Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1911-08-10
MUST CARRY GOOD WATCHES
Railroad Men Are Compelled e. Use
Accurate Timepieees.

Railroad Men Are Compelled to use
Accurate TimePieees.
Il may be news to many that the
watch u the railroad man is as nee
eSsaFy in modern railroading as the
air brake. Without accurate time
kee,ins there would probably be more
aeoiuents than IL there were no air
brakes. The train dispatcher starts a
train at certain time; he hats It ae
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 II they are
accurate and II they agree with some
standard. The railroad man is there
fore compelled TO buy not simply an
ordinary watch of reasonable value,
but particularly good watch. a 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 a week,
which is a good deal more accurate
than many scientific Instruments Of
precision used In laboIv tories Even
human proneness 10 error Is consid-
cred In this matter of choosing a good
railroad 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 of $25
apiece "a low average), are used. If
we take into consideration the number
of watches that are used on other
roads throughout the country It is
evident that the value must run up
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
a general time inspector on most rail-
roads, but staff of local inspectors
who are placed along the road at con-
venient points and to whom the men
may resort when they wish to COM
pare their time with the standard time
at that place. Once every two weeks
the railroad man submits his watch to
such an inspector, usually jeweler
or matchmaker by profession.
The inspector gives his expert opin-
ion on the condition of the timepiece.
If it needs cleaning be says so and
does it; If It is fast or slow he regu-
lates 1t, 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 a thief. So
far as repairing goes. the railroad man
is under no compulsion. He need not
hand over his watch to any particular
matchmaker or inspector for repair.
but he can give 1t to any matchmaker
in whom he has confidence. 1t must,
however, be submitted to the in
spector before it can be used in actual
service.
That no favoritism is shown in the
matter Of watches is evident In the
fact that no less than eight diff
ferent manufacturers supply railroad
watches.-Scientific American.