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Mr. George Richmond;
"Se, -ms to me people paid a.great deal more attention to the 1.r religion
xixx a few years ago then they do now. My folks was kind of taken with Spirit-
ualism. I ruess that's kind of dvinI out. I had an aunt vent in for it. She
wns kind of an upstandinl,independent sort of woman,didn't know whether to
bellve in it or not,but'she went to a meetinl one time.
"The medium tried to ret in touch with my Auffit'S husband. Finally she
says,2X 'Is they anybody here named Marthy?' That's messays my aunt.
aWDZYSKI-tM 1"-Telll,says the a he's tnockin
mediuT,'Henry is herelan
to ccme in.'
'Leave him come in,' says my xi aunt. 'He never had to knock when he
was to hometand he don't have to knock now.' Somebody started laughin' and
that broke up the met'.
"But my d d and my mother had an experience one time. I can remember
hearin' them tell about it often. They was in bed,br-th of thempand my dad
felt his side of the bed kind of raise in the air. He thought she was playin'
some kind of a trick on him,so he didn't say nothinl at first,but it happen
two -three times and finally he says to her: lbat in bla7es you tryin' to
do?' She says,IThypain't that you movin' the bed?' :1.nd he says,'No,by
it ain't me movin' the bed. knd they both got up antxx in a hurry and went
to the other room to sleep. Never did find out what did it. But they both
believed a little mxxtax%x more in Spiritualism after that.
I don't know. Nayx Now you asked me about storesland of course I can't
tell you anything about Seth Thonas' store,because that was gone before
my time,but of course the stowes txx here when'I was a young fellow were
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all run by independent merchants. Today the independents is havin' a tough
time gittinl by unless they belong to some association,rhich most of them
do,I guess.
But I don't think much of them daains. Tell you why. I was in
store ons day and a ltdy came intshe says to old Pete: 'How much are your
kxx canned peaches.' He told taxxxx her —twenty-five cents,or eiFhteen
cents,or whatever it was.
a he says, can get 'em cheaper than that over at the
First rational. Wellsirpthey was a salesman standin' there listenin' to
everything,and he spoke up,and he sa 1Madam,lhe says,lhow much are they
She told him,Itorget xxitx what Itwas,say it was
(Witt' s)
at the First National.'
twenty cents. And he says to her: 'Here,lx&Axx ldystake this twenty cents
and go over there and get ac an and bring them back here.' Solby golly, he
did.
"'Then she got back,he took the can,and he says toketwzimax Pete 'Now,
he sayst'Let's have a can of yours.' He got .a can openertand he opened boicJ.
those cams right on the counter. 'Now la dy,' he ayst'look here.' And he
took half a dozen big slices out of Fete's
and he took about four small ones out oof the other can.
,he says. 'You Still think. you're getting, a bargain over
lady,' he says. 'You get what you pay fortno matter were
sometimes if you ain't careful,you get
right, the way I look at it.
Andrew Macaurrie. Mr. MacCurrie is Scotcycut came to this country.
46 years ago,went to work for Seth Thomas Clock o. ,and worked for
sayetbut about twenty years in all —He has
decided opinions upon t%:..le advantages of tOitlx emploYment t the company
a
in te Ir old days' as compar- present.
o d ed with the
concern lar:MW. off and on,e
can. 'And look here,' he says,
'You see that'll
there? I tell you
you get it. unly
less.' Nowthe was righttabsolutely
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"For one thing," he says. "You wiloctxxxxionsycx were always sure of a job.
If you got laid off in this clock shop you could go to another. These days
they favor their home town boys. Look what they did t ier in Bristol last
summer -10,1d off all their out of town help,ancitakx shit% mxitox and told
.them when they did come back they'd better be prepared to make their homes
in BrIsMiaxx Brtstol.
"Another thing,they didt t push you like they do these days. Nowadays every
thing is rush,rush rush! A. man had a job years agothe could damn near do what
he wanted,within reasonsand as long ashxx as his work wssscx was satisfactory.
"Now I used to have piecework jobs. I was buffin' for a while,and did
other work too, in the case shop. Sore of them were hard and some were easy,
and sone of the prices were tough and some were good.
"Know what we used to do? 'Then we got a good lob we'd cl get some work
ahead —wouldn't put it in on the tickat,understand—thammexx then when we
got a poor job,weld use that extit. work and still be able to make a 1-ttle
money. You can't do that no7r,they watch you too damn close. You've got
to ccount for every minue of your time.
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c,
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I
From the "Souvenir History
of Plymouth."
totf ".Ii
"Henry Terry in 1872,published a small pamphlet on American Clock Yaking
from which is quoted the following:
Little is knbrn concerning the making of clocks in this country anteriol:
to the period of the Declaration of Independence,1776. There were indeed a
few clockmakers in New England and x1Ex elsewhere atxthtxxXtxtx before this
time. Very few American clocks,however,can be found made x before this,and
those are brass clocks,having a pendulum forty inches in length and vibrating
in one second of time and adapted to a long case standing, on the floor with
a dial six feet from the floor.
It is not kno-711 that any wooden clocks were made before this time,and
very few,if anylanterior to the year 1792. The braes clocks made at this
txx early period were all similar to the English brass clocks and evidently
made by men of skill in this department of labor. The clocks are still to
be found. The wo-&manship of these American clocks is not inferior to those
imparted. An American clock was made in the town of Roxbury,Yass. ,by Simon
77illard. A patent was obtained on it in the year tOillx 1802. This proves tlafr
what we had supposed to be the truth before,that this kind of clock waxxax wa
an American prod-,ction,and that the art of clock7aking in tuis country
t ire war 1,1,11te in advance of the arts touchinE other manufactures. T-Tiese cloe
have
timmxtaxtV7A that time been considered :,00d timekeeperE. There
is evidence that rood brass clocks were made in this country more than a
hundred years ago. The
same kind of brass clock,with much the sar.e style ,.nd
form of case,h,ls been made x. ever since by manufacturers near Boston and
elsewhere. The sta tement,therefore,that has ben rade in advertising circu-
lars and other publications,vaat American clocks were made wholly of-lood
until 1te period, is not entitled to credit; nor hasthe story that 'the
thec-ls qxF-x-/:7 were nlr',:eci on the wood with square and compasstand then cut
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Out with a fine ja-k knife' any better .founda tion. It is a traditional
fabrication --a foolish story. It is wholly needless to give currency to
su c h
fabulous stories,and stereotype them as part of the early history of clock
making in this country. The clock makers of that age,as well a s the artisans
in o+.he A
---r -epartments of labor,were not such blinglers as some would make
t hem.
ks part of this historytit should here be stated that ksa Hopkins,of
the parish of rorthfield,town of Noxichtli21±x Litchfield,Conn. ,obtained a
patent about the year 181.3,on an enFine for cutting wheels. This invention
was for the introduction and use of three mandrels,by which one row of
teethlon a number of wheels,was furniscd by one operation of the engine,a
machine still in uselbut superseded at the t imelby a new construction of an
engine,wth only one mandrel. Mr.Hopkins,whoge factor was fmr four miles
or so -north of Thomaston,p1mx profited little by that patent. He had few
superiors as to mechanical skill,however,and really did more in the way of
imprdVements, in machinery than others whose names have bmEgrx become a traf
mark for the prosecution and mntinuance of the business. re spe.ak not here
against this use of nam,-:s It is right; yet in giving the history of any
branc h of trxx
of industry,it is not right to ignore the skill and enterprise
of men who in the early struggle ccntributed so largely to help along such
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