It will now not only give the time of Strasburg, but every principal city in the world; also the day of the week and month, the course of the sun and planets, and all the eclipses of the sun and moon, in their regular order. In an alcove above the dial is an image of the Saviour, and every day, at noon, figures of the twelve apostles march around it and bow, while the holy image, with uplifted hands, administers a silent blessing. A cock, on the highest point of the right-hand tower, flaps his wings and crows three times; and when he stops, a beautiful chime of bells rings out familiar and very musical tunes. A figure of Time, in a niche on one side, strikes the quarter hours from twelve to one, and four figures—Childhood, Youth, Manhood and Old Age—pass slowly before him. In a niche on the other side is an angel turning an hour-glass.
Clock that Strikes Thirteen.
The Duke of Bridgewater was very fond of watching his men at work, especially when any enterprise was on foot. When they were boring for coal at Worsley, the duke came every morning, and looked on for a long time. The men did not like to leave off work while he remained there, and they became so dissatisfied at having to work so long beyond the hour at which the bell rang, that Brindley had difficulty in getting a sufficient number of hands to continue the boring. On inquiry, he found out the cause and communicated it to the duke, who from that time made a point of immediately walking off when the bell rang—returning when the men had resumed work, and remaining with them usually until six o'clock. He observed, however, that though the men dropped work promptly as the bell rang, when he was not by, they were not nearly so punctual in resuming work—some straggling in many minutes after time. He asked to know the reason, and the men's excuse was, that though they could always hear the clock when it struck twelve, they could not so readily hear it when it struck only one. On hearing this, the duke had the mechanism of the clock altered so as to make it strike thirteen at one o'clock, which it continues to do to this day.
Westminster Clock.
The winding up of the going part of the great clock at Westminster, London, takes ten minutes, the weight of the pendulum being six hundred and eighty pounds; but the winding up of the striking parts—the quarter part and the hour part—takes five hours each, and this has to be done twice a week. The contract cost of winding up the clock is $500 a year. The error of the clock amounts to only about one second for eighty-three days in the year, and there is probably no other clock in the world of which the same can be said.
Wonderful Clock.
Toward the end of the last century a clock was constructed by a Geneva mechanic named Droz, capable of performing a variety of surprising movements, which were effected by the figures of a negro, a shepherd and a dog. When the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to the King of Spain, who was highly delighted with the ingenuity of the artist. The king, at the request of Droz, took an apple from the shepherd's basket, when the dog started up and barked so loud that the king's dog, which was in the same room, began to bark also. We are, moreover, informed that the negro, on being asked what hour it was, answered the question in French, so that he could be understood by those present.
Vocal Clock.
The subjoined description of a curious clock is given in the journal of the Rev. J. Wesley: "On Monday, April 27, 1762, being at Lurgan, in Ireland, I embraced the opportunity, which I had long desired, of talking to Mr. Miller, the contriver of that statue which was in Lurgan when I was there before. It was the figure of an old man standing in a case, with a curtain drawn before him, over against a clock which stood on the opposite side of the room. Every time the clock struck he opened the door with one hand, drew back the curtain with the other, turned his head, as if looking round on the company, and then said, with a clear, loud, articulate voice: 'Past 1,' or 2 or 3, and so on. But so many came to see this (the like of which all allowed was not to be seen in Europe), that Mr. Miller was in danger of being ruined, not having time to attend to his own business. So, as none offered to purchase it, or reward him for his pains, he took the whole machine to pieces."