Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-25

the United States Bureau OF Standards,
| In washington. there is a big cabinet
| with glass front in which are thirty.
eight watches of all shapes. sizes and
! grades, and all vigorously ticking The
| temperature I'm this cabinet liz con-
trolled by thermostat. which auto
matically shuts off an electric cur
| rent when the temperature gets too
| hiBh The variation, IL there be any
ih recorded b. a thermoCraph. which
draws IA nne red line upon a piece or
paper
In front Of this cabinet there is
| erected small telescope. At regular
intervals man takes his seat behind
this instrument, and studies the face of
each watch at II distance of about six
rect Al his side In an ordinary Morse
telegraph key. This Ia connected with
chronoBraph, which, In turn is con
nectcd with the bureaus standard time
clock. AS the hands OF each watch in
dictate the hfty-e!ehth and sixtieth sec-
ondH. the observer taps his telegram
key. ana makes Il record on a chrome
graph OF the reading OF that particular
watch as compared with the standard
clock. The record Of the watches can
afterwards be read at ones leisure
This Is an official. -for-all watch
test conducted by the United States
government. Any manufacturer OF
watches. and jeweler, jobber or indlvid
ual watch owner may send his watch
70 the bureau at the time OF these
periodical tests. and have II tested in
three positions for So or in 1--WE posi- :
tons for SIS |, Will take ftty-four
days TO complete the latter test When
YOU set your watch back, however, you
VIII know exactly what IL can do
standing UP and lying down. hanging
by It's stem, in hot weather and in cold
by day and by night. You will know
TO dot how much II gains or loses and
. ht ~ lnh fu
tE-four hours. If you are manufac-
turer or jeweler. you may win Ger
tihcate. which you can sell with your
watch, and you may receive tho
bureaus reports. which will help you
improve your product
Set Standard of Performance.
Government watch tests have long
been regularly held in Switzerland.
France and England. The chief watch
observatory in the world ia that at
| Geneva. Switzerland. These government
tests have been OF the greatest value
I" The European watchmakers They
nave set standard OF performance for
watches of all grades. and have also
caused the Standardization and i'm :
proNement OF materials. For eYample
| the Swiss government discovered
through It's watch tests that invar an
aIioE OF nickel and steel. is much bes :
Ter material for the balance whee,
than any other material The Swiss
"atchmakers are now using this ma :
ier'al regularly. hut the Americans
nave not vet taken it up. Most OF
| mem know nothing about it, Now tho
hnreau or Standards proposes to test
| american watches, standardize Them
and furnish the manufactur with ex.
! pert guidance, which is necessary IN
every industry. Incidentallv II vii,
also make test for any indiyidua
VIII" wants to know what kind OF a
"",ch he is getting for his money,
and whether II is really we'll adiusiec
! or not.
specifically, the test consists in run
hinE the watch in five different No
sitlohs COR in some cases three, a,
several different temperatures anI M
an isochronism test. Every high-gr
""'eh ~ adjusted to run in either three
cnr Nv" tSI, positions hence the necessity
TOR this number OF tests These tests
| are made at temperature OF "a de-
| grees Fahrenheit. which is supposed
TO be the temperature of the watch /.
pocket In order 10 determine how
heat and cold affect the instrumep,
III is also tested at fotty-one, sixtv,
eight and ninety-five degrees Finally.
us isochronism, or the uniformity OF
| IT'S rate throughout the day Is deter
| mined.
Dclicncy Not Realized.
! This careful testing OF timepicces
show them to be very delicate instru-
| ments-much more so than the averag
| watch owner. or even the average jew :
eler imaGnes. For example. the ex-
| perts have found that when watch
| is hung on n nail or hook. unless it
! rests firmly against something, its own
power will set IT swinging which will
result in It's gaining from eight TO 1870
seconds I'm twenty-four hours more
than IL would II at rest. Now jewel
ers almost invariably hang up this
watches brourht them for renair md
this may we'll explain the fact that
| frequently the watch runs all right
| when the jeweler has it. hut when he
gives ii back to you 1t loses
Most watch -owners hardly deserve
good service in return for the treat
mcnt they give their watches. Every
one knows. of course. that 1t is bad
for watch TO be dropped, even a short
distance. In point Of fact, letting a
watch fall TO the end OF a chain OF
dropping your vest on chair with
the watch in the pocket may throw
II off. while jumping off street cal
or any other sudden motion Of the
! person, may cause n considerable In.
accuracy. II you want the exact time
you should treat your watch with the
utmost consideration, and compori
yourself with careful dignity.
Here arc a few more directions
Keep your watch pocket clean, and II
the watch crystal ia cracked or broken
replace it Immediately. Wind your
watch regularly, steadily and slowly
watches To wind them twice q day
Compare your time daily with that Of
some standard clock. The best way
is to make ~ practice OF passing some
clock set by the government observa
tory every morning on your way "a
work, and to wind and set your watch
Mt exactly the Same time each day.
1 Again. do not foppishly carry your