Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-08-15
Visit of the Japanese Ambassadors
to Fairbanks Scale Works.

| leUOWHcu oCdl6 w uihS VI InC hlCSSI =.
| Fairbanks Co.:
Upon arriving in st. Johnsbury the
party were received by the senior men,
Der of the company, and conducted to
TIE WORKS,
| which are located in the PassumpsiC
| Valley, and situated about three quart
ers of mile from the north part of the
| town. The first department visited was
the foundery. This is a brick building,
| ia feet long, 112 feet wide, and about
so feet high. Here are cast the principal
parts of the scales, from the small lever
used by the chemist in determining
specific GRANTEES to the ponderous beam
Of eighteen tons used to weigh canal
boats. The foundry presented busy
and interesting scene, the numerous
| wOrkmen hurrying in all directions with
| great ladlcfuls of molten iron, which
was poured into mOulds and fashioned
| into hundreds of different shapes
Three large furnaces, whose united
smelling capacity is over twenty-five
| tons, are kept constantly filled with the
! cleaning mass. Some idea of the i'm
mense work done alone in this depart
ment can be obtained from the fact that
over five thousand tons of iron are annu-
ally melted in these furnaces. The Yari-
Gus parts of the foundery work were wit
messed by the Oriental visitors with in
tense interest, Mr.. Hida, who is said to
be an able and scientific mechan-
ician, examining with great min
uteness the details of moulding and cast
| ing, and asking numerous questions con-
| 10 r11atiIra morris 0nI C1alitinc
| of iron, sand and other materials used,
all Of which were promptly answered
| and explained by Col Franklin Fair
banks The next building visited was
the pattern shop, where a number of
men were found at work in making pat
terms. This department might well be
termed the most important one Of the
works, as here the scale, in all it's parts,
is modelled from the plans furnished by
the combined skill and ingenuity of the
mathematician and the draughtsman.
Here Mr.. Hida seemed particularly de-
lighted, nditaking various patterns. COM
pared their workmanship with the draw
ings, first examining the plan Of each
section and noting its mathematical ac-
curacy with the duplicate. From the
pattern shop the party passed to the ma
chine shop, and this place. with its hun
dreds Of lathes and other improved
labor-saving machines, were closely OBJ
served. Among the great number of
machines which were examined were the
engraving lathes invented by Mr.. Thad-
deus Fairbanks. Formerly this part of
the work was done by hand, but as will
be readily cOnjectured, no matter how
skillful and precise the hand might he
that.recOrded these marks, slight mac
curacies would creep in, and in order to
overcome them years of toll and expert
menting were passed by Mr.. Fairbanks,
until he invented and brought to perfec-
ton a machine, the working of which
records the numerals of the balance.
from one ounce to many hundred tons,
with unerring precision. The gearing
and eccentrics of each of these lathes
were also examined with close attention
by the Embassy. In this department
about two hundred wOrkmen are en-
plOycd. and the sight of the shafting
running at nearly all angles of the room.
together with the noise of multifariOus
wheels and pulleys, make one glad when
all have been seen and the time arrives
to pass into another branch of these
gigantic works. But the change is by
no means a relief, at least him who has
not mechanical turn of mind, for in
stead of passing from a very labyrinth
of things suggestive of broken bones, the
visitor is ushered into the forging shop.
where the noise of the large number of
steam and trip-hammers caution the I'M
initiated to tread carefully. or this home
of Vulcan will cause him to regret it.
However. under the guidance of Mr..
Fairbanks all passed safely around these
crushing monsters. and for a long time
many of the party including the Japan
csc watched the fail of the mighty ham,
mer, the blow of which can be regulat-
ed from the weight of a pound to several
thousands. From the forge" shop
glance was bestowed upon the many
hundreds of anvilS in the ''smithS' shop.
and the reader who heard the anvil
chorus at the jubilee can form pretty
good idea of the effect when it is under
stood that the number of anvils over
which Mr.. Gilmore swung the baton. is
at the Fairbanks works multiplied by
five, and the chorus commences at :
o'clock in the morning and ceases at 6 in
the evening. The next department into
which the visitors were ushercd was the
k'lflul vi III - ftlN ill- tP''iil llNl'
the several parts of the scales, when
finished. are received and set up This
is an interesting process. The United
States standard weights are placed on all
parts of the platform. and require the
balance to exhibit an exact smile.
Above this room the similar work of adj
iusting the smaller scales is going on and I
the thousands of these. consisting of
.-,,,,n ~, E., ,,v,l G,
ishcd and unfinished. caused the visitors /
to wonder if the market is not gluttel, .
but the gentlcmanly chaperOn, diyining
Il question, answers, "Oh no. indeed. /
we cannot make them fast enough our
market is the world :" Wherever ques- .
lions between BUYERS and sellers of COM !
arise, the Fairbanks standard /
steps i'm and Larmonizes the difference. /
After leaving the adjusting rooms n /
hasty visit was made through the several /
other departments, consisting of the !
planning shops, where the wood is planed .
and fitted for the cases. the painting and .
iapaning rooms. where the ornamental F..
is combined with the useful, and a large .
of auxiliary shops, each of |
which is perfection in itself. Finally a (
wish was expressed to see the motor f.
which gives life to the vast machinery. /
when a detour of the main building was F.
made and the party stood on a gallery /
overlooking two low pressure engines of /
two hundred and fifty horse power each.
There, said Mr. Fairbanks facetiously, |
are the lungs of our work." and the
remark seemed fifty applied, as their
power sets in life machinery as complex,
and in many cases as delicate, as that of
Of the human system.
THE STATISTICS.
The above description of the works
would not be complete without inform
ing the reader of a few of the most i'm
portant statistics of this enterprising
AS heretofore mentioned,
over five thousand tons of iron are an
nually consumed, and for smelling and
forging this, four thousand tons of coal
are required, and the firm have freight
AGE of fifteen thousand tons yearly. Six