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132 WATCHMAKING IN AMERICA.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
_E "Within A Few Years A Factory Has Bee...
tlie different parts are formed , they are examined in the finishing roomand those found to be perfect are hardenedcleaned and
, , ling polished 1 is a . very Even nice the and polishing important * is part done of by the machinery work ; to . avoid The jewel wear
from friction the pinions are set in precious stones of extreme hardness . The jewels are drilled with a diamond and then opened
• with diamond dust on a soft hair-like wire . Here microscopic exactness is requisite . The pinions must move easilyand yet
, without the extra space of a hair ' s breadth . Every part in one watch is the counter part of the same in every other watch of like
size and style , with the exception of the jewel holes , and pinions that move in them , and these are classed by a gauge which marks
the difference of the ten thousandth part of an inch . A record of the size of these in each watch , with the number of the watch , is
kept at the factory , and a person who loses any part , by giving the numbercan be furnished with a duplicate . The part desired
, Is enclosed in a layer of cork , and forwarded by mail . The dials are made of porcelain , which is ground to powder ,
made into paste and fused upon copper plates , at nearly white heat . The marking of the enamel is done by an index with
extreme exactness j the paint is laid on where the strokes are to beand when dried by a slow heatthe rough edges are rubbed off .
The , minute lines and lettering are , put on with a fine brush of camel ' s hair . A writer in Household Words alludes to the work
and of a says superior : ic he artisan wrote connected in enamel with the the Lord watch ' s Prayer works with in Coventry every i ,
dotted , and every t crossed , in the space of half the wing of a house-fly . " A son of that father is employed in marking dials
at the Waltham works . After all the parts of a watch are put together , it is subjected to great extremes of heat and cold ,
regulated , and is ready for the case . All the delicate and complicated machines engaged in the various departments are made at
the factory . The average number of watches manufactured per week in November was -five hundred and forty . The wages of
women are two dollars and fifty cents per week for the first two months ; three dollars afterand more when an operative is worth
, It . At- the present time , by piece work , the women average five dollars per week . There are some unusually pleasant features
connected with the establishment . A majority of the operatives while employed at their machines may look out upon lovely
landscapes aud charming" river scenery . There are no deleterious particles of dust imparted to the air from the little iron workers
_^ which seem to be thinking out watches while singing and humming the song of labour . But most pleasing of all is it to see the
happy and intelligent faces of the young women , whose little hands are best adapted to the delicate work , which includes nothing at
variance with the refinement and beauty of God ' s last creation .
_Bostok , Massachusetts , U . S . L . H .
132 Watchmaking In America.
132 WATCHMAKING IN AMERICA .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1863, page 132, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041863/page/60/
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