CLOCKS

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18062, 7 March 1923, Page 14

CLOCKS

ANCIENT, AND MODERN. Jim .pendulum movement of the chi clock is a jiving memorial to tlie discovery of. Galileo, whose research laid the foundation of inter and more accurate developments. Ti.e earliest specimen" were of the “clock-face” type, which left tlie pendulum and weights swinging clear below. It was not Jong, however, before tho pendulum was encased, and so the grandrnti.ee dock came into existence. A century later clocks reached a standard ot beauty which has never been surpassed. Infinite care and attention were bewtowed on them by elockmakors of the eighteenth century, while Chippendale and .S.craton embellished them with decoration, of exquisite delicacy and originality. Ami so the clock advanced in dignity, importance. and in reliability until productions of die Georgian period have become the quest of tlie collector. Perfected mechanical movements of later days have worked drastic changed m the form and size of the modern dock, and the “grandfather” type, lias suffered a severe eclipse. Tho most important. development, has come about through tho application of electric power, which in many eases lias, dispensed with the spring and weights. The action of the pendulum is governed by an electric current which impels the hand movement and so introduces “perpetual” motion. Larger pu'olic clocks are freouentlv wound by electricity, While, in other eases they can he regulated by a master clock being-entirely dependent on the standard tor movement. It is of interest to note also thr.t oven the oldest methods' are being revived in these progressive days. Ihe mysterious movement known■ •as the “falling ball” has been revived. There is now what vs referred to as the “grandmother” clock. • Modelled on smaller lines than the oidimirv “grandfather,” but similar in conbtruction, tii is clock sin rids .sft/. high and 'is much in demand by housewives;, especially as ic does not cast so much as a “grandfather.”