Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-06-20

ed. About fifty men are employed in moulding
the various portions Of scale. Here all the
small work is done, and the amount of this
"small, work may be judged of by the fact that
from 7 TO 0 tons Of iron are melted daily in the
furnace which stands on one side of the Found
ry. The company makes its own brass. Pass
ing through the Brass Foundry, and the Wit
rolling Room, we reach the Casting cleaners
room, where the operations of filing, &C., are
necessarily going on. Leaving this, we enter
the Tophet OF the establshment-,he Black
smiths shop, where upwards of forty fires are
blazing and roaring, and as many swart Vucans
are beating the white-hot meta into shape.
The Machine Shop is next reached and
here are upwards of twenty Lever 6leis, busi-
ly employed in filing pivots &C.; other artisans
are working at the Lathes and as pass along
| notice gentleman who has ron-gray hair, a
very thoughtful countenance, and who is en-
gagged in quiet, but earnest conversation with
one of the operatives. Although am a stran
ger there, he sees, but takes not tie slightest
notice of the intruder, until am introduced to
him by my guide, and then he sautes me very
gravely, and without the ghost of a smile on his
face. lie is absorbed in thought there is no
mistake about that, and little wonder, for if we
could mentally dissect the brain which underlies
those gray hairs, we should see there as many
organs Of conrivance and invention as might be
supposed 10 exist in the cerebrum of Mr. Daniel
Doyce, whom we read of in Dickens, Little
Dorrt."
Mr.. Thaddeus Fairbanks is indeed the inven-
tive genius Of the Fairbanks establishment, and
when was told by one Of the firm the story of
his finding out how to bring the scales to their
present point Of perfection, looked on that se-
rious-faced gentleman with very great interest
indeed. 1t seems that the firm commenced
business in 1911 NEAR as scale-makers, for
ever since 1925 some of the Fairbanks family
have manufactured stoves, &C., in the same To-
cality. 1t so happened that they made hemp
dressing machines, and required some coniri-
vance for weighing the rough material. Mr.
Thaddeus Fairbanks sci his thinking apparatus
to work, and for a long time without any salts
factory result but one night, in the year 1881 +,
he lay thinking, and in the morning, with an
Eureka !" expression on his face, told his
brother Erastus that he had solved the problem !!
A plan was sketched, pronounced feasible and
patented, and that was the birth of the Fair
banks scale, so | am credibly informed. OF
course, improvement followed improvement, and
still the inventors brain is working as busiiy
as ever, for he not only designs the scales, but
makes the machines that make them.
Leaving our Mechanician, who seems 10 have
forgotten all about us, and TO have quietly gone
off again 10 his seventh heaven of invention, we
pass on TO review regiment Of family scales
with tin pans; and on perceiving what an ad
vantage it must he TO housekeeper TO possess
such guardian against false weights, and be
ing assured that the price Of the article mus
speedily be saved by suoh detectIons, we be
come domestically economical and mentally re-
solve, whenever we plunge into housekeeping
TO procure one.
We are next shown machine for markin.
the brass scale beams. The long and shor
strokes on these are made by an ingenious com
binaton Of wheels, levers, and cutters, will
unerring accuracy, but the figures are stampe,
by hand. These figures, however, will sool
be made by machinery also.
We now inspect the beam Of a Ralwa
Track Scale, capable of weighing 10000 lbs
Two of these scales have just been sent 10 Rus
sa, which are each capable Of weighing so,
900 lbs. A mechanic from the factory is jus
on the point of starting for ST. Petersburg, i
, order 10 set them up. A planning machine an
7 cutter of the nolches on the upper edge d
7 the scale beam next attract our attention, an
we are also shown the steel for the knife edges
which is imported in bars from Sheffield, in tn
, exact form required. These bars are cut in re
quired lengths by machine, which nips of tn
( hard Jumps as easily as country boy woul
( bite off an inch of boiled carrot.
: In the Beam Room the scale beams are fir
: ished and the pivots fixed on which they are I
work. They are next polished, in separat
: apartment on revolving wheels.
7 In the early days Of beam polishing, th
5 workmen employed used to suffer terribly fiol
= inhaling the fine particles of brass which wei
flung off from the surface of the wheels an
e floated in the atmosphere. By happy an
: humane contrivance this Inconvenience is no.
e entirely obviated the air Of the room is Gle;
o and pure, and instead Of gaunt cadaverous couI
d tenances in this polishing room, are to be see
] healthy and ruddy cheeks. A simple fan b
s meath the wheels creates draueht and carrie
/ all the dust TO a receptacle below.
W "SA' 'io't t'O ioiES ohopf "hSiS Nv"
y made from scraps and here, we are told, so
l. 600 bushels of charcoal are annually consumes
r Near this place is steam eugine of 80 hors
n power, but water power is also used in the work
,, The combined power is about that of 1876 horse
>, 1t had been asserted that steam and water pov
l. er would not work well together but he
they are in harmonious operation, and no diff
is Guilty whatever occurs between fluid and vapo
1t In the Pattern Shop five pattern makers al
a employed. Near it is the Draughtsman's room
Is under the superintendent Of. MIA. P. Blum
70 who politely explained to us drawings of Il
ID great scales sent to Russia, which are TO
n used on The railway from Moscow TO st. Peter
g burg. l was shown, also, the drawing of
lr railway platform scale 1913 feet long, which wi
10 weigh $50 TONS 1t is intended for the Bait
more and Ohio railway.
The Packing and Box room, the Japannir
& room, the Painting room the room where ev
ID ry weight is graduated, and the Counter Sea
IT shop, were examined, but space forbids ene
al ing into details respecting them The Sealir
le shop, however, must not be so briefly pass
le over.
IN In the sealing shon every sinple scale is s