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British Houses of Parliament, Clock Tower, and Bridge.-Towers of Westminster Abbey loom up in background.

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TIME BALL ON BUILDING OF THE STATE, NAVY, AND WAR DEPARTMENTS,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Actuated daily at noon by clock in U. S. Naval Observatory.

when his predecessor came to an untimely end. Big Ben's hammer now weighs 4 cwt.; it used to weigh twice as much, but was reduced when it was discovered that Big Ben was cracked. Only twice in his career, has Big Ben stopped to rest; and one of those times, it was not his fault. In 1880 there was a stoppage of three weeks for cleaning, and the other occasion was when a heavy fall of snow clogged and stopped the minute

hand of the clock. There is great noise in the workroom when the chimes are going to ring, and worse when Big Ben is going to strike-for wheels with fanlike arms whirl around to give notice of what is coming, so that men engaged in winding the clock may stop till the striking is done.

Standard Time in America Chicago and all points in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, take the time every day from the U. S. Naval Observatory at Washington. The territory west of the Rockies gets the time from the Observatory a t Mare Island Navy Yard, near San Francisco. The signals are sent out when it is noon at Washington, and, three hours later, when it is noon at San Francisco. Chicago gets its time. When it is noon at Washington. The sig

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AUTOMATIC SIGNAL CLOCKS AT U. S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY.

These make the time-ball on the building of the State, Navy, and War Departments
fall at 12 o'clock, noon; and send time signals to all of the United States east
of the Rockies, over lines of Western Union Telegraph Company.

THE WORLD'S GREAT CLOCKS

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nal begins at exactly five minutes be-
Then the sounders
fore the hour.
in the telegraph offices connected with
Washington begin to tick off the seconds,
with breaks of five seconds at the end of
each minute, and a break of ten seconds
before the end of the fifth and final min-
ute; and then comes the noon signal.

The time thus sent out is very accurate. The transmitting clock that gives the signals is corrected shortly before noon every day from the mean of three standard clocks which are rated with star sights, with a meridian transit instrument. The noon signal rarely errs more than two-tenths of a second, although, according to the government bulletin, an additional error of a tenth of a second may be caused by the relays in use on long telegraph lines. Electric transmission over a continuous wire is practically instantaneous. The time signal has been sent from Washington to the Lick Observatory, California, in 5

TIME BALL ON TOP OF WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY.

Falls at noon every day in the year.

100 of a second; to the National Observatory in the City of Mexico in 1-19 second; to Greenwich, England, in 1.33 seconds; to Sydney, Australia, in 3.5 seconds; and to Wellington, New Zealand, in 4 seconds.

Before 1883, or until about twenty-two years ago, the railroads, throughout large sections of their territory, used the local time of one of the principal cities through which they passed; but great confusion. followed, and as many as five different kinds of time were to be had in a single town. In 1882 the Prime Meridian Conference met in Washington, and recommended the use of Greenwich, England, civil time, as an international standard; and this standard is generally used throughout the world to-day. The United States and Canada selected a series of standard meridians differing in longitude from Greenwich, by multiples of fifteen degrees, or one hour each. The new standard took effect all over this continent November 18, 1883.

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ism which moves these big hammers at precisely the proper moment, is delicate, wonderful, and complicated. A variation of so much as 1-10 of a second, in the striking of either, would create a discord; but the adjustment is so perfect that no error can occur, and nothing short of an earthquake could disarrange. it.

It is noon, and every day a deep, sonorous, musical voice booms out the hour. With grace, with the knowledge of strength, as though a thing of life, that great right-hand figure swings its ponderous hammer, yet the iron mallet scarcely seems to touch the edge of the bell. With the same ease, and with the same athletic consciousness, the left-hand artisan swings his heavy hammer. He strikes the bell higher up, and a contrasting tenor rings out into the air. A dozen times the bass note peals, and a dozen times echoes the tenor note; and back and forth twelve times, alternately, swing those great pieces of metal. With an amazing smoothness, with a perfection of time that is astonishing and marvelous, the hours are rolled out, while an admiring crowd gazes upward in wonderment.

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CLOCK IN SIDEWALK AT CORNER OF BROADWAY AND MAIDEN LANE, NEW YORK.

Fully 150,000 persons pass over it daily without noticing it.

by electricity is unique in this country. After dark the group is lighted by electricity a few minutes before the striking of the hours, and until the last stroke has been sounded. The blows are doubleby that being meant that each of the figures strikes four times at 4 o'clock, six times at 6 o'clock, twelve times at 12 o'clock, and so on.

In the picture, the two bronze artisans are in the act of striking; the man to the east swings a 20-pound hammer a distance of two feet, while his neighbor, the one to the West, makes a four-foot sweep with a 40-pound hammer. The mechan

A Sidewalk Timepiece Perhaps the most novel device in timerecording instruments, is the sidewalk clock displayed in front of the store of William Barthman, at the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane, New York. The works are under the pavement, and, instead of the time being indicated by a dial and hands, as in the ordinary clock, the hour and minute numerals revolve as in a panorama before an opening in the sidewalk, which is protected by a heavy glass cover, only the hour and minute being visible. As nothing appears but the plain Arabic figures-as 9-42, 4-27, and

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