New Britain herald., 1916-02-17
PlatnVjue News MEMORIAL CLOCK IS
 OF LATEST DESIGN
Represents Early Labors as h.
 Ventor Of Charles H. Norton
PRESENTATION ON SUNDAY
Gift Will Be Known as "Norton Me- moriaI C1Ock'-PenduIum Weighs 135 Pounds-Castle Nearing Com DictiOn of Big Historical Work.

plction of Big Historical Work. Plans for impressive exercises to be i held Sunday afternoon at 2:3O in connection with the formal presenta- tion of the Norton Memorial clock to I the Congregational church have been completed and it is expected the ser vices will attract an exceptionally large congregation. The services will : be in charge of the pastor, Rev. F. l.. Grant, who will be assisted by Rev. ! MT E,ppler of Worcester, Mass, pas tor of the church in which Mrs Mary Tomlison Norton, whose memory the clock will perpetuate, worshipped for number of years before her death. The gift will be made by Charles H. Norton as a memorial to his deceased wife and mother.
 The installation of the mechanism, which is to operate the clock and the
 bell-sounding attachment, is now ora ctically complete, expert clock makers having been at work putting it in position for several days
 MT. Norton during his early life worked as a clockmaker, and the time piece which he has given to the church as a memorial is of a type which rep esents his labor as an inventor.
 A. M. Gordon, superintendent of the tower clock depa rtm ent of the Seth Thomas Clock company of Thomaston, who succeeded MT. Norton in experi- m enting With the various designs ana mechanical ideas, contributes the fol- lowing description of the Norton me- morial with some interesting facts concerning MT. Norton and his con- nection with the clock-mal1ing indus try:
 "The beautiful tower clock which Is to be known as the "Norton Memorlal Clock is considered one of the nhesC movements produced by the cra1tSlileh of the Seth Thomas Clock company and has found it's place in the loWoi of the Congregational church of Plalh- vile where it will in the years to coihe take up the burden of recording the flight of time, hour by hour, minute by minute, sending out the alarm or each passing hour.
 "Jn the early days of the Seth Thomas Clock company, Noah Norton, uncle of Charles 1T. Norton, was the superintendent at the clock shop. oh- der his stern command ana s"l"dice Charles II Norton, his nepheW' was trained to be a skillful mechanic ana clock maker, and upon the death of his uncle he took up the duties of Su- perintendent at the clock company, designed, constructed and invented many of the important features in tower clock construction which still exist today.
 Represents Donors Early Efforts.
 The type of clock which IS to De dedicated in the Congregational church on Sunday, February 2o, IS particularly fitting as a Noroton mem orial. not so much because it is donat- ed by Charles H. Norton, but because it represents the efforts of his early labors as a clock maker and 1nVen~ tor. and because it is the one model made by the Seth Thomas Clock com panv which has through all these years lived, served and succeeded without any change in design or the principal parts.
 "The timepiece of today represents the accumulated efforts ot inventors and mechanics for measuring ana ln- dicating the passing of time, and has four chara cteristic parts:
 That part which measures the tune, l the escapement, the indicating part represented by the hand and dial and the striking mechanism.
 "The first characteristic part can be | compared to best advantage with the balance wheel of the watch, when IS | we'll understood by most of us. In the tower clock however, this particular | part takes the form of a pendulum
 Tt was Calico who at Pisa in 1882 l first noticed that the chandener Tn l the cathedral swung in the same tune from one end of it's movement to the other, whether it was making long ! or aL short excursion This discovery 1 gave to the world the pendulum. He was then but eighteen years old, and | by his discovery was permitted by his 1 father to make further study Of science. which has brought to the l world other discoveries of more or ] less importance
 Pendulum Weighs 135 Pounds.
 '"rhe pendulum of the Norton Mem orial clock is a cast iron ball weighing | 135 pounds, suspended on a mahog- any rod and supported by thin, flat, steel spring. This pendulum beats 1 seconds, that is, it requires one second of time for it motion in either direc- ton.
 The second characteristic feature is the escapement and in this clock it is known as the "Graham Dead Beat" It was early in the seventeenth cen- tury that Graham, an Englishman, discovered this invention and worked out it's principles by mechanical laws, producing an escapement which today is considered the best for accuracy l and reliability wflen used in connec- tion with pendulum up to one second beat Through this, the train and hands are moved forward at the mo- 1nnn1 the nlnulSe is i'm ma ri ed tn inc l