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43-475: On a small island in the middle of the Rhone within the town of Geneva , the clockmaker Master Zacharius lives with his daughter Gérande, his apprentice Aubert Thun, and his elderly servant Scholastique. Zacharius is celebrated throughout France and Germany for having invented the escapement , and is fiercely proud of his successes. When the story opens, he is troubled by an inexplicable mystery: for several days, all of

86-459: A 149 km (93 mi) section of the Rhône was made navigable for small ships up to Seyssel . As of 2017 , the part between Lyon and Sault-Brénaz is closed for navigation. The Saône, which is also canalized, connects the Rhône ports to the cities of Villefranche-sur-Saône , Mâcon and Chalon-sur-Saône . Smaller vessels (up to CEMT class I ) can travel further northwest, north and northeast via

129-466: A castle in Andernatt: it is the only clock of his that has not been returned to him, and thus the only clock apparently still working. Aubert, Gérande, and Scholastique leave immediately in pursuit, find Zacharius at last, and chase helplessly as he runs frantically to the castle. The clock, a masterpiece representing an old church and presenting a Christian maxim for every hour of the day, is still there, but

172-637: A cross between a small old man and an anthropomorphic clock . The creature confronts Zacharius directly, taunting him about the failed clocks and suggesting that death is coming to him, but Zacharius rebukes him with "a flush of outraged pride": "I, Master Zacharius, cannot die, for, as I have regulated time, time would end with me! … No, I can no more die than the Creator of this universe, that submitted to His laws! I have become His equal, and I have partaken of His power! If God has created eternity, Master Zacharius has created time!" The creature offers to give Zacharius

215-489: A huge toothed "claw"wheel 6.5 metres (21 ft) across to grip the river bed in the shallows to supplement the paddle wheels. In the 20th century, powerful motor barges propelled by diesel engines were introduced, carrying 1,500 tonnes (3,300,000 lb). In 1933, the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) was established to improve navigation and generate electricity, also to develop irrigated agriculture and to protect

258-427: A one-hour television play, "The Terrible Clockman", for The Shirley Temple Show . The adaptation, starring Sam Jaffe as a benign Zacharius and Shirley Temple as Gérande, largely discarded Verne's plot and themes in favor of a Frankenstein -like narrative about an out-of-control automaton. In the same year, Alfred Hitchcock Presents aired an uncredited adaptation, "The Changing Heart", with Abraham Sofaer as

301-586: A series of dams and diversion canals, with a navigation lock beside the hydroelectric power plant on each of these canals. The locks were up to 23 metres (75 ft) deep. After building the Génissiat dam on the Upper Rhône (with no lock) in 1948, designed to meet the electricity needs of Paris, twelve hydroelectric plants and locks were built between 1964 and 1980. With a total head of 162 m (531 ft), they produce 13 GWh of electricity annually, or 16% of

344-567: Is 251 cubic metres per second (8,900 cu ft/s). Below the dam, the Rhône receives the waters of the Arve , fed by the Mont Blanc massif, with a visibly higher sediment load and much lower temperature. After a total of 290 kilometres (180 mi) in Switzerland, the Rhône continues west, entering France and the southern Jura Mountains . It turns toward the south, past Lac de Bourget , which

387-730: Is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea ( Gulf of Lion ). At Arles , near its mouth, the river divides into the Great Rhône (French: le Grand Rhône ) and the Little Rhône ( le Petit Rhône ). The resulting delta forms the Camargue region. The river's source

430-885: Is the Rhône Glacier , at the east edge of the Swiss canton of Valais . The glacier is part of the Saint-Gotthard Massif , which gives rise to three other major rivers: the Reuss , Rhine and Ticino . The Rhône is, with the Po and the Nile , one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge . The name Rhône continues the Latin Rhodanus name ( Greek Ῥοδανός Rhodanós ) in Greco-Roman geography . The Gaulish name of

473-846: The Centre -Loire-Briare and Loing Canals to the Seine , via the Canal de la Marne à la Saône (recently often called the " Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne ") to the Marne , via the Canal des Vosges (formerly called the "Canal de l'Est – Branche Sud") to the Moselle and via the Canal du Rhône au Rhin to the Rhine . The Rhône is infamous for its strong current when the river carries large quantities of water: current speeds up to 10 km/h (6.2 mph) are sometimes reached, particularly in

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516-835: The Swiss Alps , at an altitude of approximately 2,208 metres (7,244 ft). From there it flows southwest through Gletsch and the Goms, the uppermost valley region of the Valais before Brig . In the Brig area, it receives the waters of the Massa from the Aletsch Glacier , the longest glacier of the Alps, and shortly after, it receives the waters of the Vispa , the longest affluent in Valais. After that, it flows onward through

559-675: The 1930s he also began appearing in both British and American films. Among his more prominent performances were his dual role as the Judge and Surgeon in Powell and Pressburger 's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and as Saint Paul in Quo Vadis (1951). He also appeared on television from its earliest days in the late 1930s and on radio, including a small part in Dorothy L. Sayers ' The Man Born to Be King . Although his film appearances diminished after

602-966: The 1950s, he continued to have guest roles on dozens of major U.S. television series throughout the 1960s. He made three appearances on Perry Mason including as Dr. Maitland in “The Case of the Deadly Double” (1958), Sylvester Robey in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Crying Cherub", and defendant Elihu Laban in the 1963 episode "The Case of the Two-Face Turnabout" and his voice was featured in two episodes of Star Trek . Other guest appearances were in Wagon Train , Gunsmoke , The Twilight Zone , The Investigators , Daniel Boone , The Time Tunnel , Lost in Space , and The Outer Limits . He may be best remembered for his recurring role as Haji,

645-639: The Alps. From Lyon, the Rhône flows south, in its large valley between the Alps and the Massif Central . At Arles , the Rhône divides into two major arms forming the Camargue delta , both branches flowing into the Mediterranean Sea, the delta being termed the Rhône Fan. The larger arm is called the "Grand Rhône", the smaller the "Petit Rhône". The average annual discharge at Beaucaire is 1,700 m /s (60,000 cu ft/s). The main tributaries of

688-764: The Morge and Hermance, the lake is divided by the two countries along its centreline, with the left bank in France. The remainder of the lake is Swiss, including the entire right (north) bank. Here, the tributaries are the Veveyse , the Venoge , the Aubonne , the Morges , among other smaller rivers. Lake Geneva ends in the city of Geneva , where the lake level is controlled by the Le Seujet dam  [ fr ] . The average discharge from Lake Geneva

731-639: The Rhône are, from source to mouth: The Rhône has been an important highway since the times of the Greeks and Romans . It was the main trade route from the Mediterranean to east-central Gaul . As such, it helped convey Greek cultural influences to the western Hallstatt and the later La Tène cultures. Celtic tribes living near the Rhône included the Seduni , Sequani, Segobriges , Allobroges , Segusiavi , Helvetii , Vocontii and Volcae Arecomici . Navigation

774-605: The Rhône drains via the Canal de Savières . Continuing generally westward, the Rhône then receives the waters of the Valserine , enters the reservoir created by the Génissiat Dam , and is then joined by the Ain . Reaching Lyon , the most populous city on its course, the Rhône receives its biggest tributary, the Saône , with an average flow of 473 m /s (16,700 cu ft/s), compared to

817-591: The Rhône's 600 m /s (21,000 cu ft/s) at this point. From this confluence, the Rhône follows a southward course. Along the Rhône Valley, it is joined on the right (western) bank by the rivers Eyrieux , Ardèche , Cèze , and Gardon coming from the Cévennes mountains ; and on the left bank by the rivers Isère , (with an average discharge of 333 m /s (11,800 cu ft/s)), Drôme , Ouvèze , and Durance (188 m /s (6,600 cu ft/s)) from

860-774: The Zacharius character and Anne Helm and Nicholas Pryor as the equivalents of Gérande and Aubert, respectively; this version, directed by the Verne aficionado Robert Florey , altered the plot but preserved the Faustian overtones of the original. Maître Zacharius , an opera composed and adapted by Jean-Marie Curti , was premiered by the Opéra-Studio de Genève in Bonneville, Paris, and Geneva in 2008. Rhone The Rhône ( / r oʊ n / ROHN , French: [ʁon] )

903-485: The adjective derived from the river is rhodanien , as in le sillon rhodanien (literally "the furrow of the Rhône"), which is the name of the long, straight Saône and Rhône river valleys, a deep cleft running due south to the Mediterranean and separating the Alps from the Massif Central . Before railroads and highways were developed, the Rhône was an important inland trade and transportation route, connecting

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946-443: The cities of Arles , Avignon , Valence , Vienne and Lyon to the Mediterranean ports of Fos-sur-Mer , Marseille and Sète . Travelling down the Rhône by barge would take three weeks. By motorized vessel, the trip now takes only three days. The Rhône is classified as a Class V waterway for the 325 km-long (202-mile) section from the mouth of the Saône at Lyon to the sea at Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône . Upstream from Lyon,

989-509: The country's total hydroelectric production (20% if the Upper Rhône schemes are added). There have been significant benefits for agriculture throughout the Rhône valley. With the Lower Rhône project completed, CNR turned its attention to the Haut-Rhône (Upper Rhône), and built four hydropower dams in the 1980s: Sault-Brénaz, Brégnier-Cordon, Belley-Brens and Chautagne. It also drew up plans for

1032-422: The fruits of the tree of Science", "Man ought to become the equal of God", "Man should be the slave of Science, and sacrifice to it relatives and family." At the stroke of midnight, just as the marriage is about to be solemnized, the clock breaks down and a new maxim appears: "Who ever shall attempt to make himself the equal of God, shall be for ever damned!" The clock bursts and its spring breaks out and flies across

1075-482: The hall, with Zacharius, shouting that it is his soul, in pursuit. Pittonaccio seizes it and disappears into the ground, and Zacharius, having become a slave of hubris who believes "there is nothing but science in this world", dies immediately. Aubert and Gérande return to Geneva, where they live for many years, praying for the redemption of the lost soul of Master Zacharius. The story was first printed in April–May 1854 in

1118-478: The high-capacity Rhine-Rhône Waterway, along the route of the existing Canal du Rhône au Rhin , but this project was abandoned in 1997. In the period from 2005 to 2010, navigation locks of small barge dimensions (40 by 6 m) were built to bypass the last two, forming a navigable waterway network with Lake Bourget, through the Canal de Savières . Cities and towns along the Rhône include: Abraham Sofaer Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988)

1161-614: The historical region of Chablais . It then enters Lake Geneva near Le Bouveret , where the water flows west. On the left (south) bank of Lake Geneva, the river Morge joins at the village of Saint-Gingolph , and also marks the French-Swiss border. Westward, the Dranse (unrelated to the Drance) enters the lake with its preserved delta , and then the Hermance marks another French-Swiss border. Between

1204-487: The large glaciers of the massifs of Monte Rosa , Dom , and Grand Combin , but also from the steeper slopes of the Bernese Alps to the north, and the Mont Blanc massif to the west. As a result, the Rhône Valley experiences a drier climate than the rest of Switzerland , being sheltered by the three highest ranges of the Alps, making Valais the driest and largest wine region of the country. At Martigny, where it receives

1247-473: The magazine Musée des familles . It was later reprinted by Pierre-Jules Hetzel in the collection Doctor Ox (1874), as part of the Voyages Extraordinaires series. Two English translations, "Master Zacharius" by George Makepeace Towle and "Master Zachary" by Abby L. Alger, were published in 1874 in different English versions of Doctor Ox . In 1961, "Master Zacharius" was loosely adapted as

1290-413: The many clocks he has made and sold have begun to suddenly stop, one by one. Unable to fix any of them or to find a reason for the phenomenon, Zacharius falls into mental torment and becomes seriously ill. Gérande and Aubert, who have gradually fallen in love with one another, manage to nurse Zacharius into better health, but are surprised by the appearance of a stranger in the town, a bizarre creature like

1333-650: The reconstructed Gaulish name is masculine, as is French le Rhône . This form survives in the Spanish/Portuguese and Italian namesakes, el/o Ródano and il Rodano , respectively. German has adopted the French name but given it the feminine gender, die Rhone . The original German adoption of the Latin name was also masculine, der Rotten ; it survives only in the Upper Valais ( dialectal Rottu ). In French,

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1376-449: The river was * Rodonos or * Rotonos (from a PIE root * ret- "to run, roll" frequently found in river names). Names in other languages include German : Rhone [ˈroːnə] ; Walser : Rotten [ˈrotən] ; Italian : Rodano [ˈrɔːdano] ; Arpitan : Rôno [ˈʁono] ; Occitan : Ròse [ˈrɔze, ˈʀɔze] ; and Romansh : Rodan . The Greco-Roman as well as

1419-501: The riverside towns and land from flooding. Some progress was made in deepening the navigation channel and constructing scouring walls, but World War II brought such work to a halt. In 1942, following the collapse of Vichy France , Italian military forces occupied southeastern France up to the eastern banks of the Rhône, as part of the Italian Fascist regime's expansionist agenda. In 1948, the French government started construction of

1462-560: The secret of the clocks' failure in exchange for the hand of Gérande in marriage. Zacharius refuses, and the creature disappears. Over the following days, Zacharius's illness and angered pride continue to increase, as more and more of his former clients bring their broken clocks back to him, demanding refunds. One morning he is found to have disappeared from the town. Gérande and Aubert, consulting his account book and recalling words he had spoken during his convalescence, realize that he has left in search of an iron clock sold to one Pittonaccio in

1505-464: The stretch below the last lock at Vallabrègues and in the relatively narrow first diversion canal south of Lyon. The 12 locks are operated daily from 5:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. All operation is centrally controlled from one control centre at Châteauneuf. Commercial barges may navigate during the night hours by authorisation. The Rhône begins as the meltwater of the Rhône Glacier in Valais , in

1548-412: The upper river used barques du Rhône , sailing barges, 30 by 3.5 metres (98 by 11 ft), with a 75-tonne (165,000 lb) capacity. As many as 50 to 80 horses were employed to haul trains of five to seven craft upstream. Goods would be transshipped at Arles into 23-metre (75 ft) sailing barges called allèges d'Arles for the final run down to the Mediterranean. The first experimental steam boat

1591-484: The valley which bears its name and runs initially in a westerly direction about thirty kilometers to Leuk , then southwest about fifty kilometers to Martigny . Down as far as Brig , the Rhône is a torrent; it then becomes a great mountain river running southwest through a glacial valley. Between Brig and Martigny , it collects waters mostly from the valleys of the Pennine Alps to the south, whose rivers originate from

1634-438: The visitors also find themselves face to face with the clocklike creature, who introduces himself as Signor Pittonaccio. The frantic Zacharius, believing his life to be wrapped up in the fate of the clock, agrees to let Pittonaccio wed Gérande against her will, thinking the marriage will grant him immortality. The clock strikes for each hour, but the old maxims have been replaced by statements of scientific hubris: "You must eat of

1677-518: The waters of the Drance on its left bank, the Rhône makes a sharp turn towards the north. Heading toward Lake Geneva ( French : Le Léman ), the valley narrows near Saint-Maurice , a feature that has long given the Rhône valley strategic importance for the control of the Alpine passes. The Rhône then marks the boundary between the cantons of Valais (left bank) and Vaud (right bank), separating two parts of

1720-578: Was a Burmese-born British actor who began his career on stage and became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years. Although Sofaer was born in Rangoon , Burma (then part of the British Empire ), he was descended from Baghdadi Jews from India. The son of a very successful merchant, Isaac Sofaer (who established the Sofaer Building, Rangoon, which still stands today), he

1763-433: Was built at Lyon by Jouffroy d'Abbans in 1783. Regular services were not started until 1829 and they continued until 1952. Steam passenger vessels 80 to 100 metres (260–330 ft) long made up to 20 km/h (11 kn) and could do the downstream run from Lyon to Arles in a day. Cargo was hauled in bateau-anguilles , boats 157 by 6.35 metres (515.1 by 20.8 ft) with paddle wheels amidships, and bateaux crabes ,

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1806-404: Was difficult, as the river suffered from fierce currents, shallows, floods in spring and early summer when the ice was melting, and droughts in late summer. Until the 19th century, passengers travelled in coches d'eau (water coaches) drawn by men or horses, or under sail. Most travelled with a painted cross covered with religious symbols as protection against the hazards of the journey. Trade on

1849-888: Was educated locally at the Diocesan Boys' High School. His education continued in England, and he initially worked as a school teacher in Rangoon and later in London . He began his acting career on the London stage in 1921, but soon he was alternating between theatre productions in London and New York. He appeared in the 1933 musical He Wanted Adventure alongside Bobby Howes . In 1935, he gained widespread attention on Broadway portraying Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in Victoria Regina . During

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