WONDERFUL TIMEPIECES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 226, 23 September 1936, Page 22

WONDERFUL TIMEPIECES.

King Farouk, Egypt's new ruler, is wearing the famous watch left to him by his father—a watch that is said to be one of the most perfect in the world. It was presented to the late King Fuad by the Swiss colony in Cairo and shows the date, the positions of the moon and stars, the planets, the altitude, the temperature and, of course, the time of the day. It is not quite the most wonderful timepiece ever made, however, for this distinction belongs to a clock known as "World Clock," which was constructed by a German named Christian Martin. It marks the years and leap years, and will run for a hundred centuries. -At the end of that time, its works will have to- be changed. The face of this amazing clock is about 10ft square, and it has'many dials. Above is the figure of a cock which crows at six and 12 o'clock. Another wonderful clock once stood in the dome of the tower of the "own Hall at Heiklelberg. It was destroyed by French soldiers in the year 1G93 because it was noticed that the toy soldiers, which fought a mimic battle on a little platform as the clock struck each, hour, were French and German and the Germans won every time! Therefore the French soldiers decided that the clock must be destroyed at once. As the hammer struck each hour on this clock, the figure of an old man opened a door and walked out in full view of the people in the street below. He then lifted his hat. bowed and returned to his niche.