October 28, 1973
By Conrey Bryson
In 1929, a Howard
street-clock, manufactured by E. Howard Co. of Boston, was installed in
El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza. Chris P. Fox, now a vice president of the
State National Bank, remembers the occasion well. He was then
proprietor of the Chris P. Fox Transfer Co.
“That lovable old chiseler, Hugo Myer, then City park superintendent, talked me into moving the clock for nothing,” he recalled.
Martin S. Rojas, veteran El Paso watch and clock repairman now operating the Pacific Jewelry Shop in the Banner building, recalls installing the clock in the southwest corner of the Plaza, after it was moved from its original location in front of the old Herald Building, and that the clock had formerly belonged to Alberts and Fleischer, Jewelers, who had moved to a new location in the old “Little Caples Building,” San Antonio and Mesa. A metal presentation on the clock shows that Ablerts presented it to the people of El Paso in 1929.
After some 44 years in San Jacinto Plaza, the clock was sadly in need of repairs and refinishing. Last spring, Edgar D. Bush, 2416 Savannah, a retired White Sands Missile Range scientist, undertook the task of restoring the old time piece, also learning something of its history. He was successful on both counts, and the clock has resumed its place at the southwest corner of the Plaza.
HISTORICAL IMPRINT
When Bush began dismantling the clock for necessary repairs, he noted an imprint in the top structure that the lock was made for A.D. Foster Co. How did Alberts secure it, and when? A story in The Times concerning Bush’s project brought an unexpected dividend of information.
A reader, Bernie Saar, called Bush to say that Alberts is still living and makes his home in Ventura, Calif. Bush wrote Alberts, found they had mutual acquaintances in the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, and that Alberts would assemble all possible information on the clock’s history.
When Julius Alberts arrived in El Paso from Hartford, Conn. In 1911. A.D. Foster had just established a jewelry store in the old Herald building on Pioneer Plaza, about the present site of the Plaza Theatre. The clock was probably placed in front of the Foster jewelry store at that time.
Alberts worked for Silverberg Brothers and the W.T. Hixson Co. for about five years each, and then, in 1921, he and J.L. Fleischer bought out the stock of the Foster company, including the clock.
It stood at the Herald Building corner until 1929, when Alberts bought out Fleischer and moved to the Mesa and San Antonio store where another clock was already installed.
Thus, for more than 60 years, at three locations, the Howard street-clock has told the time for people of El Paso. After its thorough repair job under the direction of Bush, it may serve well into another century.
Collecting information about old clocks, repairing them and treasuring them is an enthusiastic avocation among the 35,000 members of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. Bush is an active member and has called upon fellow members for information about Howard clocks.
Edward Howard, of Boston, was one of America’s great clockmakers. The authority book “A Treasury of American Clocks” by Palmer Brooks, contains several pages of pictures and information about his clocks. Born in Roxbury, Mass., he was apprenticed at age 16 to Aaron Willard Jr., member of a clock and watch making family, and of a tradition that made Roxbury a center of American clock and watch making.
Howard founded the Howard Clock and Watch Co. in Boston in 1861 and continued turning out fine time pieces, from the smallest watches to the largest street and steeple clock. His clocks were largely of his own design and set patterns of excellence that were followed by others. Howard spurned the trend toward mass production of clocks and proffered that every clock bearing his name should be considered the work of a master craftsman.
He retired in 1881 but the company continued in business through the early years of the century. Since an imprint on the Plaza clock shows it was manufactured for A.D. Foster Co., Bush believes it was manufactured about 1910.
MAY HELPERS
As reconstructed by Bush, with the
assistance of a large number of other El Pasoans, it will look and
perform like new. In its history, the clock has had 10 coats of paint.
W. O. Carter, of the present Carter
Enterprises in El Paso, supplied the last coat of bronze paint many years ago; but before City Street
Department workers sandblasted the paint away, Bush was able to
identify all the other coats: gold, red, copper-bronze, black, silver,
brown, green, gold and original dark green. The case has now been
repainted in its original color.
Bush has donated approximately 120 hours of his own time to restoring the clock, and many El Paso firms and individual contributed material and labor. Baker Glass Co. supplied the dial bezel glasses, Pittsburgh Paint and Glass Industries the dial glasses, Carte Enterprises frosted both the dials, Tic-Toc Clock Shop furnished the cleaning solvent, Hanley paint Manufacturing Co. furnished the exact shade of paint.
Bush’s son E.D. Bush Jr., a scientist at Los Alamos, N.M. did the baring work. Bill and Nancy Meredith cleaned the movement plates. E. Eugene Elliott furnished the cable that suspends the 125 pound lead weight which provides the clock’s power. John A. Gnauck furnished the radio equipment by which Bush synchronized the clock with time signals broadcast every second by the United States Bureau of Standards. The clock will be accurate within a range of two seconds per day, or a maximum variation of one minute per month.
As erected in the Plaza, the clock had electrical wiring for night lighting, but it had long been disconnected. As refurbished, the dials will not only be lighted, but will be connected to the Park lighting system that automatically turns on the lights after sundown.
In all the process of refurbishing the clock, Bush had the full co-operation of the City parks and Recreation Department, and paid special tribute to the work of Henry Fryer, parks foreman, and workmen Juan Sarmiento, Robert Sarate, Jose Vasquez, Mario Guerrero and Rudy Commenero.
The Plaza clock is probably one of only two mechanically operated street clocks in El Paso. The other is a Seth Thomas Clock owned by Rogers and Belding, realtors. It was a Westminster Chime that chimes the hours and the quarter and half hours. It was erected in front of the old Rogers and Belding office on San Antonio Street, just east of Stanton.
Taking advantage of the chimes, the sound of “bell” in Belding, and the coincidence of a telephone number that signified ringing out for liberty the firm advertised, “Ring 1776.” The clock has since been moved to the firm’s later locations, Yandell and Oregon and the present site, 2525 Gateway West.
Another Seth Thomas street clock was owned for many years by the United Loan and Jewelry Company, (now Harry’s place) 1-3 E. San Antonio. Approximately 25 years ago, a runaway car knocked its superstructure into the street and completely wrecked the clock. Now an electric clock has been erected on the old Seth Thomas base.
A final note about El Paso clocks: The Times of April 8, 1924, reported that a clockmaker, negotiating on repairs to the County Court House Clock system, had also proposed erecting a clock on Scenic Point on the face of Mountain Franklin. The proposed giant clock would have 50 foot dials and be illuminated at night.
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