Show WATCH WITH A HISTORY Over Two Centuries Old Bought For Tor British Museum Five thousand dollars for a watch It seems an enormous price to pay for a timepiece in lt these the e days of cheap cheal watches But this particular watch belonged to Thomas Spratt Duke of Westminster and is 1 years old It his has been purchased by the Duke of Northumberland probably for presen presentation presentation tation to the British museum It is one inch and a half hal thick Its IbI outer case cage is of tortoise shell embossed In silver There is a minute hand but no hour our hand Instead there is a moving movIng moving ing semicircular disc whose list flat side cuts the face of the watch in half It contains on the lefthand corner of I the upper side a representation of ot the sun and anti on the corner a I representation of the moon these the e edges indicate the hour and the peal position position tion of the sun and moon to the earth at that tha t hour The TIe works are filed out by hand and run on diamonds and inside the watch is the inscription that the timepiece was made by b Barnett rnett of London in 1689 On another case is engraved the fact that this watch was presented to the Dean of Westminster by b the Duke of Buckingham as a mark of esteem When the duke died the Buckingham watch was handed to his son Thomas Spratt M A and on the death of the second Thomas Spratt the watch de descended descended to his eldest son see At his death it passed into the possession of Captain Spratt who ran a 3 schooner from England to Charlottetown Charlotte Charlottetown Charlottetown town P E B I IOn IOn IOn On Captain last voyage he ne handed the watch h to his daughter with the remark that he would not carry it with him aim on that voyage as was his custom Captain Spratt may have bad had a pre presentiment presentiment sentiment Be that as it may map he never returned home His ship was seized by pirates and all ail hands were murdered The watch then traveled amse 5 the sees seas sto to repose a treasured heirloom in the home of or Americas great shipbuilder Nelson NeI n Spratt uncle of Mr Yr La Page Pae Mr Ir La Page Pa e embarked in the glue slue business in America and later secured the precious family heirloom the Buck Buckingham BuckIngham ingham watch Mr La Page is now starting two glue gl e factories along alon the tM bis big salmon runs in British Columbia He parted with witt the watch for commercial reasons al 11 although 1 though he has bas regretted the act ever since the timepiece left his possession to start back to England after its fifty years ears sojourn in the United States and aDd Canada Canad Cana |