Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1893 — A WONDERFUL CLOCK. [ARTICLE]

A WONDERFUL CLOCK.

An Astronomical and Horologlcal Curiosity. Adolphus Haensle and Augustus Noll, two Black Forest (Germany) clockmakers, have just finished the most wonderful of all clocks, an astronomical and horological oddity that throws all previous efforts “in the shade.” It shows the seconds and strikes the hours, quarters and minutes, besides giving a calendar of days, weeks, months and years up to the year 10,000. It also shows the solar system, the phases of the moon, the revolutions of the earth and the zodiac, besides giving on its seventeen faces the correct time for Berlin, Prague, Riga, Vienna, Cairo, Tiflis, Trieste, Rome, Munich. Berne, New York, Geneva, Boston, Paris, Metz, London and, on the large face in the center, the time at the place where the clock is located.

At the right of the principal works there is a calendarium, at the left a music box and at the front a globe with its various movements correctly imparted by a simple peiceof mechanism attached to the clock. Above the movement the second and minute hands are placed. At the expiration of each mipute an angel strikes a bell, whereupon the hands on each of the 17 faces simultaneously move forward one minute. The expiration of the quarter hour is indicated by the angel striking twice. In the course of each hour the ages of man are represented. At the end of the first quarter a child appears, at the second a youth, at the third a man in the prime of life and at the fourth an aged grandsire. The hour is struck by a figure of Death, by whose side stands an angel, who nods at Death not to strike at the appearance of the first three figures, but suffers him to hit the bell when the old man appears on the scene. At the left of the clock, on a shelf on its side, stands Christ surrounded by the Twelve Apostles. At the time when Death strikes the hour the Twelve bow before the Master, who who goes through the act of blessing them by bowing his head and raising his hands. At 6 o’clock, both morning and evening, a sexton rings a bell and the figures of three monks appear and go into a tiny church for prayer; as they disappear through the door choral music i 3 played. At 10 in the evening a night watchman appears and blows his horn hourly for the next four hours, or until 2a. ;at 3 a cock crows from a window in the upper left-hand corner of the clock. At 12 o’clock, both noon and midnight, the music box plays for five minutes, and at 12 midnight the calendar changes, the following day and date appearing, and at the end of the month, whether it be one of 30 or 31 days, the name of the next month appears in the slot. Not even the leap years are forgotten. At the upper left-hand corner, near the crowing cock’s tvindow, is a representation of the revolution of the sun around the earth and a correct calendar of the seasons. On the other side the moon is represented going through* her various phases. Each season is represented symbolically; March 21 Spring appears as a. maiden with wreaths of flowers, a child accompanying her; June 21 she appears with a sheaf of wheat, the child carrying the sickle; September 21 both carry fruits; on December 21 the maiden is sitting at a spinning wheel and the child is playing with a spindle. On December 25 a lovely Christmas scene in the chapel is presented, the music box playing appropriate tunes. On December 31, at 12 o’clock, a trumpeter appears and plays a solo, accompanied by an invisible orchestra. This indicates the beginning of the new year, and during the musical treat all the numbers change, so that everything is ready for the beginning of another cycle of time.