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diff --git a/29934-8.txt b/29934-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a91810b --- /dev/null +++ b/29934-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1549 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Auburndale Watch Company, by Edwin A. Battison + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Auburndale Watch Company + First American Attempt Toward the Dollar Watch + +Author: Edwin A. Battison + +Release Date: September 8, 2009 [EBook #29934] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUBURNDALE WATCH COMPANY *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, ronnie sahlberg, Joseph Cooper +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Transcribers note: + +Possible printer errors have been retained as they appear in the original +book. + + + + +CONTRIBUTIONS FROM + +THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY: + +PAPER 4 + +THE AUBURNDALE WATCH COMPANY + +_Edwin A. Battison_ + + THE INVENTION 51 + DEVELOPING THE INVENTION 53 + THE NEW SPONSOR 57 + SUCCESS AND FAILURE 64 + THE LESSON 67 + + + + +_By Edwin A. Battison_ + +THE AUBURNDALE WATCH COMPANY: + +_First American Attempt Toward the Dollar Watch_ + + _The life of the pioneer has always been arduous. Not all succeed, + and many disappear leaving no trace on the pages of history. Here, + painstaking search has uncovered enough of the record to permit us + to review the errors of design and manufacture that brought failure + to the first attempt to produce a really cheap pocket watch._ + + _This paper is based on a study of the patent model of the + Auburndale rotary and other products of the company in the + collections of the National Museum, and of other collections, + including that of the author. The study comprises part of the + background research for the hall of timekeeping in the Museum of + History and Technology._ + + THE AUTHOR: _Edwin A. Battison is associate curator of mechanical + and civil engineering, Museum of History and Technology, in the + Smithsonian Institution's United States National Museum._ + +The idea of a machine-made watch with interchangeable parts had been in +the minds of many men for a long time. Several attempts had been made to +translate this conception into a reality. Success crowned the efforts of +those working near Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1850's. The work done +there formed the basis on which American watch making grew to such a +point that by the 1870's watches of domestic manufacture had captured +nearly all the home market and were reaching out and capturing foreign +markets as well. In spite of this great achievement there remained a +large untapped potential market for a watch which would combine the +virtues of close time keeping and a lower selling price. Only a radical +departure in design could achieve this. Rivalry between the several +existing companies had already produced an irreducible minimum price on +watches of conventional design. + +The great obstacle to close rate in a modestly priced watch is the +balance wheel. This wheel requires careful adjustment for temperature +error and for poise. Of these two disturbing factors poise is the most +annoying to the owner because lack of it makes the watch a very erratic +timekeeper. A watch in which the parts are not poised is subject to a +different rate for every position it is placed in. This position error, +as it is called, can and often does cause a most erratic and +unpredictable rate. Abraham-Louis Breguet, the celebrated Swiss-French +horologist of Paris is credited with the invention, in 1801,[1] of his +tourbillon, a clever way to circumvent this error. + +[Illustration: Figure 1.--BREGUET'S TOURBILLON. At C is shown the +carriage which revolves with pinion B carrying the escapement and balance +around the stationary wheel G. (After G. A. Baillie, _Watches, their +history, decoration, and mechanism_, London, Methuen, n.d.)] + +His solution was to mount the escapement in a frame or "chariot" which +revolved, usually once a minute, so that with each revolution all +possible positions were passed through (fig. 1). This gave the watch an +average rate which was constant except for variations within the period +of revolution of the chariot. Only a very skillful workman could, +however, work with the delicacy necessary to produce such a mechanism. +The result was that few were made and these were so expensive that it +continued to be more practical to poise the parts in a conventional +movement. The idea of revolving the entire train of a watch, including +the escapement, seems to have evolved surprisingly slowly from Breguet's +basic invention of the revolving escapement. In constructing a watch +wherein the entire train revolves, no such delicate or precise +workmanship is required as in the tourbillon. Due to the longer train of +gears involved the period of revolution is much slower. Position errors +average out as certainly if not as frequently. In Bonniksen's "Karrusel" +watch of 1893[2] the duration of a cycle is 52.5 minutes[3] while in +the Auburndale Rotary which we are about to discuss the period of each +revolution is 2-1/2 hours. + +----- + [1] Paul M. Chamberlain, _It's about time_, New York, 1947, + p. 362. + + [2] British patent 21421, granted January 21, 1893. + + [3] Chamberlain, _op. cit._ (footnote 1), pp. 229, 230. + + +The Invention + +The patent model of Jason R. Hopkins' revolving watch, now in the U. S. +National Museum,[4] was not the first in which the entire train +revolved but it was a very novel conception intended to reduce greatly +the number of parts usually associated with any watch. This may be seen +from figures 2 and 3, where everything shown inside the ring gear +revolves slowly as the main spring runs down. This spring is prevented +from running down at its own speed by the train pinion seen in mesh with +the ring gear. Through this pinion motion is imparted to the escape wheel +and balance, where the rate of the watch is controlled. The balance, +being planted at the center of revolution, travels around its own axis, +as in the tourbillon, at the speed with which the entire train revolves +around the barrel arbor. This arbor turns only during winding. No dial or +dial gearing is shown in the patent or exists in the patent model. The +patent merely says, casually, "By means of dial wheels the motion of the +barrel may be communicated to hands and the time indicated in the usual +manner." No fine finish or jeweling has been lavished on the model, the +only jewels present being in the balance cock which was utilized as it +came from its original watch with only minor modification to the shape of +its foot. Apparently the balance wheel itself is also a relic of the same +or a similar conventional watch. There is no jeweling in the escapement +or on the other end of the balance staff. In spite of this the model runs +very actively and will overbank if wound up very far. The beat of the +escapement is two per second and the movement revolves once in 20 +minutes. + +There are two great faults in the model. First is the lack of an adequate +bearing for the barrel to turn on. There is only one very short bearing a +long way removed from the point of engagement between the pinion and +internal gear, and no adequate support is given the barrel, with the +result that it tends to deflect from the ideal or true position and to +bind. This condition is aggravated by the fact that the ring gear was +made by cutting its teeth on an angle to the axis around which it is to +revolve, using only a saw of appropriate width. The teeth were then +rounded-up to form by hand in a separate operation which by its very +nature means that the teeth are not exactly alike. This lack of +uniformity of the ring gear coupled with an entirely inadequate bearing +for the barrel contributes to rather erratic transfer of power. These +irregular teeth would not, of course, be a factor in factory-made watches +where suitable machinery would be available for the work. + +[Illustration: Figure 2.--PATENT DRAWING OF THE HOPKINS WATCH. The +mainspring barrel _E_, of a very large diameter in proportion to the +diameter of the watch, occupies nearly the full diameter of the movement. +The spring itself, narrower and much longer than usual, is made in the +patent model by riveting two ordinary springs together end to end. Over +this barrel and attached to the stationary frame of the watch is placed a +large thin ring A, cut on its inner diameter with 120 teeth. Near its +edge the barrel E carries a stud _g_ on which runs a pinion of 10 in mesh +with the ring gear _A_. On this pinion is a wheel of 80 driving a pinion +of 6 on the escape-wheel arbor. The 15-tooth escape wheel locks on a +spring detent and gives impulse to the balance in one direction only, +being a conventional chronometer escapement. The intermediate wheel and +pinion, balance wheel, and balance cock have been adapted from a Swiss +bar movement of the time.] + +The second fault is in the ratio between the time of one revolution and +the number of revolutions necessary for a day's run. Three turns of the +spring are, of course, required to run the watch for an hour, since the +barrel and train revolve three times in that length of time. If we choose +to have the watch run for 30 hours on a winding, and this leaves but a +small safety factor, then we see that this will require 90 turns of the +main spring, a manifest impossibility in view of the space +available.[5] + +[Illustration: Figure 3.--ORIGINAL PATENT MODEL OF THE HOPKINS WATCH, +U. S. Patent 161513, July 20, 1875, now in the U. S. National Museum +(_cat. no._ 309025).] + +[Illustration: Figure 4.--DRAWING FROM U. S. PATENT 165831, showing +Hopkins' first design improvement, an arbor for the barrel and train to +turn on and the balance displaced from center.] + +Probably no attempt was made to produce a finished and practical watch at +this time, although Hopkins, the inventor, was an actual watchmaker as +well as a retail jeweler, with premises virtually in the shadow of the +Patent Office. He was a native of Maine[6] and had been established in +Washington since 1863, or perhaps some time in 1862.[7] + +[Illustration: Figure 5.--HOPKINS' BALANCE ARRESTING DEVICE, the subject +of U. S. patent 165830. This and the device illustrated in figure 4 +originally were submitted together to the Patent Office on June 9, 1875, +and later were divided into two patents.] + +----- + [4] Cat. no. 309025; U. S. patent 161513, July 20, 1875. + + [5] Those who have seen the Waterbury watch, which developed + from this design, may be drawn to the conclusion that + this explains why it took so long to wind the Waterbury. + Such is not really the case; in the Waterbury the + winding wheel (which is on the outer rim of the barrel) + was nearly as large as the inside diameter of the case + while the pinion engaging with it was of only nominal + diameter. This meant that one turn of the winding crown + wound the barrel a much smaller fraction of a revolution + than in a watch of conventional design. + + [6] District of Columbia death record 145,013. + + [7] Hopkins is not in the _Washington and Georgetown + directory_ of 1860 or 1862, and 1861 was not available + to check. Starting with 1863 he is listed each year + through 1871. Starting with 1872 Boyd's _Directory of + the District of Columbia_ lists Hopkins as a resident + each year (including 1902, the year of his death at 84 + years) except 1877, when he was out of the city in + connection with the exploitation of his rotary watch + patents. Carl W. Drepperd, _American clocks and + clockmakers_ (Garden City, N.Y., 1947), in referring to + Hopkins, says, "Lincoln, Me. 1840's-1850's: Bangor, Me., + to 1862. Inventor of the Auburndale Watch. Also + manufactured pianos and clock cases." + + +Developing the Invention + +Edward A. Locke had long been seeking a simple watch adapted to easy +manufacture and a selling price of three to four dollars. While on a trip +to Washington his attention was drawn to the Hopkins watch by William D. +Colt of Washington.[8] A result of this meeting appears to have been +the issuance to Jason R. Hopkins of two patents,[9] in both of which +half rights were assigned to William D. Colt. Patent 165831, relates to a +barrel arbor for watches. The arbor will be seen (fig. 4) to consist of +two parts, one telescoped within the other and the composite arbor +_B_-_C_ supported at each end by the frame of the watch. The patent text +limits itself to a bare description of the arbor. In the light of what we +have seen of the shortcomings of the original model, however, the patent +drawings tell that much more had been accomplished on the general design +of a more workable rotary watch. + +A square on arbor _C_ at the back of the watch permits winding the main +spring, which attaches to the largest diameter of _C_, a ratchet or +winding click being supplied just under support _F_. The inner or front +part _B_ of the composite arbor projects from the front of the movement +and revolves at the speed of the barrel arbor, which speed is not +specified. Also, looking at the perspective view, we see that while the +chronometer escapement has been retained, the balance has been placed +eccentrically to make room for the center arbor. The balance now +describes an orbit around the center of revolution. No driving train is +shown, it being irrelevant to the patent, but there seems to be ample +room for two intermediate wheels and their pinions between the escape +wheel and the train cock boss, seen at the upper right in the perspective +view of figure 4. Adding one more wheel and pinion to the train would +have the effect of reducing the number of revolutions required of the +spring barrel. We have seen from examination of the patent model of the +Hopkins rotary that this was necessary not only to reduce the number of +turns of the main spring and barrel but also to reduce the force +transmitted to the escapement. There seems little reason from the +foregoing observations and considerations to doubt that these +modifications had been realized by the time of this patent. Again no dial +gearing is shown. If the need for special gearing existed at this time it +seems strange that it was not covered by patent as was done in the later +patent[10] assigned to William B. Fowle. The only way to avoid special +gearing would be to revolve the barrel and train each hour so that the +minute hand could travel with them as it travels with the center wheel in +conventional watches. Once this condition was set up, the usual dial +gearing would apply. + +Companion patent 165830 (see fig. 5) covers a mechanism to prevent +overbanking of the balance wheel, primarily of a chronometer escapement. +This, of course, was aimed at making it possible to use the escapement in +connection with a mainspring of greatly varying power. We have seen that +this condition of uneven power existed in the first Hopkins watch. While +the condition was greatly improved in the second model (seen in fig. 4), +it was surely present to some extent, as it is associated with every +spring. Overbanking protection may well have continued to be necessary, +particularly if the gear ratio between escapement and barrel was low +enough to permit hourly rotation of the barrel. The features covered by +this patent were originally submitted as part of what later became patent +165831. Examination of the original manuscript patent file[11] shows +that the patent application was separated into two on the suggestion of +the patent examiner, who pointed out that two distinct and separate +mechanisms were involved, either of which could be used without the +other. + +[Illustration: Figure 6.--DRAWING FROM U. S. PATENT 179019 showing +Hopkins' device to prevent the tripping of a chronometer escapement.] + +These two patents, which actually started out as one, appear to represent +the watch as it was when Hopkins went to Waterbury, Connecticut, where he +again met Edward A. Locke. They submitted this improved watch model to +the Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Co., which advised not +manufacturing it until it was further developed. Hopkins went with his +watch from there to Boston, where he conferred with George Merritt who, +like Locke, was interested in getting into the manufacture of a +low-priced watch. Merritt may have been the senior member of the +Locke-Merritt team or may simply have had more faith than his associates +in Hopkins and his watch. At any rate, he advanced expense money while +further efforts at improvement were made.[12] Hopkins' absence from the +_Washington city directory_ of 1877 is perhaps explained by this work he +was doing on his patent. While this was completed to Hopkins' +satisfaction, it still fell short of Merritt's idea of practicality, and +the latter abandoned the idea of manufacturing the watch;[13] what had +started out as a very simple watch of few parts grew, with every effort +to make it workable, more and more complicated by involved and expensive +detail. It appears that Hopkins did not possess the rare gift of +improvement by simplification. This is a rare gift, and one seldom +possessed by an individual very closely and intensely involved in the +minute details of a given problem. + +[Illustration: Figure 7.--PART OF THE DRAWINGS FROM U. S. PATENT 186838, +showing the winding and setting mechanism very nearly as it was applied +in the Auburndale rotary.] + +How long this period of development and experimentation required is +unreported. It could hardly have started before early June of 1875, when +application was made for the patent (165830) to prevent overbanking. The +cash book of William B. Fowle of Auburndale, Massachusetts,[14] tells +us that he bought half of William D. Colt's half-interest in the Hopkins +rotary in March 1876, partly for cash but including a royalty on each +watch made. Half this royalty was to go to Hopkins, a quarter to William +D. Colt, and a quarter to William B. Fowle. Does patent 179019, issued +June 20, 1876, to Hopkins, who assigned it on June 10, 1876, to +Fowle,[15] represent the last improvement offered to Merritt? It covers +a device actuated by a spur on a balance staff to lock the detent against +tripping when in one position and to permit normal operation of the +chronometer escapement when in the other position (see fig. 6). Another +patent applied for on January 12, 1876, was in prospect and finally +issued as no. 186838 on January 30, 1877, assigned to William B. Fowle on +November 21, 1876.[16] This is much the most practical and useful +patent in the series. A comparison of these (see figs. 7 and 8) with the +Auburndale rotary watch (see fig. 9) shows a remarkable similarity +between the inventor's conception and the product eventually +manufactured. A practical center arbor to support and guide the entire +rotating mechanism is here combined with a stem-winding and lever-setting +mechanism and dial gearing in a well thought out arrangement. + +[Illustration: Figure 8.--REMAINING DRAWINGS FROM U. S. PATENT 186838, +showing the dial gearing used in the Auburndale rotary.] + +Here, where the story of the Hopkins watch diverges from the interests +who later brought out the rival Waterbury watch, it seems appropriate to +call the reader's attention to the basic points of novelty and merit in +the Hopkins watch which carried over to what became the Waterbury, +somewhat as an hereditary characteristic passes from generation to +generation. Previous writers have realized that one of these watches led +to the other and have grouped them together because of the rotating +feature which they shared in common. Beyond this point they have treated +the watches as though they had nothing in common. Actually several basic +features of the Hopkins watch existed in both: the long narrow spring in +a barrel approximately filling one side of the watch case, a train +rotating in the center of the watch and driven by a planetary pinion in +mesh with a gear fixed to the stationary part of the watch, a slow beat +escapement, and probably the hourly rotation of the train and escapement. +When these details appeared in the first watches manufactured for Messrs. +Locke and Merritt by the Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Co. and later +the Waterbury Watch Co., they were vastly changed in detail and much +better adapted to mass production, although still basically the same. + +[Illustration: Figure 9.--AUBURNDALE ROTARY WATCH MOVEMENT. + (In the author's collection.)] + +The story of Hopkins' rotary watch now enters an entirely new setting +with new financial backing which, however, had no apparent experience or +background in mechanical work, much less watch manufacturing. Those with +watchmaking experience who were brought into this new organization +unquestionably did their best, based on past experience confined to +conventional watches of much higher grade. Judging from the products +turned out, however, they had great difficulty in making a clean break +with their past and in producing a satisfactory low-priced watch of new +and radical concept. The market for watches, which had been depressed, +was at this time reviving a little. The _Newton Journal_,[17] referring +to the American Watch Co. at Waltham reported: "The hands employed in the +caseroom and the machinists have been called in. All the works are to be +started the first of September." + +[Illustration: Figure 10.--WILLIAM B. FOWLE, sponsor of the Auburndale +Watch Co., after an engraving in S. F. Smith, _History of Newton, +Massachusetts_ (Boston, 1880).] + +----- + [8] Chas. S. Crossman, "A complete history of watch and + clock making in America," _Jewelers Circular and + Horological Review_, January 1888, pp. 400, 401. This + history ran as a continuing series of short articles + appearing over a period of years. In his sketch of the + Waterbury Watch Co., Crossman gives the name as William + D. Coates, a name not found in Boyd's _Directory of the + District of Columbia_ for 1875. The directory does, + however, contain the name of William D. Colt, a patent + attorney. + + [9] U. S. patents 165830 and 165831, granted July 20, + 1875. + + [10] U. S. patent 186838, January 30, 1877. + + [11] Patent file 165831, records of the Patent Office in the + National Archives, Washington, D. C. + + [12] Crossman, _op. cit._ (footnote 8), January 1888, + p. 32. + + [13] _Ibid._, p. 33. + + [14] William B. Fowle's "Cash book," commenced January 1, + 1873, and closed February 21, 1882, plus "Cash Book #5 + Leaves 1 to 20 inclusive. All that were used up to my + failure on August 4, 1883," are in the author's + possession. They contain many entries on the "Watch + Adventure" and later "Aub Watch Co." mixed in with other + entries referring to everything from killing pigs to + extensive stock, bond, and real estate transactions. + + [15] U. S. Patent Office digest of assignments, vol. H9V, + p. 13, stored at Franconia, Virginia, Accession no. + 57A393. + + [16] _Ibid._, p. 76. + + [17] August 26, 1876, p. 2., under the heading of Waltham + Items, "Signs of a revival of business at the Watch + Works in Waltham." + + +The New Sponsor + +William Bentley Fowle (fig. 10), new partner with Hopkins and Colt in the +watch, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 27, 1826. His father, +William B. Fowle, Senior, a well-known Boston teacher and educator, had +variously been a bookseller and conductor of a "Female Monitorial +School."[18] The junior William B. Fowle we have first located as a +ticket master with the Boston and Worcester Railroad in 1848,[19] and +he retained this listing in the directory through 1851. Starting in 1852 +and continuing through 1862, with no indication of employer or +occupation, he had an office at 9 Merchants Exchange. In 1860 and 1862 he +was a member of the Boston Common Council, and was president of that body +in 1865. In 1862, after the second battle of Bull Run, he raised an +infantry company for the 43rd Massachusetts Volunteers and was mustered +in, September 24, 1862, with the rank of captain. From December 7, 1862, +to March 4, 1863, he was commandant of the military post at Beaufort, +North Carolina. He then reported to his regiment. On June 24, 1863, he +was left sick at New Bern, North Carolina, by his company bound for +Fortress Monroe. On July 21 he rejoined his company at Boston, +Massachusetts, in time to be mustered out on July 30 at the expiration of +his nine months' enlistment.[20] + +[Illustration: Figure 11.--THE TWO LEVER ESCAPEMENTS USED IN THE +AUBURNDALE ROTARY. Note, in addition to the escapement, the absence of +banking pins and the metal balance jewel in the escapement at the left, +which is from watch No. 176. (Both watches in the author's collection.)] + +In the 1864 _Boston directory_ we find him listed as treasurer of the +Bear Valley Coal Co., and the North Mountain Coal Co., with an office at +38 City Exchange. This association with the coal business continued with +changes unimportant to our story through the directories until 1877, in +which year the name is dropped from the _Boston directory_, not to +reappear until the directory of 1880, where he is listed at "Herald +Building, watches and timers." This was apparently the sales office. The +_Newton directory_ of 1877 drops its previous listing of coal after Mr. +Fowle's name and first mentions the Auburndale Watch Co.[21] In 1866 +Mr. Fowle established his home, Tanglewood, in Auburndale, a village in +Newton not far from his boyhood home at West Newton and on the bank of +the Charles River about two miles upstream from the Waltham Watch Co. He +served the town of Newton as selectman from 1869 through 1871, was an +alderman in 1877, and mayor in 1878 and 1879.[22] + +[Illustration: Figure 12.--A 24-HOUR DIAL for the rotary watch. + (In the author's collection.)] + +William Atherton Wales of New York is credited with introducing Mr. Fowle +to the Hopkins watch. No clue has come to light on what connection there +was between Hopkins and Wales, who had been a partner in the large +watch-importing house of Giles, Wales and Co., in New York and later a +large stockholder in the United States Watch Co. of Marion, New Jersey, +which had only ceased operation in 1874. A patent[23] had been issued +to Fayette S. Giles of New York, the leading figure in the United States +Watch Co., for an improvement in stem-winding watches. This had +presumably been available to his company. In this winding mechanism a +crown pinion driven by a clutch on the stem engages with a large ring +gear, having 110 internal teeth, which in turn drives a gear on the +barrel arbor. The author has seen no watch, except the patent +model,[24] containing this device, but the pillar plate of many of the +United States Watch Co. movements were cut out, apparently to receive +this ring gear. + +The expense of cutting so many internal teeth in steel seems reason +enough to explain why this patent did not become the basis for all their +stem-wound models. Steel is far more difficult to cut than brass, +resulting in a much greater consumption of time and cutters, both of +which represent money to the manufacturer. In the patent model these +ring-gear teeth have been cut by a milling cutter which did not pass +through the ring and across the face of the teeth. This produced a gear +somewhat resembling an internal bevel gear, one which could have only the +merest contact with its mating pinion. To make a durable gear for this +application it would be necessary to pass the cutter through the ring in +line with the gear axis. This would require a special or, at least, +radically modified gear-cutting machine with a cutter arbor shorter than +the inside diameter of the gear. Into this short space the spindle +bearings and means of driving the spindle would have to be crowded, along +with the cutter. Hopkins faced a problem similar to this in cutting the +ring gear for his watch, except that the brass gear needed for the rotary +watch could be cut far more easily and quickly. This may be the link +which brought Wales and the defunct United States Watch Co. into the +Auburndale picture. Another plausible link between Fowle and Wales +involves a patent[25] Wales received for a pulley. This, the now +familiar device of interlocking conical sections so commonly used in +variable speed V-belt drives, was assigned to G. E. Lincoln of Boston, +Massachusetts. George E. Lincoln was treasurer of the Mammoth Vein +Consolidated Coal Co. at Boston in 1865, with an office adjoining that of +Fowle. In addition he boarded for many years at Auburndale,[26] and he +apparently owned the buildings about to be converted into a watch +factory. Thus we see that Lincoln may very well have been the one who +brought Fowle and Wales together. + +[Illustration: Figure 13.--THE AUBURNDALE TIMER with top plate, balance, +and control mechanism removed to show the train. The conventional barrel +has 66 teeth that drive a pinion on the so-called 10-minute staff. This +staff carries on the dial end the pointer, which revolves in 10 minutes, +as indicated on the dial. Also on this staff is an unspoked wheel of 80 +driving the center, or minute, staff through a pinion of 8. In addition +to the sweep hand (or hands in the case of the split model) indicating +seconds up to a duration of one minute, there is a wheel of 80 driving a +pinion of 8 on an intermediate staff. A wheel of 60 on this staff drives +a pinion of 10 on the escape-wheel staff. A pointer on this last staff +also carries the hand that indicates fractions of a second. (In the +author's collection.)] + +William B. Fowle's cash book shows, on July 14, 1876, payment to Geo. E. +Lincoln "For large building used $200" and "For small building used $30." +On July 21 is an entry "Milo Lucas bal. of Building Contract $1605.25." +These with an entry on the preceding June 30, "Milo Lucas on a/c Contract +for Building" seem, with a July 25 entry "W. E. C. Fowler, Painting +Factory $64.91," to cover the expense for the bare factory. The +buildings, two stories high and measuring 40 x 20 and 32 x 20 feet, +respectively, were located on the Weston bank of the Charles River, +opposite Fowle's home, from which they could be reached by a private +ferry. This pleasant bucolic location was not far upstream from that +originally sought by the Boston Watch Co. when that firm was looking for +a spot to move to from Roxbury in 1854. The situation of the factory was +described as a wild and secluded glen.[27] + +Another account[28] says: + + The well appointed little steamer _White Swan_, owned and commanded + by a Captain Gibbs, veteran of the last war, now plies regularly + between Waltham and Auburndale Bridge, carrying picnic parties, + etc.... Along the banks of the river are located the summer + residences of Messrs. Cutter and Merrill, the elegant residence of + R. M. Pulsifer, Mayor of Newton, the splendid mansion of Ex-Mayor + Fowle, the Benyon mansion and others.... At sunset the river is + alive with canoes, row-boats, shells and sailboats filled with + ladies and gentlemen adding, with the delightful music, greatly to + the natural charm of the scenery. + +[Illustration: Figure 14.--ESCAPE WHEEL AND PALLETS of an Auburndale +timer. With four pins in the escape wheel, this particular one beats +eighths of a second. (In author's collection.)] + +This idyllic pastoral setting surely must have been a joy to all +connected with the little watch factory. It seems to typify the +atmosphere of wealth and leisure into which the infant industry was +brought without adequate study of the problems it would be called upon to +surmount. + +The Auburndale machinery came from the United States Watch Co. factory at +Marion, New Jersey, which, as we have seen, was closed in 1874. William +A. Wales, who was associated with Fowle in the Auburndale "adventure," +had been secretary, treasurer, and director of this company. Most of the +machinery came from George E. Hart and Co., of Newark, which had taken +over much of the Company's equipment, eventually selling it to other +factories. Warren E. Ray, a neighbor of Mr. Fowle's, commenced as manager +of the factory in July 1876, and died suddenly of heart disease about +October 1 of that year. He was soon succeeded by Mr. James H. Gerry, who +had gone from Waltham to Newark in 1863 to superintend the building of +the original machines for the United States factory. + +The employees were chiefly drawn from other factories, principally the +neighboring American Watch Co. at Waltham, and the defunct United States +Watch Co., while some who needed no specific watchmaking skills perhaps +never had worked in a watch factory before. Names, not already mentioned, +that have been preserved are: George H. Bourne, L. C. Brown, Abraham +Craig, Frederick H. Eaves, Henry B. Fowle, Benjamin F. Gerry, William H. +Guest, Jose Guinan, Sadie Hewes, Isaac Kilduff (the watchman), Justin +Hinds, E. Moebus, James O'Connell (the stationary engineer), Edwin H. +Perry, Frank N. Robbins, John Rose, Thomas W. Shephard, William H. A. +Simmons, Alfred Simpson, Thomas Steele, Oscar L. Strout, and George Wood. +These, compiled from several sources,[29] represent only a few of the +men who contributed their knowledge and skill to the enterprise; they are +listed in alphabetical order because it has been found impossible to +arrange them accurately according to position, magnitude of contribution, +or length of service. + +Of the five Hopkins patents[30] the first and the last are the ones +covering the essential elements used in the Auburndale product. The two +patents assigned in half to William D. Colt apparently were never used, +nor does the device shown in figure 6 seem to have been used, although +these unused patents are listed on the Auburndale movements. Now that the +watch was in the hands of men accustomed to making watches, some +modifications dictated by their experience and by considerations of +expediency in manufacture were made. The movement that issued was 18 +size, rather thick, cased at the factory in a nickel case made by the +Thiery Watch Case Co. of Boston, Massachusetts. In the winding and +setting mechanisms, some changes in details were made with respect to +those shown in figure 7. The dial is mounted by means of a rim which +snaps over the edge of the movement as on a high-grade Swiss watch of the +same era. The usual dial feet, if used, would have interfered with the +rotation of the movement. For the same reason, of course, there is no +dial indicating seconds. + +[Illustration: Figure 15.--VERGE AND LEVER for an Auburndale timer. The +one on the left beats eighths of a second; that on the right beats +quarters. (In author's collection.)] + +Five jewels are found in most instances, two cap jewels and two hole +jewels for the balance staff and a jeweled impulse pin. One of the faults +of the movement is that the cap and hole jewels on the balance are not +separable for cleaning. After the jewels were inserted part of the +setting was spun down over them, making the assembly permanent. A few +movements with only one jewel are known, the cap and hole jewels being +metal "jewels" likewise set under a spun-over rim. Whether or not the +impulse jewel found in these last-mentioned movements is original or a +later intrusion remains undetermined. It is easy to conceive that the +factory would see no more necessity for an impulse jewel than for other +jewels. + +The lever escapement is the only one known to have been used, but two +varieties of this are found (see fig. 11). One is a standard club-tooth +lever with banking pins, the other, much more interesting because +unconventional, has pointed pallets and all the lift on the escape wheel, +which has very short stubby teeth, very much like the wheel of a +pin-pallet escapement. No banking pins are used, the banking taking place +between the pallets and the wheel. An examination of a number of these +watches, with serial numbers ranging from 46 to 507,[31] reveals no +correlation between the serial number and the style of escapement, from +which one may conclude that the pointed pallet escapement was originally +used; later four balance jewels were added and the escapement changed to +the conventional club-tooth pattern. As complaints came in about the +defective running of the watch these changes were apparently substituted +at the factory in customers' watches. The movements with the +pointed-pallet escapement seldom show much wear; on the other hand, watch +no. 224,[32] which has the conventional escapement and five jewels, is +very much worn and must have run for many years. + +These watches are stem wound by turning opposite to the usual direction +and are set through the winding crown after actuating a setting lever +located under the front bezel. The plates, bridges, and ring gear are +nickel-plated and highly buffed, making a very showy movement, the only +instances of such a finish on watches in the author's experience. In +figure 12 is shown a 24-hour dial to fit the movement. Special dial +gearing would be required for the hour hand to accompany this dial. + +[Illustration: Figure 16.--DIAL FOR 1/10-SECOND MODEL Auburndale timer. +(In author's collection.)] + +The first of these watches were placed on the market in 1877, priced at +$10.00 to the trade. Soon complaints came in that they were defective in +operation and many were returned. We have seen from the specimens +examined that there seems to have been no established model produced in +quantity. The dial and the number of jewels varied, as well as the +escapement, suggesting that the owners were groping for a salable variant +of the design for which they had tooled the factory. Probably the pointed +pallet escapement was used first, it being the less expensive of the two. +In addition to the saving effected by not requiring banking pins, the +escape wheel was much cheaper to cut, as the teeth were very short and +strong (see fig. 11). Since the banking took place between the pallets +and the escape wheel, there was no adjustment for the amount of slide; +and since the watches were not made to close tolerances, the slide was +necessarily excessive and consequently power consuming. The conventional +club-tooth escapement was probably substituted as less troublesome, +although the banking pins were fixed and could only be adjusted by +bending them. The pallets remained solid steel, without adjustable stone +inserts. + +At this stage of affairs approximately $140,000 had been invested in the +venture, the market was already glutted with conventional watches which +enjoyed the confidence of retailers, and the Auburndale Rotary had won a +bad reputation. The success of any watch depends largely on the +confidence the retail dealers have in it. They are looking for a product +easy to sell at an attractive profit as well as one that will stay sold +and create a satisfied customer. Fowle was of course very much +disappointed; before going into the venture he had been advised that he +could expect to produce 200 watches per day on an expenditure of +$16,000.[33] The watches reached the market at a time, the fall of +1877, almost coincidental with application by D. Azro A. Buck for patents +on what was to become the Waterbury rotary. These patents represented a +new and economically sound expression of the basic ideas of Hopkins. The +Waterbury associates immediately commenced work aimed at getting their +watch on the market by June 1878.[34] News of this certainly reached +Auburndale where they were not only well aware of the cost of producing +their rotary but were also aware of the strict cost and performance +studies which Locke and Merritt would apply to any watch before they +would invest in it. Knowledge of this very able and well organized rival, +coupled with the troubles experienced in manufacturing and selling the +Auburndale Rotary, seem to account for the decision to abandon it. It was +unfortunate that the timing of events happened just as it did for a +little more work on the Auburndale and the tools for making it would +probably have placed it on a firm footing in the trade, although +obviously it could never compete with what eventually became the +low-priced watch, really a scaled-down alarm clock minus the alarm +mechanism. + +It is said that about one thousand of the "Rotaries" were made. The +highest serial number to come to the author's attention, 507, may +indicate that only a part of the watches started were finished. + +Accounts agree[35] that the next product of the factory was a "Timer" +containing a novel escapement patented on May 28, 1878,[36] by William +A. Wales. Early specimens are marked "Pat. Applied For," but one with the +serial number 996[37] bears no reference at all to a patent, presumably +because issuance of the patent or patents was imminent. Apparently the +timer was in full production before the patent was issued on May 28. +Specimens with higher serial numbers are stamped with three patent dates, +May 28, 1878,[38] June 24, 1879, and September 30, 1879, as seen in +figure 13, which also shows the arrangement of the train. In this +escapement the escape wheel (fig. 14) carries in the rim any suitable +number of steel pins all on the same radius from, and parallel to, the +axis of wheel rotation. In all cases the wheel makes one revolution per +second. The verge (figs. 14 and 15) is so proportioned that the distance +between the points of repose on the entrance and exit pallets will stop +the wheel at intervals equal to half the angular distance between the +pins. + +In other words, with two pins in the escape wheel the escapement will +beat quarters of a second, because starting from a point of repose the +wheel will be arrested on the other point of repose after turning through +90°. With four pins in the escape wheel and a suitably proportioned verge +the escape wheel advances in steps of 45° and beats eighths of a second. +The growing trend in this period to standardize the timing of sporting +events in intervals of fifths of a second is reflected in still another +model having five pins in the escape wheel and beating tenths of a +second. By the nature of the verge in this escapement, it will be seen +that the number of beats must be twice the number of pins in the escape +wheel, leaving no way to secure an odd number of beats per second, hence +the 1/10-second model. This must have been a less desirable form because +of the much smaller verge required, plus the problem of accelerating so +much mass from a dead stop 600 times per minute. + +[Illustration: Figure 17.--A TIMER DIAL that is probably either +experimental or very early. Note that the fractions of a second +(quarters) are shown on the outside dial instead of on a separate dial. +This dial was converted at the factory for use as the base of a +hairspring vibrating stand. A dial different from this but having the +same arrangement of circles is known. (In author's collection.)] + +Figure 16 illustrates a dial for this 1/10-second model which the author +found in a lot of unused parts left over when the factory closed. The +watch had an 18-size 3/4-plate movement with grained nickel finish. The +escapement is special, as we have seen, but the fork, roller, and balance +action are conventional. There are five jewels, four to support the +balance staff and an impulse jewel. The barrel arbor comes through the +top plate with a square, as in a keywind watch, but is fitted with a +winding handle, so that a key is unnecessary. This handle appears to be +an afterthought, because on the earlier models (those with serial numbers +below 1,000), the barrel arbor is short, barely long enough to attach the +winding handle; later this arbor was made longer. Patent 204274 issued to +Benjamin Wormelle of Brighton, Massachusetts, on May 28, 1878, the same +date as Wales' escapement patent, may have suggested this winding handle. +On watches with higher serial numbers, there are two arrows on the handle +to show the direction to wind. + +The earliest of these timers had a slide on the side of the case to stop +the movement by means of a piece of thin spring steel applied roughly +tangentially to the smooth rim of the three-arm, solid steel balance +wheel. When this action is reversed to start the movement, the spring, in +retracting from the wheel rim, starts the wheel swinging. Soon this slide +on the case was dispensed with by fitting a curved sheet-metal rack into +a groove turned in the edge of the balance cock. Engaging this rack was a +pinion with a square hole through which the square stem could slide to +set the hands back to zero as it had from the beginning, while turning +the stem now would actuate the pinion and rack to start and stop the +movement, as the slide in the case had originally done. + +Various minor changes, dictated by experience and the need for economy in +manufacture, were made in these movements. After about the first thousand +the diameter of the balance was reduced from approximately .700 to about +.530 inch. This smaller wheel was, of course, much more suitable to +vibrate at the faster speeds required on the models beating eighths and +tenths of a second. At some time between the manufacture of watches +bearing serial numbers 3135 and 3622, the formerly separate winding pawl +and spring were combined into one piece that could be entirely made in a +punch press. Another economy move was to stamp the name and patents in +place of hand engraving. For a long time hand engraving was used, +although stamping had been used from the beginning on the earlier rotary +watch. + +The case was very similar to that used on the rotary. The dial, of white +enamel with snap rim fastened by a screw,[39] carried three graduated +circles, an outer circle graduated in seconds up to sixty surrounding two +smaller subsidiary dials. The top one of these smaller dials recorded +minutes elasped up to ten and the lower one recorded fractions of a +second. The same dial was used on movements indicating quarters and +eighths of seconds, all being graduated in eighths. A dial without +provision for indicating the fractions of a second on a separate small +dial may be seen in figure 17. This last has been made into a stand for +hair spring work and is shown with balance and spring just as it came +from the Auburndale factory with balance spring and wheel for a timer +still in place. + +[Illustration: Figure 18.--TAG DISPLAYING DIRECTIONS FOR USE OF THE +AUBURNDALE TIMER. + + (In author's collection.)] + +The sweep second hand and the minute register hand are attached to +heart-shaped cams friction driven from their respective staffs. They are +reset by a bar pivoted beneath the dial and actuated by the stem through +pressure on the crown. An original instruction tag as sent from the +factory with these timers is seen in figure 18. + +Figure 19 shows the mechanism of the split-second model as represented +in U. S. patent 220195 of September 30, 1879, issued to William A. Wales +and assigned to William B. Fowle.[40] A split-second mechanism is used +to time the finish of two horses in the same race or any other similar +event. In usual watches of this nature the watch will run along +indefinitely with the extra or split second hand stopped although this +hand will not record more than a difference of one minute from the main +sweep hand. This was not true of the Auburndale, as pointed out in the +instructions. The reason for this is that motion is conveyed to this hand +through a hair spring which would be damaged if allowed to overwind. To +prevent this a stop is interposed which will halt the entire watch unless +directions are followed. The serrated wheel _F_, of hardened steel, +driving the second sweep hand, is cut on the edge with 120 serrations; +stopping of this hand therefore is only to the nearest half second +regardless of how minutely the escapement is dividing time. This is +rather a serious defect as, if timing a horse race as an example, the +time of the fastest horse is taken on this hand which registers a lesser +degree of accuracy than the time recorded on the second and less +important horse. A general view of one of these watches is seen in +figure 20. + +----- + [18] _Stimpson's Boston directory_, 1840. + + [19] _Adams' new directory of the City of Boston_, 1847-48, + 1849-50, 1851. + + [20] Records of Veterans Administration, pension application + 666 675, National Archives, Washington, D. C. + + [21] The _Newton directory_ at this time was issued + biennially on odd numbered years. + + [22] S. F. Smith, _History of Newton, Massachusetts_, Boston + 1880, p. 833. + + [23] U. S. patent 65208, issued May 28, 1867, all rights + assigned to Giles, Wales and Co., March 4, 1867 and + recorded March 8, 1867, at U. S. Patent Office, liber + G9, p. 100. + + [24] In the U. S. National Museum, cat. no. 309021. + + [25] U. S. patent 179746, issued July 11, 1876. + + [26] _Boston directory_, 1865 through 1872. + + [27] M. F. Sweitser, _King's handbook of Newton, + Massachusetts_, Boston, Mass., 1889, p. 203. + + [28] Smith, _op. cit._ (footnote 22), p. 20. + + [29] The sources used were Crossman, _op. cit._ + (footnote 8), December 1887; Henry G. Abbot, _Watch + factories of America_, Chicago, 1888, pp. 93-95; + _Newton directory_ for 1875, 1877, 1879, 1881, 1883, + 1884-85, and 1885; _Waltham-Watertown directory_ for + 1877-78, 1880, 1882, 1884; and William B. Fowle, "Cash + book" (see footnote 14). + + [30] U. S. patents 161513, applied for November 13, 1873, + issued March 30, 1875; 165830, applied for July 14, + 1875, issued July 20, 1875; 165831, applied for June 9, + 1875, issued July 20, 1875; 179019, applied for May 25, + 1876, issued June 20, 1876; and 186838, applied for + January 12, 1876, issued January 30, 1877. A French + patent was issued to Hopkins on September 12, 1876, and + a Belgian patent on September 30, 1876. For lack of + records neither has been positively identified but + presumably they are for the same device covered in + U. S. patent 179019. + + [31] No. 46 courtesy of the late C. A. Ilbert (this watch is + now in the Science Museum, South Kensington, London); + 124, 176, 224, 241 in the author's collection; 161 + Abbot, _op cit._ (footnote 29); 250 Henry Ford Museum, + Dearborn, Michigan; 361 F. Earl Hackett; 387 Dr. Alfred + G. Cossidente; 403 Dr. W. B. Stephens; 423 Crossman, _op + cit._ (footnote 8); and an unnumbered movement + illustrated in _American Jeweler_, December 1898, vol. + 17, no. 12, p. 371. + + [32] In the author's collection. + + [33] Crossman, _op. cit._ (footnote 8), December 1887, + p. 400. + + [34] Crossman, _op. cit._ (footnote 8), January 1888, + p. 33. + + [35] Crossman, _op. cit._ (footnote 8), January 1888, + pp. 400-401; Abbot, _op. cit._ (footnote 29). + + [36] U. S. patent 204400. + + [37] U. S. National Museum cat. no. 248691. + + [38] U. S. patent 204400. The text of this patent speaks of + dividing the second into "halves, quarters, eighths, + etc." and in the summation of claims of "an escape + wheel, _A_, provided with one or more pairs of pins..." + showing that measuring tenths of a second with a + five-pin escape wheel was not conceived at this time. It + is interesting to note that in referring to the drawings + shown in figure 12 the text states "In the present + instance two pairs of pins are used to denote quarter + seconds." Only one pair of pins is shown, which is + correct. This seems, however, to reflect carelessness on + the part of patent attorneys and examiners, as the error + exists in the original manuscript patent application + preserved in the National Archives, Washington, D. C. + + [39] U. S. patent 216917, issued to William A. Wales and + assigned to William B. Fowle, was applied for on + November 1, 1878, after the device was already in use on + earlier specimens of these watches. + + [40] The mechanism was also covered by British patent 3893, + issued September 27, 1879, to Philip Syng Justice on + behalf of William B. Fowle. + + +Success and Failure + +It would be pleasant to report that after the fiasco of the rotary model +these timers were a financial success, but the facts indicate otherwise. +They were well built and reliable, so that the trade was pleased to stock +and promote them. The public responded well when in the market for a +timer, as might be expected, since no other stop watch with fractional +second dial or split-second hand was made in the country. Those imported +from abroad were many times as expensive. Unfortunately the demand was +seasonal. Sometimes, during the racing season, demand would reach 400 +per month, while at other seasons of the year practically none at all +were sold. Some remained in stock during the remaining life of the +company, as is shown by the following advertisement,[41] which was +accompanied by an illustration of the watch: + + The old reliable Auburndale Chronograph Timers, for sale by Edward + H. Brown, No. 16 Maiden Lane, New York. The manufacture of these + watches having been discontinued for reasons entirely apart from + their value and reliability, the stock in existence is very + limited, and is now in the hands of Mr. Edward H. Brown, No. 16 + Maiden Lane, New York City, the well known and reliable dealer in + Watches, Diamonds and Jewelry. The Auburndale timer has been in the + hands of a number of competent judges, and has always been found to + be accurate. It is of convenient size, and is contained in a German + silver case, nickel plated. The timers are manufactured in two + qualities, without split seconds for $15 and with the split second + for $25. They all have minute, second and lightning hands. We + recommend all desiring a cheap and reliable timer to apply at once + to Mr. Brown, No. 16 Maiden Lane, New York. + +A steadier market was sought with the introduction of a low priced +3/4-plate, back-setting, 18-size watch to compete, it was hoped, with the +full-plate watches of similar price made by the established companies. +Nearly all these watches had seven jewels, some few had more. The +majority were key wind and set with a folding winding key permanently +attached to the barrel arbor, as in figure 21. These were named +"Lincoln" for Mr. Fowle's son, Lincoln A. Fowle,[42] and had a solid +steel balance with screws and the general appearance of a compensated +balance. A stem-wound, lever-set edition of the same basic watch was +named "Bentley" for Bentley D. Fowle, another son.[43] This had a cut +bimetallic balance and higher finish. Conventional gilt finish was used +on both of these models, although one isolated specimen found in factory +remainders[44] has a bright nickel finish comparable with the rotary +watch. These watches were designed by Chauncey Hartwell,[45] after J. +H. Gerry had removed to Lancaster, where the Lancaster Watch Co., +organized in August 1877, was attempting to bring a line of watches onto +the market although beset by acute financial woes similar to those +building up at Auburndale. To return to our 3/4-plate watches, it may be +said that they were well made for the price, reliable, and successful +from a manufacturing point of view but could not be sold at a figure high +enough to return a profit on the manufacture. + +[Illustration: Figure 19.--SPLIT SECOND MECHANISM of the Auburndale +timer, as shown in drawings from U. S. patent 220195, issued September +30, 1879.] + +Up to this time, about November 1, 1879, the Auburndale Watch Co., had +existed as a private company; now it was incorporated with a book value +of $500,000, and William B. Fowle, who at this point had invested about +$250,000 (mostly unrecoverable) in the enterprise, was elected president, +and George H. Bourne was elected secretary and treasurer. + +After a quantity of these Lincoln and Bentley watches had been +manufactured[46] and it had become clear that they could not be +attractively priced to the trade, the company sought a product adapted to +their factory equipment for which a constant market could be found. The +product chosen was a line of metallic thermometers.[47] Two patents, +240058 and 240059, were issued to William A. Wales, assignor to the +Auburndale Watch Co., of Weston, Massachusetts, on April 12, 1881. +Whether these patents represent the first thermometers made at Auburndale +or reflect the result of experience gained in making conventional models +is not clear. The earliest evidence dating the appearance of the +thermometer is the 1881 _Boston directory_ which appeared on July 1. This +illustrates the same model of thermometer seen in figure 22. The patents +cover means of eliminating springs of any sort from the mechanism, so +that the hand or dial pointer is entirely under the influence of the +fused bimetallic thermal strips. Manufacture of the timers was carried +along with thermometer manufacture at first, but production of the timer +was finally dropped, as the stock on hand was constantly increasing, and +for a while the factory was at last operated at a profit, on thermometers +alone. These were furnished in cases from 20 inches in diameter down to +the size of a ten cent piece, according to the advertising. + +[Illustration: Figure 20 (_left_).--AUBURNDALE TIMER WITH SPLIT SECOND +HAND. Note the stop and start lever for the "split" hand at the side of +the case. (In author's collection.)] + +[Illustration: Figure 21 (_above_).--AUBURNDALE THREE-QUARTER PLATE +WATCH, typical of both Lincoln and Bentley grades. (In author's +collection.)] + +Unfortunately Mr. Fowle had suffered so much loss through the watch +venture and from other investments that he was forced to make an +assignment of his personal estate. The watch company, without his +support, was carrying too large a burden of debt to be self-supporting. +In the fall of 1883 a voluntary assignment was made and the equipment was +sold in February 1884.[48] The _Newton directory_ of 1885 lists W. B. +Fowle as a thermometer manufacturer on Woodbine Street, "house near." His +home, "Tanglewood," was on Woodbine Street and perhaps the thermometer +business was operating in one of the outbuildings. William A. Wales +assigned to the Auburndale Watch Co. patent 276101, of December 4, 1883, +covering details of a unit counter for keeping score in games, and for +similar work. Among the relics in the author's collection is a box +bearing the label "Auburndale Counter, W. B. Fowle & Son, Auburndale, +Mass." These counters were packed two in a box, the box just mentioned +being suitable to contain counters the size of the thermometer in +figure 22. Figure 23 shows a larger counter measuring 4-1/2 inches in +diameter. From this and the fact that Fowle as late as 1887, is carried +in the _Newton directory_ as a manufacturer of metallic thermometers, it +seems that some attempt was made after dissolution of the watch company +to carry on manufacturing, or perhaps only the assembly on a small scale +of parts previously manufactured. The _Directory_ of 1889 lists Fowle as +an accountant on Ash Street, Auburndale. He had bought this property in +1887, presumably after disposing of "Tanglewood" which now would be too +large for his needs. In the editions of 1891 and 1893 he is listed as +United States collector of internal revenue, with an office at the Post +Office building, Boston. In 1895 he appears as an accountant at the same +address and from then to his death in 1902 he is listed as an accountant +at his home address in Auburndale. + +[Illustration: Figure 22 (_above_).--AUBURNDALE THERMOMETER, about 1-3/4 +inches in diameter. (In author's collection.)] + +Jason R. Hopkins, inventor of the first Auburndale product, passed away +in Washington late the same year, 1902, having spent all the intervening +years as a watchmaker. + +----- + [41] _The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review_, July + 1884. + + [42] _Newton directory_, 1884-85; Crossman, _op. cit._ + (footnote 8), December 1887. + + [43] Records of Veterans Administration, pension application + WE 666 675 of Mary E. Fowle (widow of William B. + Fowle). + + [44] Serial 926, in author's collection. + + [45] _Newton directory_, 1879. + + [46] Each model of watch made at Auburndale was numbered in + its own series, starting at number 1, contrary to the + usual watch factory practice where blocks of serial + numbers are assigned to different models. Other + Auburndale products seem not to have borne serial + numbers. + + [47] Crossman, _op. cit._ (footnote 8), December 1887. + + [48] _Ibid._ + + +The Lesson + +The life of a pioneer has always been arduous. The story we have just +reviewed illustrates this. Hopkins was a successful workman with clever +and novel ideas. Fowle had been very successful in an entirely unrelated +field. Wales had been very successful in importing and selling watches +but the watch factory which he had owned in part had failed, the fault +more probably that of the times than of the man. The various +superintendents and foremen were first-class men with ample background in +making conventional watches. At the time no one could have had experience +in manufacturing exactly the grade and type of watch being attempted, for +this was the pioneer effort. + +[Illustration: Figure 23 (_right_).--AUBURNDALE COUNTER. Pressure on the +projecting stem indexes the inner dial, showing through the window, at +the same time ringing a bell. This dial is numbered from zero through +six. The outside hand is held in place by friction and is manually set as +desired. There is no connection with the inner mechanism.] + +The country was in the grip of a long, lingering depression following the +Civil War. Money was tight. The Auburndale Rotary was conceived as a very +low priced watch which would at the same time include the desirable and +unusual feature of close timekeeping. Could these ideals have been +adhered to, there is little reason to question that it would have found a +market, even in hard times. + +We have seen that every effort to improve the original watch added to its +cost, and here lies the real reason why it failed to win acceptance. By +the time it reached the market it was no longer priced below conventional +watches and at least some specimens were not reliable in performance. To +make matters even worse, the best features of Hopkins' rotary watch had +been incorporated by Locke and Merritt into a competing rotary watch much +better engineered for cheap mass production. + +At this point the only hope for the factory seemed to be the manufacture +of some other watch or similar small mechanism. The Auburndale timer, +with the exception perhaps of the split-second model, was a triumph +mechanically and it returned a profit, but not enough to meet the +financial needs of its sponsors. Much the same may be said of all the +later Auburndale products. + +The rotary had been of doubtful value when Flowe bought it, and the new +organization was not able to contribute the necessary manufacturing +engineering to make it a successful product. By the time this necessity +was recognized, debts had mounted to the point where later products, +which might have been successful on their own, were not able to carry the +burden. The whole affair can be viewed as a very expensive educational +adventure from which the students were not able to salvage enough to put +their education to any use. + +Surely they received a clear illustration of how dangerous it can be to +engage in an enterprise without sufficient background or a long and +careful study of design, manufacturing processes, costs, and market and +sales analysis. For although numerous fortunes have been made in watch +manufacturing, many more have been lost, and often those who put every +effort at their command into such ventures came away with only sad +experience as their reward. Thus ended the story of the Auburndale Watch +Company. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Auburndale Watch Company, by Edwin A. 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