The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1911-08-04
MUST CARRY GOOD WATCHES
Railroad Men Are Compelled to Use
Accurate Timepieces.

Accurate Timepieces.
1t may be news to many that the
watch of the railroad man is as nee
essary in modern railroading as the
air brake. Without accurate time
keeping there would probably be more
accidents than if there were no air
brakes. The train dispatcher starts a
train at certain time; he halts 1t at
certain stations at certain times; he
side tracks it for period Of varying
length; the watch of the conductor on
the side tracked train must agree with
the watch of the conductor on the ex-
press to which he had to give way;
each station master along the road
checks the time of every train that
stops or flies past.
In order that there may be agree
ment among all these railroad men
there must obviously be not only time
pieces, but accurate timepieces. There
must also be some means OF inspect
ing the timepieces to see if they are
accurate and if they agree with some
standard. The railroad man is there
fore compelled to buy not simply an
ordinary watch of reasonable value,
but a particularly good watch, time
piece which is adjusted to heat. cold
and at least three positions. These
three positions are pendant up, as
carried in the pocket; dial up and dial
down. Such an instrument will not
vary more than thirty seconds week,
which is a good deal more accurate
than many scientific instruments Of
precision used i'll laboratories. Even
human prOnenesS to error Is conSlu-
cred in this matter of choosing good
rnilroad watch, for lever set watch
is preferred to the pendant set watch
because there is just the chance that
the stem of the pendant set may not
be pushed back after setting through
an oversight.
On one great line about 5000
watches, worth on an average or $20
apiece "a low average), are used Ii
we take into consideration the number
of watches that are used on other
roads throughout the country 1t is
evident that the value must run ur
into hundreds of thousands of dollars
In order that the watch may be kept
up to a regular standard it must be
inspected regularly. There is not only
general time inspector on most rail-
roads, but staff of local inspectors
who are placed along the road at con
yenient points and to whom the men
NAV resort when they wish to com
pare their time with the standard fimt
at that place. Once every two weeks
the railroad man submits his watch tc
such an inspector, usually a Jewelel
or matchmaker by profession.
The inspector gives his expert opin
ion on the condition Of the timepiece
If it needs cleaning he says so anC
does it: if it is fast or slow he regu
lates it, and not until it is running
with sufficient accuracy is it allowed
to escape from his care. A watch'S
record is kept as if it were thief. Sc
far as repairing goes, the railroad maj
is under no compulsipn. He need no
hand over his watch to any particular
matchmaker or inspector for repair
but he can give it to any MATCHMAKER
in whom he has confidence. 1t must
however, be submitted to the in
spector before it can be used in actua
service.
That no favoritism is shown in thu
matter of watches is evident In thu
fact that no less than eight diff
ferent manufacturers supply railroad
vatches.-Scientif American.