The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1893-03-24
VERMONT INVENTORS.

d one of the most brilliant improvements thai
7 have been made In this class oflfarmlng in.tru
= ments IS the moving machine OF John Gore
. OF Brattleboro. while living for a short time
" In New York, who returned to Brattleboro To
complete bis work. He attempted 10 repro
duce the shear cut or motion and cut, pail
of hand shears, whereby one horse with bis
O machine was able to do as much work as two
G with other machines. This for time bid
# fair TO drive out other forms. but 1t was found
Il in practice that in time the sand and grit
: would accumulate, destroy the cutting edge
e of the knife, and render the machine inopera-
= tive. o. Il. Chaplin of Springfield, further
! improved the machine, while there have been
vast number of minor Improvements rels-
ting to the harvesting knife, boxes, seats,
frames, wheels, etc.
s. Goats of Shoreham, in 1887 made re-
volving rake; G. r. Soule of Fairfield. i'm
proved 1t 10 1852 and II. G. Varnum combined
, the hay rake and tedder In 1870 while II.
Willard Of Vergennes IN 1866 made a CON-
bined hay rake and loading machine. w. S.
Nichols OF Rutland, In 1868 invented hay
stacker; j. b. Kelley Of Brandon. 1863, hay
tedder ID. Wilson, johnson, 1889, winnow-
ing machine.
N. A. Holmes, a native of North Hero. VT.
; invented the Irvine binder now manufactured
by the W. A. Wood Co., of Hoosc Falls, N.
Y, machine which has revolutionIzed the
work of harvesting and given this country
the possession of increased markets through
out tho world.
Wagon and Vehicle lnventions-The Tray
| erse Sled.
have found great difficulty in attempting
to trace the history of wagon invention in
Vermont, but in 1855 H. w. Ballard of Bur-
lington, invented an ingenious arrangement
affecting the springs of wagons. G. G. John
son of Springfield. made an important Inn
provement in 1860, while ID. f. Wheeler of
| olo{o },,n rnvod tho hrakn or the c0nfrIy-
ances of releasing the horse from the wagon
| In case of an accident may mention that OF
II. Webster of Jacksonville. who invented
in 1860 an attachment to wagon by which a
| horse could be released In case of necessity.
| About 1878 James Fisk of Brattleboro, In.
vented contrivance by which the horse
! could be released from the wagon and brake
applied to the hub of the wheel for the stop
page OF the carriage.
One Of the most interesting inventions az
fecting the farming industry, trucking inter-
ests, and multitude of vehicles, Is the inyen-
ton of the traverse sled. 1t Is good illustra-
| ton of the native ingenuity, readiness OF re-
source so characteristic of a large class of our
| people who possess the ability to overcome
| difficulties In an unusual degree In 1927
George w. Nichols of Randolph. while driv
ing team to Boston, passing through An
dover. N. H., had the misfortune to break one
of the runners of his sled. The next day was
stormy and he conceived the Idea Of cutting
off the other runner to the same length as the
broken one, went into the woods and cut a
short sled-crook, which be put IN place of the |
broken runner, converted his sled into trav-
erse, and continued his journey with the
other teams to Boston. He found on the way
that with the wooded shoes be could get over
the ground better than any other t. am. could
turn shorter By this means. and could start
his load when others failed, turning out and
getting back into the road with greater ease,
md he VT MIR 40 NJ
changed their sleds to the traverse syst-m,
setting their wagon bodies on them.
A. Spear of Bra'ntree, In 1910 first used
cast iron shoes for sled runners.
Mill Machinery.
With the settling of the land the saw MIL
come into early existence, and In 1906 +.
Hubbell of Middebury invented c water
wheel, which was followed by O. Thomson
of Jericho who made an inclined one In 1928,
while the WhItcombs of Grsfton ten years
later added improvements. The old fash
sway. although G. Hughling In 1909 invented
a circular saw mill. j. Hatch at Westford in
1929 invented a gauge for the setting of the !
saw. and E. Waste of Bennington In 1888 III
vented machine for the setting OF the saw :
teeth. snd P. B. Tyler of Springfield IN 1854
invented new method of nibbing of saw
teeth. while ID. Lane of Planfield attached :
the improve mepts for the setting o. the logs
on the mill. In 1S47 r. B. Brown of Wills
ton devised cross cutting machine. OF all d,
the inventions In use today In saws, one of
the most valuable, II not the most valuable is
Topper of Mlddlebury. Wndmis for ages p
had been employed for furnishing power, the I
first Vermont invention was that of Charles I
Holden In ITS. j. keyes of Putnev devised ;
a mode of regulating windmils in 1888; A.P. .
Brown of Brattlebnro invented q seli-regus- :
I,.@ll tsnI.
proved by r. Nuttng, Randolph, in 1867. The :
earliest wool and Goth shearing machine was 4
The invention of Samuel Kellogg 10 1885, ,
David Dewey of Poutney invented a machine r
FOR shearlng cloth IN 1909. This invention 4
insisted of twisting shear blade, a shearing +
board and rollers over which the c tn was O
stretched as 1t passed between the shear b'ade I
and shear board. This was called the shearer. h
E. Durrip, Weathersfed, 1914, Invented a
;hearing machine which he called the zlg-zag, q
n contradistinction from Dewey's; G.. l.. =
Mason, WilllstOn. In 1917 Invented machine u
o prepare wool tor cardlng; Il. Daniels, {,
Woodstock, 1919. a wool picker; G. Carlyle. |
,hlne; c. l.. Harding, Winooski, in il
$50. wool burring machine; j. g
Craine, Glover, 1865, wool press; q. Ii. q
Pond, Rutland, 1870, the wool cleaning ms -
,hine; L. HodgkIss and A.. Jaque, Brattle. n
)oro, 1909, cloth shearing machine; j. Mat RI
news Barre, 1918. machine for raising the e. =,
lsp on woOlen cloth; s. Marsh, Fairfax, 9,
S25. cloth mapping machine; II. Daniels, =,
" oodstock. 1910, process Of cloth manufac- a
ure from wool and silk; j. Spaulding. Nor. n
lstown, 1871, machine for measuring and =,
oding cloth A. Woolson, Springfield, 1853
Jig mill for dressing cloth. This was an i'm. a
,rovement upon the cloth shearing machine n
invented by Mr.. Davidson, his father.lr-aw, n
n 1920 and who had brought 1t to a consider II
bile degree of perfection. but Mr.. Woolson m
ucceeded In perfecting his machine to such a
high point that he started factory at m
springfield, which has continued from that -
line tn this. and Is known at present as the
Park IL WoolsOn Manufacturing Co.. Of which
be Hon. Adna Brown Is the controller or n,
manager. m
S. Il. Tiff, Morrisville. In 1858. Invented a II Il
lothes drier; G. S. Rogers, Thetford, 1871, tr
lothes tentering machine; j. II. RIckett, q,
Vest Dover, 1869, clothes boiler or the al
lothes wring'ng machine, 4. Dickermon, al
edmond, 1850, was the earliest Vermont ir- m
entor, followed by X. Fl. Elliot, Z len. 1862, n
While number of others have added i'm. In
rovpments. m
S. E. Colman. West Haven. 1871. invented in
fullIng mill; A. }. Fullum, Springfield, ra
S6f, sheep sheariug device consisting of II
cries of knives driven by little steam cyin- re
er having flexible tube connection so that gl
could he-carried in the hand. Few OF them .
we're sold or used because of their cumber. w
ONE and expensive character. This inver- IN
ion Is the foundation of the modern clipping fe
hears used for shcaribg horses; its lttsst "a
Notification may be found in every BARRIERS It
hop. Of
q. Brewster. G.. Tumble and J. Matthews. No
'arre, 1872, invented a machine for spinning m
otton, wool. fax and tow; T. Crutterdon. II
Quincy, 1903, spinning wheel; S. ~
emonts. Hartford. 1912. machine for spin
Ing wool; 4. Colvin. Poultney, 1857. a knit. of
ug machine; c. &. Coal, Bennington. 1869. q ne
lrcular knitting machine; j. NJ. Armour. rs
haftshnry. 1866. knitting machine needle. bu