case it wasn't. Capricious as fashion is, people
liked the shelf clock much better than they did a tall clock that stood
on the floor, and they would no doubt have continued to buy these clocks
with wooden works had not sheet metal began to be manufactured about the
year 1840. Instantly clockmakers saw the advantage of having sheet brass
to work with. It was far better than the cast brass formerly used. An
improvement, too, were the wire pinions--accessories much cheaper and
simpler to produce than were those of wood. Therefore just as wood
forced the old cast brass out of favor, so sheet brass now took the
place of wood. Fortunately for Eli Terry, the drastic changes he had
instituted in the fashioning of his clocks were equally possible of
manufacture either from cast or sheet material."

"No doubt by that time the whole country had gobbled up his inventions,"
sniffed Christopher.

"Yes. The best of his ideas had been seized and generally put into
practice not only on this side of the ocean but also on the other. Two
of his ideas were everywhere popular--the placing of the dial works
between plates; and the mounting of the verge on a small steel pin
inserted in one end of the short arm. But in spite of all the
improvements he had made, Mr. Terry did not sit down with folded hands
and feel there was nothing further to be done. Constantly he was alert
for practical suggestions that should better his handiwork. For example,
he heard that some one was making machinery according to a definite
scale so that parts of it could be exchanged from one article to
another. Why, thought he, should not the parts of a clock be made so
they would be interchangeable? The plan proved a most excellent one and
eventually it was universally adopted by other clockmakers. So you see,
in one way and another, old Eli Terry contributed very materially to
up-building the American clockmaking industry."

"Did his sons go on making clocks?" was Christopher's inquiry.

"Yes," nodded McPhearson. "In fact, ever so many clockmaking Terrys came
after old Eli, and each added his bit to his ancestor's trade. One
branched out and made tempered steel clock springs to take the place of
the expensive springs of brass which were too costly to put into the
cheaper grade of American-made clocks. Oh, yes, the Terrys kept up the
traditions of the family--never fear about that! All that group of early
Connecticut manufacturers did great service to the country i