I picked up a May 1917 National Geographic magazine ( Volume XXXI, Number 5) for its the World War I reporting, and while the articles were interesting I became sidetracked by the advertising, two of them particularly interesting.
We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!
In case it’s too small to read:
Gentlemen: – The watch purchased from you in December, 1913, is a marvel of accuracy. On January 1, 1914, it was set 22 seconds fast, on standard mean time, and throughout the year frequent comparisons were made which showed a steady and regular gain. On January 1, 1915, it was again compared and was found to be 1 minute 35 seconds fast, or a gain of 1 minute, 13 seconds in 365 days, which is equivalent to a gaining rate of 0.2 second a day, or 6 seconds per month.
Had the rate of gain been variable, it would have been very different, but running as steadily and uniformly as it did, I would have no hesitancy whatever in using if for navigational purposes, as it is far more accurate than the average chronometer used for this purpose, and much more convenient.
Aside from the improvements in timekeeping in the 100+ years, my first thought was Why would you intentionally set the watch 22 seconds fast? Hamilton Watch still exists and sells railroad pocket watches, perhaps more accurate than their predecessors.
What The Public Didn’t Know ….
Perhaps surprisingly, Johns Manville still does commercial roofing and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. As I expected, they declared bankruptcy due to liability – and denial – of their asbestos products before reorganizing and establishing a trust fund for asbestos victims; the trust fund currently has $600m in assets and claims are paid out between $600 and $350,000.
