THE WORLD'S MOST WONDERFUL CLOCK.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10502, 9 July 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE WORLD'S MOST WONDERFUL CLOCK.

This clock, according to Joseph B. Bilker who writes in i'opiuar ftlectrieitv, is not in Strasburg, or in any Old-World" city, but m "little old Ncu York," on or near the top. of tlu' s °- called Metropolitan Tower in Madison Square. New Workers, Mr. Baker »s----sitrvs us, take pride in showing vn itors the tall white .tower and its especially at niglitlall, when tll< - mii--;e 0: the chimes is a(idcd*tlie flash in..- of the time from th»*antern at the top, 7i.il) foot above t«« street. Uc. goes 011: r,,. 00 "J!v day'and night,. Imm a.. lai. as the- can be seen at all, the lour giant diais can be read, and tar aW the city's din every fittcen minutes t u be Is announce the flight ot time .-o .1 u .'., in earshot. And the red and v.lnle flushing beacon sends the same milage

far afield, readable, on a clear all within a radius ot liUeeti miles-. 1 lie whole constitutes quite the most icmarkable clock system that has e\ ei be -The"to\vcr clock dials, illuminated at night by many incandescent lamps, are ''ti feet 6 inches in diameter, v. ith numerals 4 feet high and 10 '■ inches 111 diameter Ihe hand.., driven bv an electric motor, arc li. lyt a lid "13 feet 3 inches ong, respecinel •Mid weigh, together, 1.00 pound*, four broilzc bells, constituting the hornstrike and the chimes have ail ->py " gate weight of 13,500 pounds and he Sashing lantern .is equipped with u and white incandescent lamps mounted in an octagonal lantern of an r».inrllo-DOWcr ot over 22,001). 11k ckku svstem includes, besides the four tower dials, hundreds of other clocks distributed throughout the of! -j

and other rooms ot the building. of this mi'ditv horologieal equipment is electricallv' actuated" and controlled from a single 'master-clock, u hull i» itseif electncally self-wmdnig, reqlining no toucli of human hands trom »"< vcar's end to the other. " This master-clock is situated in th directors' room, of the company, on toe second floor ot the building. On til twenty-sixth floor of the tower is what is called the "clock-room, behind the west dial. Here are delicate iel. >s, operated from the master-clock and themselves' actuating heavy m«if<noti switches near by. We read luithci . "The front of the room opens out into a ferro-concreto easing, some o.) feet square and projecting out- about 30 inches from the wall ot the toiu . This is the tower dial, .with its numci al.-. and minute-marks cut through the frt.utwall and glazed with heavy plate nutglass through which a bird s-e> e \ic « may be obtained ot the city and .Hudson River and the distant Jersey > 1Sliding shutters at the dial ce.itu [.ivc access to the backs of the monster hands—of steel-frame construction \\u:i copper casings—and through .slide i.ji each hand near tlie point ot actachnu il i-o its arbor the lamps which lignt w hands up at night may be reached. ;ne hands are faced with polished windlass and each is lifted witli a pair i.l

hiocniiius rolling carriages on which are mounted 'linolite' lamps, giving .-n----ciiect of a nearly continuous double U... or lit.ht. The lamp carnages run <.: i rails oil a track in the striK-Mi. e 1.1 hands, and are hinged together in sections, so that they may bo v.atlun'a>. n through the slide lor the purpose ot wnewing the lamps. At the .eeiure 01 the minute-hand is a glass-V-ced bos., containiim a centre cluster oi on iiii,.) bulb lamps. The illumination oi t.u dial itself is by an indirect method, unsigned to give the most brilliant and the same time the most dis'tiiiel clock lighting in the world. > lie >.n'-oo interior of the dial casing is painted a permanent dead-white, naying lug.i i.eflecting power for diliia-ea n«"t. I■ o concentric circular rows ot 'iO-cand i.'power tungsten-lamps, I'lK) m all, a.e mounted in front of curved relleciors oi corrugated, silvered glass, wluca thr...v all of the direct rays against the realwall of the casing. By this means u>e irlass fronts of alt ol : tin' numerals a.iu minute-marks are strongly and lit up, vet without any glare or alunang of the'dial as seen from the outsi-.e <>i

tho tower at night. JJ.v a::;. \vm the 'spiicc back oi the dial r. »rr.iig:w. the numerals eul through Lit- thai, t ■* .1trast well with its white sunai-e. "The massive hands oi eaca t0... dial are earned on a set <>. "uiiii consisting of a steel shat o running on ball-bearings and a'.viia an electric motor. The 'dial aa- - ineiit,' containing the gearing, is also equipped w.iii ;'.!i aili.imatie cut-out device which t«rn.:« Ui«' illumination oil' at "2!l lniiiuU'S iiel;::'e :■-ailrise and oil at 2d minutes alv; :a...set, with the progressive a;i>. a:.ca ;a the season. There are no ceadava.; weights and pulleys to «l>; r..te the hands of the clock —-the Hula electne motor, obedient to the coiKiaS ol the master-clock, and its relays and

switches, starts up once every _ liunuU ;mcl rims for 50 seconds, driving tin minute-hand through one minute-spaci on the big dial during each run. Tv.'i moturs are employed in each towc. movement, cither one alone being vel able to drive the hands, and a ccutn fugal'tell-tale device, mounted on t!.. shaft, being used to signal to the chic electrician's office in case ol : 'trouble on either motor." The electric ''torch" on top oi li.! tower is also turned oil and oil' by tin automatic device that controls tlu; dial illumination. From the magnetic switches in the clock-room heavy cables carry the current which Hashes the time all through the night—red Hashes for the four quarters and one white iiash for each stroke of the hour. The white ligbt, given by SS large incandescent lamps, burns continuously except just before the time to announce each quartar-hour. The writer adds: "When one has gone all over the building and seen the various parts oi the clock system in operation,, one i:; better prepared to examine the snastcrclock, with its faithful pendulum, the prime mover of all these wonderful liorological details. In charge of .'so many functions as the master-clock is, there is 'something doing' all the tii',lo in the array of beautifully finished gleaming mechanism. Let us 'watch the chimes transmitter, which consists of a little brass cylinder with four pairs of accurately adjusted platinum eon•tacts bearing upon it and arranged to be closed in a certain order by the rotation of the cylinder. Once every J5 minutes, and a sufficient time before the even quarter-hour, a rod moved by the main transmitter releases the cylinder, allowing it to rotate and close the contacts for the proper quarterhour chimes. The timing of these contacts is such as to cause the first stroke of the hour bell to'-occur accurately on the hour, allowing plenty of time beforehand for tiie chimes to strike iheiifour 'measures' and get through. The hour-strike transmitter is mechanically operated from the chimes transmitter. "Suppose the time is a little before two. As we watch, the drum of the chimes .transmitter begins to turn, and, one after another, all of the four contact lingers are kicked up into the air. Tlio sound of tho answering tower' bells comes down to ns but tardily, on account of the great distance, but it is a kind of music simply to watch the changing measures marked by the dancing bits of metal. Before we "realise it, the motion ceases, and we turn our glance to the hour-strike 'mechanism. Its contact fingers close and open twice, in leisurely succession, followed by the booming notes from the 70001b.8-flat 'announcing-beH' from its •place on the forty-fifth story."