Y96 Transactions of the American Institute. 



sipatiou, poverty, ruin, decay. But as for " time being money" — 

 why, I have been experimenting this thirty years, and never could 

 make it yield more than bare enough to keep soul and body 

 together. 



Our forefathers counted time by days; our fathers, by hours; 

 we, by minutes and seconds. Our grandsires traveled by sail, and 

 started on a certain day, or the next; om* sires, by stages, that left 

 at a given hour, or when they got ready; we, by steam, on the 

 minute. Our grandparents thought a clock a luxury; our parents 

 were proud, that possessed a watch. We all carry watches; and 

 if we take a "turn on the road," with any kind of a nag, we must 

 have our independent seconds, while our Bonners and Beechers go 

 by fifths or tenths. 



In the absence of a standard public observatory, we get nervous 

 and fidgety about the time, and when Blowhard Brothers announce, 

 through the daily Trumpet, that all of the railroads and steam- 

 boats in the universe run exclusively by their time, we rush head- 

 long to compare with the great oracle. 



We have a few private observatories in the city. A few gentle- 

 aien take the time for their own amusement; a few for their own 

 convenience. All others have either to buy, beg or steal. Most 

 of the buyers are supplied by Prof. Bull, who is very careful and 

 painstaking in his observations, and supplies at a reasonable price. 

 He also gives the time to the Ncav York and New Haven, Harlem, 

 Hudson River, Erie, New Jersey Central, and other roads. As 

 the regulators kept for rating chronometers are seldom at just 

 mean time, but varying all the way to a minute, the beggars do 

 not fare very well; for if they come too often, they become bores, 

 and get short and uncertain answers. The stealers seldom get the 

 exact seconds, but are the noisiest pack of the whole. 



To Messrs. Hammond, PoAvan, & Bull, I feel under obligations, 

 for I have never asked either of them a question conceraing time 

 or time-keeping, but that it has been answered with a promptness 

 and candor very gratifying. 



To commence our tour among the towers: We will go up St. 

 Paul's. I have a key, but as it weighs near a pound, I oftener 

 leave it at home than carry it, and always find John missing at the 

 same time my key is. But we are in, and up, up, we go. Every- 

 thing looks old and antiquated. The dust of a century lies about 

 us. The stairs are worn and decayed, and now and then a step 

 gone. Take care that, in going up on your feet, you do not come 



