Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1896 — The Caprices of a Watch. [ARTICLE]

The Caprices of a Watch.

To most people, says the New York Journal, the whims and caprices of a watch are a deep mystery. The nanny parts of the timepiece apparently enter into a conspiracy to the end that the owner may miss trains and business appointments. When a fairly good watch leaves the hands of a reputable watchmaker It Is always in first class condition, and if it does not behave itself afterward It is generally the fault of the man or woman who is -Wearing it. A very common cause of the watch gaining or losing is the disposition that is made of it at night. If you wear a watch next to your body during the day, and put it on a cold marble mnntlepiece at night, or, in fact, anywhere in a cold room, the watch is sure to either gain or lose. Cold causes contraction of the metals composing the balance wheel and its parts, and the watch consequently gains. When the parts expand under the heat of the body the pivots, bearings, etc, tighten up, and the watch loses. An expenses watch which has a compensating balance is not affected by changes of temperature. Some metals expand in cold and others contract, and the compensating balance is made of metals of both kinds, so that the contraction of one balances the expansion of the other. Everybody knows that the proximity of a dynamo will magnetize the steel parts of a watch, and ruin it for the time being. A watch should never be laid horizontally at night, but should always be hung upon a naiil. Change of position will not affect a mechanically perfect watch, but such a watch is yet to be made. In 1895 California’s mines produced $15,834,317 of gold and $599,770 of silver.