the balance displaced from center.]

Probably no attempt was made to produce a finished and practical watch at
this time, although Hopkins, the inventor, was an actual watchmaker as
well as a retail jeweler, with premises virtually in the shadow of the
Patent Office. He was a native of Maine[6] and had been established in
Washington since 1863, or perhaps some time in 1862.[7]

[Illustration: Figure 5.--HOPKINS' BALANCE ARRESTING DEVICE, the subject
of U. S. patent 165830. This and the device illustrated in figure 4
originally were submitted together to the Patent Office on June 9, 1875,
and later were divided into two patents.]

-----
[4] Cat. no. 309025; U. S. patent 161513, July 20, 1875.

[5] Those who have seen the Waterbury watch, which developed
from this design, may be drawn to the conclusion that
this explains why it took so long to wind the Waterbury.
Such is not really the case; in the Waterbury the
winding wheel (which is on the outer rim of the barrel)
was nearly as large as the inside diameter of the case
while the pinion engaging with it was of only nominal
diameter. This meant that one turn of the winding crown
wound the barrel a much smaller fraction of a revolution
than in a watch of conventional design.

[6] District of Columbia death record 145,013.

[7] Hopkins is not in the _Washington and Georgetown
directory_ of 1860 or 1862, and 1861 was not available
to check. Starting with 1863 he is listed each year
through 1871. Starting with 1872 Boyd's _Directory of
the District of Columbia_ lists Hopkins as a resident
each year (including 1902, the year of his death at 84
years) except 1877, when he was out of the city in
connection with the exploitation of his rotary watch
patents. Carl W. Drepperd, _American clocks and
clockmakers_ (Garden City, N.Y., 1947), in referring to
Hopkins, says, "Lincoln, Me. 1840's-1850's: Bangor, Me.,
to 1862. Inventor of the Auburndale Watch. Also
manufactured pianos and clock cases."

Developing the Invention

Edward A. Locke had long been seeking a simple watch adapted to easy
manufacture and a selling price of three to four dollars. While on a trip
to Washington his attention was drawn to the Hopkins watch by William D.
Colt of Washington.[8] A result of this meeting appears to have been
the issuance