The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-12-31


tey Il Co., so well and fsvorably known
wherever musical instruments are used
The lumber used in the cases is pine and
black walnut from Michigan and Indiana,
and French veneers from France, and this
lumber, after being stuck up in the yard
for about year, is placed IN the dry
house and kept there until it is thorough
ly seasoned. 1t is then taken into buildings
number one and two, which are devoted
to case making, with the exception of the
first floor of number one which is used
for reed making. In the lower story of
number two the lumber is planed, in the
second stories Of these two buildings it is
cut up into sizes and in the third stories
the cases are put together. The annual
consumption of lumber, including the
Vermont lumber used for packing boxes,
is about three million feet. An ingen-
iously contrived steam fan takes the saw
dust and shavings from the saving and
planning machines and deposits them in a
building near the furnaces, and several
men are constantly employed in removing
the dust and dirt from other portions Of
the manufactory so that the air which the
workmen breathe is always pure and
wholesome. Building number three is
devoted to action making, and in the
third story of this building is the reed
board room where openings for the reeds
are made by cutters which make over
eight thousand revolutions per minute.
La the rear Of the first floor of this build.
ing is the iron department, and at the
rear of this building are C,rliss engine
of one hundred horse power and four boil
ers which furnish power and heat for the
whole establishment, aud which are kept
iE constant operation without reference
to working hours. Number four, the GEN.
trail building of the seven, is the setting
up department, and there the different
parts are brought together from the other
buildings and combined into cottage or.
gans. The lower floor of number five
is devoted to offices and packing rooms,
and the lower story of number six is the
bellows room. The second and third
stories of each of these buildings are de-
voted to tuning aud are divided into light
and cheerful rooms ten feet square for
the use of the tuners Number seven is
devoted to vanishing and finishing the
cases. This shows the general arrange
ment and distribution Of the work, and
there is regular line of sequence be-
tween the different processes, so that
nothing has to be re-handled, but passes
directly from one process to the next in
order.
The most carefally guarded depart
ment of the works from the eyes of the
curious is the reed room in the lower
story Of number one, and the passes issued
at the office for inspection Of the works
do not provide for admission to that room
unless special arrangement is made to
that effect with the proprietors. One of
the peculiar excellences of the Estey Or
gans is the sweetness and purity Of their
tones, and considerable part Of this due
to the reeds--both to the material Of
which they are made and to the manner
in which they are constructed ont OF the
metal. The fact that the reeds expert
cnce several thousand vibrations per sec
ond will give some idea of the require
ments in the metal, and the reed meta
used here and at other reed organ man
ufactories is made by the Scoville man
ufacturing company at Waterbury, Ct
and is the result Of a series Of careful
and pains-taking experiments made many
years ago by the managers Of that com
pany together with number Of orgai
manufacturers. They at last secured jus
the compound needed, and the proper
tions then determined upon have beer
carefully adhered to ever since and NJ
other. concern has been able to duplicate
it. The metal comes in sheets, and il
the reed room there are about dozer
costly and delicate automatic machine
which are used in the preparation Of thi
metal into reeds. These machines have
all been invented and built upon th,
premises, and they do their allotted work
so perfectly and with such marked result
that they are the envy Of other manufac
turers who have in vain resorted to every
means to possess themselves OF the pc
cularities of their construction Afte
, the machines have done all that they cal
: do in the preparation Of the reeds, the
work is supplemented and completed b.
skillfnl hands, and by this combination
of mechanical action the most gratifyin!
t results in the perfection of reeds al
f reached. Some three thousand pound
of reed metal are worked up every month
and when the delicacy and lightmes 0
, single reed are considered one ca
+, hardly form an adequate idea of the vas
number of reeds which are manipulate,
0 in the course of a year. The machiner
D used in the establishment has been mostl
r invented and constructed under the super
a vision of Mr.. Fuller, and to his geniu
= for organizing and arranging is to be at
a tributed the excellent practical manage
e ment of the manufactory, and the labo
G saving and exp diting arrangements i
e use. He has been in full charge of tn
2 manufacturing department of the busincs
Q since he became a member Of the firm
2 and has paid careful attention to the pro
: ducing of organs while bis associates hay
= been equally busy and effective in tn
: management of the other departments c
D the business. The first successful octav
= coupler or harmonic attachment, wa
made here, and the firm owns some twen
C ty-6ve patents covering the harmonic at
|, tachment, the vox humana, the vox jubi
] lante, the manual sub bass, knee swell
/ the reed board and other valuable i'm
t provements invented and adopted b
= them.
i The ivory used for keys amounts t
!, about $4,000 a month, and goodly mum
4 Der of elephants must have been sacri6C
I ed for the benefit Of the users of the f.:
i tey organs There is but one ivory i'm
porting house in the United States, an
y there are but two places where the ivor
Y =, for Gau- Nhaea ha ~,