A good idea of the old church clocks may be obtained from [Fig. 32] which is one of my valued antiques. Tradition has followed it down as the “English Blacksmith's Clock.” It has the very earliest application of the pendulum. The pendulum, which I have marked by a star to enable the reader to find it, is less than 3 in. long and is hung on the verge, or pallet axle, and beats 222 per minute. This clock may be safely put at 250 years old, and contains nothing invented since that date. Wheels are cast brass and all teeth laboriously filed out by hand. Pinions are solid with the axles, or “staffs,” and also filed out by hand. It is put together, generally by mortise, tenon and cotter, but it has four original screws all made by hand with the file. How did he thread the holes for these screws? Probably made a tap by hand as he made the screws. But the most remarkable feature is the fact that no lathe was used in forming any part—all staffs, pinions and pivots being filed by hand. This is simply extraordinary when it is pointed out that a little dead center lathe is the simplest machine in the world, and he could have made one in less than a day and saved himself weeks of hard labor. It is probable that he had great skill in hand work and that learning to use a lathe would have been a great and tedious effort for him. So we have a complete striking clock made by a man so poor that he had only his anvil, hammer and file. The weights are hung on cords as thick as an ordinary lead pencil and pass over pulleys having spikes set around them to prevent the cords from slipping. The weights descend 7 ft. in 12 hours, so they must be pulled up—not wound up—twice a day. The single hour hand is a work of art and is cut through like lace. Public clocks may still be seen in Europe with only one hand. Many have been puzzled by finding that old, rudely made clocks often have fine dials, but this is not remarkable when we state that art and engraving had reached a high level before the days of clocks. It is worthy of note that clocks in the early days were generally built in the form of a church tower with the bell under the dome and [Figs. 32], [33] show a good example. It is highly probable that the maker of this clock had access to some old church clock—a wonderful machine in those days—and that he laboriously copied it. It strikes the hours, only, by the old “count wheel” or “locking plate” method. Between this and our modern clocks appeared a type showing quarter hours on a small dial under the hour dial. No doubt this was at that time a great advance and looked like cutting time up pretty fine. As the hand on the quarter dial made the circuit in an hour the next step was easy, by simply dividing the circle of quarters into sixty minutes. The old fellows who thought in hours must have given it up at this point, so the seconds and fifths seconds came easily.
Fig. 35—Triple-Case Turkish Watch
Fig. 36—Double-Case Watch of Repoussé Work
The first watches, about 1500, had the foliot and verge escapement, and in some early attempts to govern the foliot a hog's bristle was used as a spring. By putting a ring around the ends of the foliot and adding the hair spring of Dr. Hooke, about 1640, we have the verge watches of our grandfathers. This balance wheel and hair spring stand today, but the “lever” escapement has taken the place of the verge. It is a modification of the dead beat, [Fig. 29], by adding a lever to the anchor, and this lever is acted on by the balance, hence the name “lever watch.” All this you can see by opening your watch, so no detailed explanation is necessary. [Figure 34] shows two triple-cased Turkish watches with verge escapements, the one to the left being shown partly opened in [Fig. 35]. The watch with its inner case, including the glass, is shown to the right. This inner case is complete with two hinges and has a winding hole in the back. The upper case, of “chased” work, goes on next, and then the third, or outer case, covered with tortoise shell fastened with silver rivets, goes on outside the other two. When all three cases are opened and laid on the table, they look like a heap of oyster shells, but they go easily together, forming the grand and dignified watch shown to the left in [Fig. 34]. Oliver Cromwell wore an immense triple-case watch of this kind, and the poor plebeians who were permitted to examine such a magnificent instrument were favored!
