Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1899 — OLD TIMEPIECES. [ARTICLE]

OLD TIMEPIECES.

0m That Landed in Boaten in 1631 Stfll . Marks the November 3, 1631, there landed from* the good ship Mary Lyon in Boston harbor a man and a dock. Rev. John. Eliot, whose translation of the Bible into the Indian language, as well as his devotion to the cause of his Master, has put his name high on the roll of New England’s pioneers, was the man. The clock is now in the memorial hall of Hamilton college. On Rev. John Eliot’s decease the clock fell into the possession of his son Joseph. Joseph banded it down to his son Jared; from Jared to his son John; from John to his eon Edward; from Edward to his son, John E. Eliot, of Clinton, the sixth in direct descent from the apostle to the Indians, and who presented the clock to the college. The clock is still in good order. During all the weary years since it was first placed in the Mary Lyon it has ticked, ticked the days in and the days out. It has measured the hours while the old missionary was working on his translation of the Bible, of which but six copies are now In existence. In memorial hall it still marks the passage of the minutes. It is, indeed, a venerable relic. It is certainly 270 years old. How much older it is impossible to say. Hon. Oseian Ray, of Lancaster, N. 11., is the owner of an old clock, made in Keith, Scotland, by James Sutherland. The case is solid rosewood, 7$ feet high, Gothic finish, and glass door, revealing the movements of the handsome brass pendulum and weights. The dial* is new, and shows the movement of the moon, as well as of seconds, hours and days. A gentleman at Northfield, N. H., has presented the Webster club with the veritable clock of Ezekiel Webster, the brother of Daniel Webster. It is a curious piece of mechanism, having only three or four wheels, but keeping good time. It served the family of its illustrious owner for many years. There is a perpetual clock at the Gare du Nord, Brussels, kept going without being touched, although exposed to wind and weather. The winding is done by a fan placed in a j chimney. The fan, revolving by the j draught up the chimney, raises the! clock weight until it reaches the upper limit, when a brake stops thefan. No fire is necessary, the natural draught being sufficient for the work.—Golden Davs.