The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-23


sistant in the general management The great
amount OF clerical work involved in the cor
respondence necessitates the employment Of
stenographer whose duties are efficiently per-
formed by W. p. Phelps. +. M. Guernsey, the
veteran mechanical superintendent, has seen,
and been an important agent In, the rise and
progress OF this business. His connection with
the mechanical history OF the locality runs
back four decades and antedates that of any in
dividual, either In the corporation or among its
employees. And yet Mr.. Guernsey would
hardly be called an old man. The fact is he
was an exceedingly young apprentice to the
machine and foundry business His father
was an employe and foreman in the works
which preceded Mr.. Lanes purchase, and
Ed, at the mature age Of six years, began
his career as greasy mechanic " by clean.
ing castings to earn money for such occasions
as the Fourth Of July. Here he learned his
| worked continuously. He was one Of Mr.. Lanes
| original three, and has grown up and into the
business of manufacturing the company's
mills and machinery. George L. Lane, the
position at a comparatively recent period, and
| has developed marked degree OF skill and
| efficiency in the management OF his depart
ment. Aside from craftsman's experiences and
q supervisors tact, in his methods Of so CLASH
| Tying an almost endless variety OF patterns
that he can pick out any particular piece in
the dark, he displays his capacity for system
and appreciation Of its advantages. The heads
OF the business and mechanical departments
| show wise regard for the future In training
up their heirs and probable successors in the
way they should go in order to perpetuate a
| splendid patrimony.
MANUFACTURES
Lanes patent lever-set saw-mills forms the
| cornerstone OF the companys business and pros
| perity From the rude affair first fabricated
in Plainfield 1t has developed into machine
| which Is simplicity ITSELF but which embodies
| tlnaQ dQUiQQa that AVN hos
gested for the perfect and expeditions saving
of lumber into any shape and from logs of any
length or diameter. The ratchet of the set
works, which was originally designed for set
| ting log forward by quarters of inches, with
a single dog has been improved from time to
| time till now log Is accurately set by one
fourths, one-eighths and one-sxteenths Of an
inch, with an independent dog for each thick
ness; the wedge which was used to throw out
from the uprights the taper end OF long logs In
saving timber has been replaced by adjustable
| uprights; dogs and logging devices for holding
logs from the top, underside or ends, for hold
ing frosty logs and logs too crooked to lie still,
for holding them while they are sliced down,
without turning, into dimensions of unvaryng
evenness and thickness till the " slab 3" be-
comes a strip of bark, dogs that are instan-
taneously set and hold the largest or most
slippery log with the grip of bull canine have
been devised to take the place of the murder
GUS affairs formerly hammered into the rind of
a log with a bludgeon, and which besides de-
facing or destroying lumber were often as det-
rimental to morals on the last cut as they were
to saws. Time formerly lost in moving
back the slide-beam to take a fresh log is
saved by simple continuance by means of
which the sawyer, while running back the car
rage after the last cut, by the pressure OF his
foot throws back the slide-beam by power, or
by the same means may bring 1t forward. A
late and valuable improvement, especially for
the heavier saving and longer carriages, is the
substitution of wire rope feed for the rack
and pinion. Besides the single mills adapted
to ordinary saving the company makes huge
double mills, constructed 80 that one saw runs
above the other. These are designed for cut
ting the forest monarchs OF the South and
South America, and the largest size is capable
of Sitting into planks mahogany saplings ex-
ceeding five feet in diameter. Every improve
, ment has been covered by patents The valid
ity of the original patent has been thoroughly
fought out in the United States courts and
infringers brought into subsection to Mr.. Lanes
broad claim. The monitor" turbine water
wheel, a patented invention of Mr.. Lanes, a
machine that exclusively utilities the energy
, of falling water, is also made by this COM
pany. Approaching the desirabity OF fur
nishing manufacturers with all the machinery
: for preparing lumber for market, the company
several years ago began the construction of
, planners for lumber and timber jointers and
, Watchers, clapboard machnery-for saving
, and dressing-shingle and lath machines, and
! other articles used about saw-mll, besides
.. keeping for sale full line of saws, betting
and similar mill supplies. While none Of
, these machines are distinctively the invention
, Of Mr.. Lane their mechanism throughout
bears evidence OF his genius for discern
complexity and by the employment of the
, safest and most stable devices, for doing any
thing that pertains to lumber manufacturing
securing maximum of successful execution at
, a minimum of cost and of mechanical append
ages The shingle machine is practically the
, invention of Mr.. Lane and he has taken out
patent on the adaptation of some OF the me-
1 chanical agencies he has used in this machine.
, The carriage is moved by a compound crank
motion, with very quick return stroke which
: operates without jar or shock. Even when
making forty cats a minute the machine works
easily, without any liability to rapid wear or
, without any danger of moving the block from
its position between the set-rolls. In making
these various machines, the company is running
its full force on full time, with extra work
evenings. Its orders are in excess Of its capac-
= | ity TO manufacture.
|, MISCELLANEOUS
!: The weekly pay roll of the company is more
than 81, GOO. The annual output is about one
!; hundred and twenty. five saw-mills-besides 9
large number Of set-works, and carriages and
set-works, for other mills-from fifty to seven
ty-ive planners, about one hundred and fifty
single machines, many sets OF clapboard ma
y chinery, lath machines, Watchers. edgers, clip
pers, water-wheels and other minor articles
= | OF MANUFACTURE. large Item IN tne Dusl'
ness of the company is furnishing mills with
i shafting, pulleys, gearing, etc. Ten years
y ago ten thousand feet of lumber in ter
u hours was the maximum capacity of a mill
twenty-five thousand feet of boards and thirty
five thousand feet to fifty thousand feet Of bill
timber in ten hours, the capacity of the mill
made to-day, is the suggestive record OF the pro-
gress made in ten years 1t is also worthy OF
Q note that the company has invariably paid its
!, workmen their weeks wages every Saturday
q night. 1t is considerate towards its employees
a and shows its appreciation Of long and faithful
70 service In consequence it has a fine corps OF
l. mechanics, devoted TO its interests and jealous
Is its good name. Many of these men have beer
" a long time in the service of the company
, and to their years of accumulated skill anC
y experience is attributable a due share of thu
10 perfection in the manufactures which has mad
n them universally sought for and brought then
y unsolicited orders from the remotest parts O.
l. the EARTH Wherever new lumber region II
e opened up, these mills are sought. Cuba ant
q South America demand the double machines
10 for saving mahogany and for reducing othe
& valuable timber to lumber They are sent h
Russia, Germany and other nations of Europe
to Egypt and to distant Japan. These orders
come unsolicited, the merits Of the machine
10 effectively pleading their own cause. Tn
4 British government ordered one for use at thu
% Woolwich arsenal and the South Eastern rail
'r way company, the largest in England, an
N other for its works in London. The founda