diameter, set in a circular bed 10 feet
wide. The dial numbers. the min
utes and the fifth of minutes are
marked off, each by different kind
of plant.
A clock in a bottle is the unusual
device of a German matchmaker, III.
Rosin. Of CONNER, near Magdeburg.
The maker took a strong movement
with a cylinder escapment measur-
ing As millimeters or inches) in
diameter, and began by saving the
plate into halves The opening of
the neck measures Is millimeters
(0.59 inch), and in order to get these