Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-05-18
uIDDLEBURY.
Its Manufacturing and Business Inter.
csts.

featuring and other business has picked u
wonderfully in Middlebury, so that no,
where everything few years back was in
state OF slagnaton, and apparently dead, Al
Is life, activity and business prosperity.
Among The powerful influences that hav
helped to bling back prosperity to the town
the Gutter Marble company should b
prominently mentioned. The Cutter quarry
which is situated about three miles east o
Middlebury village is owned principally b,
Mr.. ID. 5. Snow of Boston, and the Cutie
estate although other parties are interested
in it. Hon. l.. d. Eldrldgc is their genera
superintendent in Middlebury. This quarry
was opened over half n century ago and ha
been worked by various parties at various
times ever since. The present company
however is the only one that ever out none,
enough into il TO make ii pay much, aud ever
they had to sink good deal before anything
was realiZ d. In the quarry one large da
mond di1 with capacity of % men and an.
other viii a capacity of 10 men are in use,
as is also WardeIl channclng machine
with capacity Of % men. In the mill
eight gangs OF saws are run night and day.
Water power is The force used, but steam,
power is always ready to supplement any
lack OF wafer power. In the finishing shop
s"S S''HuhhJ HhS u ihibc IuDUlHb-Dcu, TWO
large turning-lathes and two polishing ma.
chlues. They will employ about thirty men
in the finishing shop alone this Summer. AT
present they have in their employ about sixty
men, in addition to whom they keep from
hftecn to Nv, nty salcsmtn constantly on the
road. Exrerls have pronounced the marble
from the Cutter quarry equal to the lest ever
qnarrltd In vermont. ana the company ex-
poet to 10 business to the extent Of $780,
600 this year. Their trade is entirely retail
and they are now largely behind their or
ders
located u short distance below tile old
paper mil fills, is the plant of the
Green Mountain Pulp company, manufacture
ers OF ground wood pulp. Mr. Albert II.
Fisher Is president of the company and Mr..
Wyman Flint is treasurer. About year
ego this company started In with one grind
ing machine. Now they have four grinders
running night aud day. The water power
owned BY this company is Que of the best 10
the State, and they propose TO utilize 1t to
the utmost extent. Thirty-fivc men are now
employed by them, and the daily output of
the null is about 20 tons of pulp, for which
there lisa ready sale. One thing which helps
this company especially is the fact that they
control the patent OF wood pulp making
machine by which much finer and better
quality of pulp is manufacturcd.th was.pre-
viousy possible Tho company is having
quite sale for this machine, for other pulp
makers have not been slow to discover its
superiority. The first two of these mac hines
sold went to California, and 50 well were
they liked that the purch lsers Immediately
ordered two more by telegraph. Since then
the machine sells readily.
The only remnant left of Middlcburys for
merly extensive manufactures. of woOllen and
cotton goods is the Middle5ury woollen mills
carried on by the Messrs. Chadwick. The
Chadwick brothers manufacture fine quail
Ivy OF beavers. check cassimcres and hair line
cassimeres Their goods are made to order
ond are sold in New York city. At present
they employ only twelve hands, but they in.
tend to extend their operations more widely
soon, and will manufacture knit goods, etc.
There is good reason to believe that still
other manufactures of woollens will be start
ed in the not distant future
About three years ago the Wheat Bitters
Company was organized. The manufacture
Ing headquarters OF the company is in Mid
dlebury. The company now has eight or
ten men regularly in its employ, but not all
of them in Middebury.
A. p. Topper runs saw mill ami manu-
features doors, sash and blinds to order. He
also saws ont large quantities of chair stock
annually. AT present lie employs five or six
men. Mr.. Topper reports that during the
Winter his business was remarkably good
and is at presen! fully as good as the aver
age.
Mes;rs. Smith 4 Allen, builders, are man
ufaclurcrs OF doors, sash aud mouldnps
They employ ten men in their mill at the
present time. NJ. Allen reports his business
as being first-rate-n better. They are
full all The time.
The Blinchard Manufacturing Company,
with DIR. Virgil W. Blanchard OF New York
city at its head, has Just begun here the
manufacture OF portable" houses. These
houses are made without the use OF any nails
whatever, and can easily be taken down and
apart and transported from place to place.
Two buildings erected in this way now
stand near the freight depot One is known
a. the Blanchard Mechanical Exposition
Building and Its dimensions are 1O0x25 feet.
The other is very much smaller one and is
70 be taken down soon and sent to New
York for model The Blanchard company
say that they are going TO get thirty men TO
work this Summer, making these portable
houses for sale in the cities.
At East Middlebury, Messrs. Nichols and
Williams carry on the East Middebury Iron
Works. Mr.. Nichols is a Burlington man
and Mr.. Williams belongs in Plattsburg. Mr..
Nichols manages the business. The ore used
here comes from across the Lake aud is man.
ufactur,d into iron blooms. Eight men are
employed in the forgc-six boomers and two
hammerers. A large force of men, however,
find employment in chopping the wood from
which the coal used in the forge is made and
In carting the iron ore and the manufactured
iron from one point to another.
In East Middlebury, also, is the door, sash
and blinds and clothes pin mandatory OF
Mr.. Austin Peck, 1t is believed to be the
oldest door and sash factory In the State. Mr.
Peck employs from eight to ten men and is
constantly changing his operations.
E. S. Olmstead manufactures large num
her OF wagons and sleighs at East Middle
bury every year. He employs six or eight
men and finds ready sale for his manu-
features.
These arc all of the manufacturing estab
llthments OF any consequence In Middlebury
Tho prospects arc now that the number will bt
Increased, instead 1T diminished, In the i'm
mediate future. They send lots of money
circulating through the town aud create a dea
OF work and trade 10 collateral directions
On the whole, business is good and there II
no man In Mlddlebury Who is able and will
ing to work who can't get plenty of work tt
do and lair wages for doing il.
Among the Merchants.
Something more than the wonted Spring
activity prevails among our merchants, anf
II Is evident that things arc lively in all dc
partmenIs OF trade. On Saturdays and Mon
days espcc ally, the stores are crowded ant
trade is lrsk, for those are the days on which
the country people come TO town to buy ant
~an Hnt n NOD L.. 4
10 dull on the other days Of the week. o
course there is once IN a while q very dull
day, but they have become rare In Middle
bury now and generally the clerks In In,
stor,s have to earn their wages Middebury
merchants do AN almost exclusively retail