St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-04-15

y
to No. 10 are all made after the same
design then adopted and that all other
makers follow the same the world over.
AS Mr.. Fairbanks once said, "To make
everything out of nothing was diff
cult task, but in that way the founda
tons to final success were laid"
OTHER INVENTIONS.
The first patent that was issued to
him was for a cast iron pillow, the first
iron ploughshare ever made. Many
others were added to this list, one on a
cook stove, and, most notable of all,
perhaps, aside from the scale invention
itself, was the arrangement, now uni
versally adopted in all refrigerators, of
placing the ice higher than the article
to be cooled, and the courts decided
that he was the original inventor, en-
titled to the broad claim. For I'M
provements in scales he has received
80 patents, besides asnumber on varI-
GUS machines and devices required in
making Tile ulucTcuG pdIOS.
THE HONORs PAID HIM.
Doubtless were he to speak for HIM
self Thaddeus Fairbanks would say
that the greatest honor ever conferred
upon him was the love and esteem OF
his fellow citizens in Vermont. But he
was not without more material hOnOrs.
Numberless medals from all parts of
the world where the Fairbanks scales
have been exhibited, attest the fame
of the inventor while the chief honor
awarded to the United States by the
Vienna exhibition in 1873 fell to Mr..
Fairbanks. He was at that time made
Knight of the Imperial Order of
Francis Joseph. Accompanying the
badge, the insignia of his KnighthOod,
was this letter
"From the Chancery of the Imperial
Austrian order of Francis Joseph to
the mechanical constructor, Mr.. Thad-
deus Fairbanks, well born.
His imperial and royal apostolic
majesty hath, by his most sovereign
letters of the 9th of October, 1873,
most graciOusly conferred upon Mr..
Thaddeus Fairbanks, mechanical con-
structOr, the knightly cross of the i'm
perial order of Francis Joseph. The
chancery of the order has the honor to
inclose the appropriate decoration.
BARON Won LICALENFELs,
Chancellor of the Order.
Vienna, Austria, 1873"
A few years after being Knighted
Sir Thaddeus received from the Bey of
Tunis the decoration of Nishaw ell
Iftikar, of grade of commander, "for
services rendered the commercial
world in the invention of the platform
SCALE" A year or so later still he re-
ceived from the King of Siam, the dec
Grafton of Puspamala, or the golden
medal of Siam. In the invocation
which accompanied the document of
investiture were these words, prayer
that all rejoice to know was fulfilled /:
"May the Power which is mighty in
the universe keep him and guard him,
and grant him all happiness and pros
perity."
HIS PUBLIC BENEFACTIONS.
But Thaddeus Fairbanks was much
more than an inventor. Even the
great variety of the inventions that
owe existence to his genius furnish
evidence that he was not a man of
contracted views, a man who could
make weighing machines and nothing
more. Brimfield had given him what
schooling" he had enjoyed, his well
stored and disciplined mind being the
result of his own labOrs and studiOus
habits. From the first he took a deep
interest in St. Jehnsbury and in its
institutions. In 1912, the three broth
ers, Erastus, Thad deus and Joseph
Fairbanks founded the st. JOhnsbury
academy. During its earlier years,
previous to 1866, it was financially sus-
tanned by the firm of E. 81 L. Fair
banks. From thence to 1873 all the
expense was borne by Thaddeus and
during this interval extensive addi-
tiOns and Improvements were made by
him. 1t was through his literally that
the South hall, costing over $50, 200,
was erected in 1871, and again through
his liberality that the present acade
my building, costing, completed, over
$4,000, was dedicated in 1873. He
continued to meet all the expenses of
the academy until 1882 when it was
endowed with 100000, of which he
furnished about $4,000. In all, the
amount of his benefactiOns to this in
stitution reach 100000. His interest
in it was not of IA perfunctOry charac-
ter. To the last weeks of his life he
was closely identified with every de-
tail of it's management and during the
whole term of it's existence was presi-
dent of it's board of trustees.
Both as serving to show the spirit
that actuated the three brothers in
founding this institution and also to
illustrate how true the institution has
been held to it's first principles, few
heads from the original plan of it's pro-
meters are given:
In the first place, we wish the school
to have decidedly religious character.
In the next place, we wish to aim at
the cultivation and improvement of
the mental faculties, rather than mere
acquisition.
Again, we wish the course of in
struction to be thorough as far as it
goes.
Once again, we want to establish the