The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1850-08-24
I'"" Nf ~ J. 'Nf. ITI HHI iNIHHFf.r
FAIRBANKS NEW WHICH LOCK
~ ALBANY,


llloontirc line 90 tl,s ttnuI. 10 has tho uo.i
prominent .iinilmF il b whore ALMOST lIH'
,ufirr commerce ihHt pOtrs into lhc treasury
ilrmlllona 10 millions, passes 10 b where ii
IuWnra ara subjected Ia tl.n p.4.i set tft+t e-f-
whore 10 b. constantly iu usr md where Huy
U.hw fabric than thal made With cousummafo
rkdlt Tid ingenuity and mechanical truth
valild -non hr cNpuod and condemned,
The New Weigh lork b. manufactured /,
the Mes5rs FAiuHASKs 0f ~ Juhu,hury, i
Vermont and r. made under rpplad en-.
tired into lY thc-r gruflmWcn with tho Ga.
nal Commissioner, nf thr STATE, 10 may lc
considered Is uf the very Grl class oi such
structure and iu H. Luildiug. the object ha
u9fbcuu Ia cnocfa satisfactory pcruuiarN eco
sut hut 90 show what could ~ done u.s. tlill
a'd poud Judgment and mechanical u,ru-
tIou,
4 Lusv place II tldj l.irllp Ba-iu'as Il g. dr-
rigullpi, 10 dftiuIuish u from lint prcIi
harlOr, so fnupm iu lllo Interesting Histories
ofW,u-ncnunnd lrpislaiinu, Hero % tt,
departing Iioiut Hi al the canal tmit. Around
10 yu-lrr he various minor merchants who
hUyr U7i f0H1fC To- luulol DuugWui
aud careless buamcu, llcT r. the gate ut
onnnl commerce., hry0nd which, unless after
compliance With the regulations at the DE
flr'mgUi, 300 boat can pnri, The Collector
ulirc d iu the same building with the Weigh
Look, aud that enables The Collector to deter
mine a. 60 ihc truth ~ the report made 60 hin,
ON which be- cHu decide 10 the conflicting
uucHuns ot weight and toll
The soto hns now hllly equipped i-clf Zoo
tlii. part uf TO- great public work, aud the yi--
itor can Judge ua a. what will Doc the appear
aurr prrsrutpd, Whru lhr. entire Eric Oaull
shall be- reconstructed according to the intel
Observation-Disclosures aud piriofic ,icN- uithu.c
who drsiIUpd tho puIrprmput
The N0gh Lock is directly on lAo side ct
and attached to the ENLARGED canal, aul is a.
dlptrd io tie use Of such ls,il. AZ shall here
aitcr be- luilt when the Lock, throughout
the cntirr length of the canal shall bc Of uni-
form size.
Sixteen granite columns support it, roof,
The various portions oflhc weighing 0ppin-
tins are within, md projected from the wcn-
tfpr. and 30 arranged 1s that the weight T.
shown hv the b,7nn which Is inside the office
OF the collector. 4 more useful ar convent
rut arrangement could not have been drNis-
al. IL H. Interesting to observe accurately
how pre- i-vly every part Of these great scales
--salrs, it will be remembered, capable uf
weighing with scfupulou- uircty Ia the cStout
Of more than our hundred tons--arc formed
30 ~ to have uo unnecessary use OF metal,
while wherever grcat,strcngh Is requisite, It
Il found in the rud-thr support-thc bar
together ia the manner best adapted 10 give
all the power required,
-',ll,,.i.'ttly rltiilrtf inthr mcrt1
icals tod"srrihc the minutT Of the process Of
weighing; but the result. are apparent 4
boat Is brought into this lock, and in a time
which would have scarcely in other dlys,
suiliccd Ia have nsccrtlincI the weight of a
small parcel, the mcrrng register on the
hyrm hu. registered its weight, aud the record
m the lrr,ks oi the o4trr
Ihsi, the largest scale in the world Coz
II j. p characteristic of tlI,s State ol our. that
with less of prctrusiou than most of ON
ncirhhor., the result. wrought ont hv IT, en-,
tcrprsg haAll--.tttiiT rrTyr7rj'7I ami mO-i use,
tut \ scale thut will show thr'.iuvt aud true
balance" of eight hundred and forty thot'-
sand pounds, may be- called a national work
An incident Illustrates it, accuracy \ boat
Nas weighed, and the thousands of pound.
which the scales showed, registered The
Captain stepped ON board and the scales i'm.
me iiatclv indicated an addition of one hun
drcd and scvcuty-fyc pounds more; hut the
Captain thought he was rather more portly
man, and claimed a greater weight. ] lc imnc-
diatuly went Ia "A smaller scales OF grvnt re-
putc, aud stepping on 1.-THE lesser. and
the grcaitragrccd TO a fraction,
II has always been 10 me one of the uuac-
countahlc mystcric. of the popular judgment
-nr thu wurld, thai skin IA WeJh anics Is class
ed ~ inferior "a other departments of the cN-
crtisc oimind. The intellect that can so.cun-
troll, mould devise weave, work the ipanimatu
earth and wood and mineral as that- II shalt
With creator accuracy than the muscle can at
tain do the work uta thousand arms-uutir-
ing accomplishing, asking neither food nor
rlimcnt-thiS seems tn nae Ia belong az of
right to the highest department. of mind
The Iword takes a pilgrimage to statue
whith is hut n graceful cutting of the marble
The world never tires of its culogy of Shak-
spcarc, who so placed words together rs t,
stir the pulses ut mankind.
Tho work of dcxtcrous mechanism is q
theme OF constant thought the cog, th,
wheel, the lever, are but thoughts ,olidif
cd.
In this structure which am describing i.
a beam, which by n combination of a muNca-
bile pondcrnus weight with poisr aud indies
arm, rnnhlcs the officer in charge 10 kHa..-a Al
once what's the weight of boat and cargoand
relieves him from the labor of Juggling about
massive and c,tmhruus weights,
Far up-it once irdS far up--but the quick
wing oi railway speed has olliterated di,tane,
the rich aud hNnriant Connecticut valley
on one of the tributaries of that tortuous bu
important river Is a village which in ever,
year is assuming more oidcseryrd importan,,
from the energy shown hv those who inhah
IL. St Johnsbury, on the Passumpsic, is no
vet railway staton-and therefore the no
made million have not throngcd thithcr Lu
chat good TIME is coming with more definite
ncss than is usually accorded to that prrdic
ton, often uttered. In the darkest hauI
otthc Boston money market by the, cnort
et and the confidence rcpoScd in Mr. addison
Gilmore and MIR Erasms Fairbanks Thu bond
of the Passtmpsc Railway Company wcr,
I~votiated at par, to such an extent ak to Al
low the continuation OF tie road from Well
River, its present termmution, 10 St Johns
hury-and thus accomplishing great stcI
in the progress towards Montreal.
Here is the great Scale mauuiactorv Of
Mcssrs Fairbanks, -gcntlsmcn of whose hivl
character for enterprise and intelligence
would like To say much. rs in truth | could
but thut know them tobe ofthat class ormcr
who would rathor be known by their works.
From this very little town, 90 out Tie ssius
hilnncra'r sn Which, Without figure t,r-,.,y,,-r
grraton--it can Toe stid--tho trader i'm ever,
country, whore the rules of civilization mr.