In large towns, timekeepers would drop a "time-ball" at the top of a high tower. From Wordnik.com. [Archive 2005-03-01] Reference
And the men of lower Broadway hurrying along the walks, conscious of time and money, stopping at noon to check the precision of their big watches with Western Union's red time-ball — well, their faces were often abstracted; some were worried; some were greedy or anxious, others complacent and going-to-live-forever. From Wordnik.com. [Time and Again]
Telegraph Hill and its semaphore and time-ball were features of business life. From Wordnik.com. [A Backward Glance at Eighty]
But despite this, every afternoon a member of staff from James Ritchie & Son clockmakers, in Broughton Street, has walked up the 170 steps to the top of the Nelson Monument, hauled up the time-ball and lowered it at exactly 1pm. From Wordnik.com. Reference
The fork was wedged into a wooden support, and the platinum tip allowed to rest on lampblacked paper, wound about a metal cylinder, which was rotated by hand Time was given by a break-circuit clock, the rate of which was ascertained, by comparisons with Western Union time-ball, to be 9.87 seconds. From Wordnik.com. [Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light Made at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis] Reference
The Admiralty call for estimates for a time-ball at Portsmouth: on receiving them they decline further proceeding. ”. From Wordnik.com. [Autobiography]
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