California Scientists and Horologists Welcome Maker of Free Pendulum Clocks

From Horology magazine, February, 1938

California Scientists and Horologists Welcome Maker of Free Pendulum Clocks

"IF A SOCIETY was formed for the prevention of cruelty to pendulums, Mr. Hope-Jones would be its first and perpetual president." So said Sir Frank Dyson, the former Astronomer Royal of Greenwich when the first of his free pendulum was installed there in 1925. Since then no less than 60 of the world's observatories have been equipped with them and Mr. Hope-Jones has been enjoying a "busman's holiday" in going around to look at them with his hands in his pockets. 

Leaving England in September he has visited Ceylon, Colombo, and the capitals of every state in Australia; Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and finally the Commonwealth Observatory at Canberra. As a member of the Rotary Club of London, he was in demand for after-lunch talks at all these places and the radio authorities soon got to hear that he was a witty speaker and had him on the air in many a broadcast talk. Thus, what was intended as a holiday, developed into a lecturing tour and he has been discoursing on the science of precision time measurement in the societies and universities all the way round.

New Zealand heard his voice from the Dominion Observatory at Wellington and so did Fiji, who are not overburdened with distinguished visitors and demanded a show of their own.

Since his arrival at Los Angeles via Samoa and Honolulu he has been much engaged with the astronomers and scientists at Pasadena and it is unfortunate that there was no meeting of the Los Angeles Guild of the Horological Association of California during his short stay. However, before leaving for Mount Hamilton on the 2nd of February, two dozen of the leaders of our profession, hastily called together by the secretary, entertained him at dinner at the Los Angeles Athletic Club under the chairmanship of Mr. J. McAuliffe and were well rewarded by a fund of stories, reminiscences, horological lore and philosophy.

In the East, Mr. Hope-Jones is to be the guest of Mr. John J. Bowman of the Bowman Technical School, Lancaster, Pa. He is billed for a lecture at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, on the 11th of March, after which we understand that the Horological Society of New York has designs upon him. He returns to England on the Queen Mary, sailing on the 24th of March.