The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-07-18

tries Of the country. Prominent among these
may be named the marble interest, the granite
interest and the manufacture of weighing
scales. The latter Is especially Vermont in
sttution AND right here in Rutland Is seen
the evidences of at least two out OF the three
great Industries named, and to a very extended
aegree' Inc Rutland marble quarries are
known the wide world over, and have contrib
uted IN Great measure to the prosperity and
grown oil the town. In population, in wealth.
ana "a business enterprises, Rutland stands at
tne nead in Vermont. She has no equal in
eltner Oh these qualities and we believe can
nave no rival in the future. The growth of
Ihe town in both population and prosperity
during TIE past ten years has been very rapid
ana upon solid foundation. 1t has been no
mushroom growth. There is good and sub
stantial hook at the bottom and the building ia
neither rot item nor top-heavy. Improvement il
sun the Older OF the day new plans are form
ing, new buildings are going up, and new enter
prses are taking root.
The grand list of the town is nearly double
that OF any ,pther in the state; she has FIVE ma
tional banks with an aggregate capital of
Sl,SOU,OOO; besides two trust companies and
savings bank. The manufactures in town.
other than those already named, are quite nu-
morous and many of them of considerable
magnitude, such as the Rutland Foundry and
Machine company, and the Rigby combination
car wheel company, makers of car wheels; the
steam Stone Cutter Co., makers of Wardwell's
Patent stone channeling machines; the Lincoln
Iron Works, MAJ ble machinery; Ripley Sons
aud +. Chaffee & Son, drain tile Gay, Kimball
~ Gay, buttons Z. 2. Harris & Co. and Cham
plon Horse Nail Co., nails; the Vermont Mar
BILE Co., Columbian Marble Co, Shedons &
Slason, Sherman & Gleason Manhattan Mar
BILE Co., ellison & WooGfn, marble. All these
enterprises have extensive works here in sue
cessful operation. Many of them will receive
further notice at our hand hereafter The
state house of correction is located here, in a
very handsome set of buildings within sight of
the village, of which more al1on
We took look through
THE HOWE SCALE woI,Ks
the other day, and were surprised at their ex-
tent and magnitude, The buildings occupied
by the company number eighteen in all, and
cover nine acres of ground The shops are of
wood, lined with brick and all painted a
handsome light drab The works are situated
near the railroad track at the end of the Rutland
| division of the Central Vermont, about half
way between the depot and the fair ground,
and just out of sight of the main portion of
the village. The company came to Rutland in
the fall of 1875 from Brandon, where the
scale works were first established in 1857 by
John Howe, Jr. On coming to Rutland the
company erected their present works and
doubled the capacity in every department
The machine shop is three hundred and eight
by sixty feet; the sealing-room and paint shop
combined measure three hundred and twenty
five feet in length, while there are six other
shops one humid ed and six y ~ sixty feet eahha
! The company employs ABOUT four hundred
| hands, and last year turned out fifty thousand
| scales. A complete scale can be made every
twelve minutes. Fifteen tons of iron are
melted every day, and three million feet OF
lumber is used yearly. The scales are sodn
largely in the different foreign countries
mostly through Messrs Lott, Abbott & Co. of
| London, the agents of the company, their ex- !
port trade amounting to S250,000 per year.
The works are heated throughout by steam
run by a hundred and fifty horsepower en-
CINE, with two smaller ones. Each depart
ment of the concern is manned by old and ex-
perenced workmen who thoroughly under
stand the business; the head painter has been
with the company since it was first established
in 81.
The officers of the company are Hon. Geo.
A. Merrill, president; Hon. John b. Page,
treasurer; w. w. Reynolds, superintendent.
Colonel Merrills well known business tact and
executive ability, as shown in railroad man
agement and other large enterprises in the
state, has ample play here, and he takes a
personal interest and paidonable pride i1
furthering the interests Of the company rs heN
grasps the management OF its affairs with d
master hand. The office Of the company Is
neat, two-story brick building, sixty by fifty,
with separate rooms for the different officers
and clerks, each handsomely furnished, the
treasurer's office being supplied with fire.
proof vault of the most approved pattern.
The company are Just now engaged in TAX
ing an annual inventory, and the works being
closed in the meantime, we did not have an OPP
portupity of seeing them in operation.
HOUSE OF CORRECTION.
This institution is situated near the main
highway leading from Rutland village to Gen.
ter Rutland and about equidistant from the
two points. The situation is commanding in
the extent of country which it overlooks. The
prison, and all the buildings connected there
with, are Of brick The superintendent dwell
ing-house stands in the center, fronting the APP
proach from Rutland village and on each side
stretch the prison and its connecting wings.
Mo- nIla Of ttnr th...A atf
state prison, three tiers high, and number
seventy-six in all. The number of bathrooms
and the excellent facilities for bathing are par
ticularly noticeable when compared to the
state prison, and it would be great credit to
the state should it improve the bathing facili-
ties at the latter institution. Everything in
and abont this house is also of the neatest and
most clearly type This, of course, is the re-
suit of watchfulness and care on the part of
the superintendent, the matron, and the keeper,
and when we take into consideration the fact
that these three fiicials are alone responsible
for the entire care, the order and good discipline
in an institution of this kind it seems almost
incredible that the work can be done, and done
so well. AT the state prison you run against
keeper or guard at every turn-here you must
hunt for them at their post OF duty, and when
found they number but three. There are three
keepers, beside the deputy, who are employed
at the workshop
On the occasion of our visit there were forty
four convicts in limbo, beside six jail prisoners
The highest number which the house has had
at any one time was ninety-three, in the fall of
70. The average attendance" is about
fifty. Twenty-eight Of the number were at
work in the shop finishing marble
The work of the prisoners is contracted for
by Messrs. Brown 4 Bagley, who are manu-
facturers of every description of light marble
work, such as furniture tops, plumber slabs,
mantels, shelves, counters, waipscoting, tile,
ETC. Their contract runs for five years from
August l, 1879. They pay twenty-five cents
per day, the first year, and thirty cents per
day the remaining four years, for each convict's
labor. We were shown new and very strik
ing variety of marble which has recently been
discovered at Sunderland, in Bennipgto
county, and which both in formation and color,
must stand alone among all the different
species OF the mineral kingdom. In its natural
state it partakes somewhat of the color of red
sandstone, combining also the bright and
sparkling properties of quartz mingled with
, the harder and more enduring substance Of
both marble and granite. Imagine all these
different minerals thrown together in a COM
pact mass and pressed into firm combination,
one with the other, and you will have some
idea of the Sunderland marble 1t admits of a
high polish, and, as far as experimental knowl-
edge has gone, bids fair TO take its place among
the rarest specimens OF Vermont marble
MIR, Geo. n. Eayres, the superintendent, was
] All m tha lar 1 md