Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 5. 2020
Heated election season comes to an end
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
It’s been at least two years
since some Pickens candi
dates announced they would
ran for office, and since that
time on local, state, and na
tional levels this election
cycle has been the most divi
sive and intense the country
has seen in recent history.
Voter turnout has broken
records, including in Pickens
County where over 7,400
people voted early and an
other estimated 2,400 mailed
or turned in absentee ballots.
That’s of the total 24,300 reg
istered voters.
But polling places closed
at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3,
putting an official end to
campaigning and this elec
tion season, despite some
speculation that final results
may not be available for sev
eral days or longer.
The Progress was unable
to hold the paper for results
Tuesday evening, due to its
printing deadline. Visit
www.pickensprogress.com
for official results.
Pickens Elections Super
visor anticipated voting on
Election Day would be
smooth, without the long
lines that were experienced
during early voting.
“We’ve already got about
10,000 people who have
voted,” she said, “and with
12 polling places it should be
good.”
Roberts said the two
largest precincts, Sharp Top
and Yellow Creek, may have
had longer lines than the oth
ers.
In regards to when results
would be ready, she said “It
depends on the absentee bal
lots and how they scan. If we
get some in that are taped up,
ripped, have food on them, it
does what I call is ‘gumming
up’ the scanner and that can
set us back.”
If there are issues with a
ballot the “duplicating team”
has to create a duplicate and
rescan it.
During primaries this
summer, absentee ballots
were double what they are for
this general election. The
elections office did not begin
opening them until election
night, and the Secretary of
State eventually told the elec
tions board to go home and
resume the next day because
it was getting so late. That
was the first time in her ca
reer Roberts said she left
without knowing final elec
tion results on Election Day.
For this election, absentee
ballots were opened before
Election Day and stored in
the courthouse to cut down
on time to get to final num
bers. But Roberts said the
call to shut down and resume
the next day is up to the state,
not the local board of elec
tions.
Up to Election Day, they
had not experienced any
technical issues.
“I can’t praise the way the
machines have worked
enough,” she said.
They also had enough vol
unteers for November 3 - but
just enough.
“At first we didn’t, but we
had some people come on
and are just at full staff,” she
said. “We don’t want to lose
anyone.”
Find election results at
www.pickensprogress.com.
Continued From 1A
Some of Russell’s collection of Hamilton watches. In
watch collecting circles, you look for ones where few were
made. They rate watches where only 25 or fewer were made
as “rare. ” Fewer than 100 made, gets a rating of “scarce; ”
and below 1,000 is “uncommon. ”
The work requires a sharp eye, steady hand, magnifying glasses. Travelling to watch
and clock shows, Russell has bought a full set of tools and thousands of tiny wheels and
other parts but watches came in hundreds of different designs, few with interchangeable
parts so even his trove doesn’t guarantee he can get the parts he needs.
Watch repair tools like these would have been common in most towns 100 years ago,
but are now as a rare as some watches.
More parts Russell has acquired from watch shows
around the country.
Time
ered, digitally accurate wrist-
watches, affordable to all fol
lowed by the ever-present
cell phone have pushed all
the other forms of timekeep
ing into the annals of history.
To understand what came
before, you need to see a true
mechanical pocket watch, the
kind produced by the mil
lions during the early 1900s
and see it in action, keeping
time.
In Fairmount, Charlie
Russell has a collection of
these timepieces and also the
tools and skills to ensure they
keep on ticking.
When he pulls out a 100-
year-old watch and opens the
back, it’s alive, wheels are
spinning, jewels are
sparkling and the two-tone
metals shining. It’s seems un-
believeable that everyone
used to carry one of these
wonders.
“Every pocket watch is a
little machine,” Russell said.
And keep in mind they
turned out millions of them,
all essentially handmade by
factories with assembly line
production using tiny parts,
steady hands and magnifying
glasses. The factory employ
ees were most often women,
who were better at the deli
cate art of assembling pieces
the size of pepper flakes.
One unfortunate quirk of
watch history is for a period,
radium (a radioactive mate
rial) was painted on the
porcelain faces so numbers
would glow at night, but the
health effects were horrible
on the painters who regularly
licked the brushes to keep the
tips moist and pointed.
Russell, who has been fas
cinated with pocket watches
since one was left to him by
his father, gives a concise
history of the time-keeping in
America. At one point,
homes that could afford them
had clocks. Then the clocks
got smaller and people car
ried carriage clocks. Then the
craftsmanship at the time al
lowed the timepieces to
shrink again and you got
pocket watches made in
America around 1830,
though they date back to the
1400s in Europe.
Not only did the time
pieces have to shrink to fit
into pockets, but they had to
run in all sorts of positions.
Clocks stand up, but watches
may be upright, laid flat, up
side down, pressed diago
nally against a body. Older
pocket watches will say
“tested in five positions”
meaning they run regardless
of how they are sitting in
your pocket.
A fatal train wreck in Ohio
in 1891 blamed on inaccurate
time-keeping by the engi
neers allowed two trains to
run head-on into each other.
Having everyone with access
to accurate time gained a new
importance. Thus was born
“railroad standard” or “rail
road time inspected”
watches. These were associ
ated with Web Ball, who did
n’t make watches himself,
but was contracted by the
railroads to set the specifica
tions to make “railroad stan
dard” the goal to strive for.
To collectors like Russell it’s
an added bonus if a watch
bears a statement noting that
it meets railroad standards.
Watches began to be mass
produced in factories in the
north. As the 1900s opened,
watches became cheaper to
make and more widespread.
One company, Ingersoll, sold
a dollar watch, which did
only cost $1. Russell said
they aren’t great but would
certainly suffice, pointing out
that people always figured
out some way to mark time
from mill whistles and town
clocks to sundials.
Fashion and style with
watches also came into play.
For gentleman of the early
1900s, comparing watches
would be similar to people
posting sports car photos on
social media today. In all
watches are a number of jew
els, both for function and
style. The jewels, often ru
bies, some diamonds, sap
phires or glass, are harder
than the metals and thus
don’t wear out—remember
that the pocket watches run
by moving mechanical parts.
The more jewels the more ac
curate, up to a point. Russell
said at some point, just like
everything else, the jewels
become pure ornamentation.
Unfortunately for pocket
watch enthusiasts, the story
doesn’t end there. World War
I saw the need for a quick
check of the time without
pulling something out of
your pocket so the wrist-
watch came into fashion. And
unfortunately for anyone
who likes old world crafts
manship, the battery pow
ered, quartz watch came
about in the 1950s and the
last American pocket watch
company made their last me
chanical watch in 1969.
For Russell’s work, he
buys, trades, sells and fixes
pocket watches. Not surpris
ing for a man who works on
something dating back
decades and who raises much
of his food and places highly
in muzzleloader competi
tions, Russell does not have a
computer at all.
Russell, who developed
an interest in watches after
that first repair in 2005,
learned from books, by visit
ing watch shows around the
nation and talking with other
collectors. He said with his
father’s “basic poor man’s
watch” he first took it to a
jewelry shop for repair but it
only kept time for a day or
so, inspiring Russell, who
worked for years in mechan
ical jobs including at a Ga.
Power nuclear plant, to try it
himself.
“At first there are a bunch
of parts to learn but as you
leam about watches and how
they work, it takes the mys
tique out of them but you ap
preciate that the guys who
made the watches were
artists,” he said.
Watches constantly
evolved as watchmakers re
alized that their products
would have parts that wore
out and they would need
cleaning and occasional ad
justing for accuracy, so the
later watches actually are
simpler, Russell said, with
fewer pieces and that are eas
ier to take apart.
Russell cautions that most
watches are easy to take
apart, but getting them back
together is the challenge. An
other challenge for watch re
pairs is finding parts and
tools. At one point when men
carried pocket watches,
watch repair shops were as
common as garages are
today.
Though he fixed his first
watch 15 years ago with no
special tools, Russell now
has a workshop overflowing
with all kinds of tools ac
quired at shows around the
country and extra parts. But,
he likens the extra parts to car
repair. Instead of watch mak
ers finding a design and
sticking with it, they churned
out new models every year
and there were numerous
models for each company
and numerous companies -
and just like a car, the parts
are rarely interchangeable.
Russell said learning to fix
antique watches is a hobby
that he has developed more
finesse at over the years, not
ing that you can never force
anything. Finding parts is
now the big obstacle. But still
Russell can return many of
these beautiful relics of days
gone by to their accurate duty
of telling time.
“There is a feeling of sat
isfaction when you work on
something and it goes to tick
ing,” he said.
While pocket watches
may not be a widespread
fashion accessory ever again,
it’s a shame, for if you’ve
haven’t seen one running,
you have missed out. There
is a magic that illuminated
numbers on a cell phone
screen will never have.
“You can buy a cheap
digital watch for $6 and it’ll
keep better time than the
pocket watches and you can
throw it away and buy an
other when the batteries run
down, but these pocket
watches are made to last for
ever and they are works of
art,” Russell said.
Russell doesn’t joke about
not having a computer, so for
anyone wanting to buy, sell,
or see about getting a me
chanical pocket watch re
paired, call him at home,
706-337-4236.
Continued From 1A
Veterans
the Marine Corps League,
Disabled American Veterans,
Daughters of the American
Revolution, American Legion
Riders, Sons of American Le
gion, and Pickens County
Veterans Memorial members
will participate in a special
ceremony to honor all Vet
erans on November 11 at 10
a.m. at the Pickens County
Memorial Park, located
across from the Pickens
Chamber of Commerce build
ing off Veterans Memorial
Blvd.
Included in the ceremony
will be a wreath laying, rifle
salute and taps, prayer, and
brief comments from leaders
of our local veteran organiza
tions. The key note speaker
will be Col., (retired) Bob
Reitz. A recent inductee into
the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of
Fame, Reitz will speak to
those present about why we
should honor our veterans and
what this day means to him.
Everyone present will also
be asked to recite the Military
Oath of Enlistment. This oath
is sworn by every new recruit
as they declare their alle
giance to serve our great
country. Hearing and repeat
ing those words provides par
ticipants with an opportunity
to remember or perhaps for
the first time, realize the com
mitment our veterans and cur
rent military members make
to protect and defend this
great nation of ours and all of
us privileged to call America
home.
Come join us this Veterans
Day, November 11 at 10 a.m.
in front of the Pickens County
Veterans Memorial to recog
nize and give thanks to all
who have served and cur
rently serve. Social distance
spacing guidelines will be ad
hered to and masks will be
available for those who do not
have one.
For those among us who
are most vulnerable to the
vims, we suggest you stay
safe at home and pause for a
moment of silence at 10 a.m.
to honor our servicemen and
women.
Look for special Veterans
Day coverage in upcoming
editions of the Progress.
Counseling
Individual, Couples and Family Therapy
with Adults, Teens and Children
Robin W. Dunn M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor
Over 30 years experience helping people live better
770-548-1966 • 505 Cove Rd. • Suite 3 • Jasper
www.robinwdunnlpc.com