Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1915-11-19
COLLECTING Of
T|MEP|ECES IS
INVENTORS HOBBY
Wealthy Retired Brooklyn Man
Has Rare Lot of Watches
and Clocks.
100 textbook TOGETHER
members OF Family Take Turns Wind.
ing Up the one-Year Family Clock
One Clock Upon Which Swiss
Spent His Entire Life.

One Clock Upon Which Swiss
Spent His Entire Life.
New York.-The largest private col
lection OF clocks and watches in tn
world 10 housed in the home O
James Arthur. a wealthy retired ma
chinery inventor of Brooklyn.
The mansion. built by the late VII
liam H. Hill. long has been one of tn,
show places of the borough on &C
count OF Its hardwood panelings anC
other decorations. Every room and
hall is treated differently. and many
OF the rarest foreign and American
woods have been employed. One room
10 finished In black birch. another In
hazel. a third in mahogany. and SC
on. Another OF Mr.. Arthur's hob
bfes" is cabinetmaking. and so the
Hill residence fell in precisely with
his fancy. and he bought it partly as
q museum for his timepieces. many OF
which are encased in the costliest of
woods. matching or contrasting with
the paneled walls and ceilings.
There are in the collection about
122 clocks and 1000 watches. The
clocks. Of which A are "grandfatEers. >
are scattered throughout the entire
mansion. and 21-one in each room
are kept going constantly. The 9th.
ers are always ready to go.
Cases Also Notable.
Not included In the collection itself
are several massive hardwood cases
OF African rosewood, marble wood,
etc.. made by Mr.. Arthur with his own
hands. and which stand there In ST.
ience. awaiting the day when their
owner shall have designed or invented
special works for them that will reg
lister in some unusual way the flight
OF time. He has never sold a clock
or watch. nor has he ever given one
away except to his own children, for
their separate homes. when they
marry.
In the main parlor is the first COM
plete clock ever made by Mr.. Arthur
made in 1897. It is a ten-day time
piece. with two 40-pound weights. and
. compensating pendulum of alumni.
mum and steel. One dial is in the case
and above 1t are three other dials,
showing the way in which the machin.
cry Is arranged in a triangle tower
clock. The works as well as the case
are the personal handiwork of Mr.. |
Arthur. and the actual cost il esti. |
mated at over $1,000.
The "Famiiy Clock"
The Arthur family clock" also
made In every part by the head of the |
house. runs year at one winding.
The works are in q case of dark ma.
The seven-inch spring Is the
largest in the United States, and
the ticking arrangement. technically
known as "escapement," is of the as
Economical dead-beat pattern and is
jeweled with diamonds.
This family clock was started by
Mr.. Arthur in 1906. and has been
tremendously wound up once each
year ever since then, each time by q
different member of the family The
name of the winder each year and the
date are engraved by Mr.. Arthur
rom year to year on q brass plate
set in the case. The clock actually
will run thirteen months without re-
he says. Also. he adds,
{ IL contained in case within case,
md is so thoroughly protected from
he weather that 1t will last. uninl-
,aired, indefinitely.
Five hundred years from now"
declared Mr.. Arthur to a New York
World reporter. this clock will run
ust as well as II does now"
The outer case is of plain dark ma
logany with dark oak panels.
A Glass Plate Clock.
One Of the curiosities of the collec-
ion IL a glass plate clock" so called
because all the wheels-there are only
hree in the whole mechanism-are
'ivoted in a single heavy plate OF
lass. There Is no framework. The
instrument was made in France and
3 OF unknown age. There are only
wo others like it-one in London and
ne at the Conservatoire des Arts ct
letters in Paris. The large wheel has
90 teeth. The day of the week and
lso Of the month are shown on the
ial. which is enameled on copper.
Another clock has a brass skeleton
rame in exact imitation of the Gothic
to Sir Walter Scott in Ed.
nburgh. The movement is OF the
type. the wheel for
he chain being cone shaped. The
lock was built in Edinburgh many
ears ago for priest. who brought II
, the United States.
Unique Repeater.
Also in the collection Is a five-min-
10 repeater clock. designed and made
= Mr.. Arthur-machinery. oak case
Id all. A big bell rings the hours. h
I'd II certain chain is pulled the bell B
III ring the last preceding hour. and Z
smaller bell clinks once for each
'e-minute period since the last hour. II
aus. II 1t is 1886 q. m. the big bell X
ngs ten times and then the little OF
II also rings eleven times. indicat. al
3 that 1t Is within Eve minutes of o,
q. m. II III