Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-04-13
VERMONT IN CENTURY OF INvEN-
TlONU

Gov. Fulier's Interesting Pnpor Read
Before the Professional Club of Brat
uoboro.
Gov. Levi X. Fuller was the e,sayist Mt
the March meeting of the Professional club,
held at the By ooks House. March 10. His
theme was vermont in Century of In
vention. y In oponing his paper Gov Fuller
quoted the remsrk OF Sir Humphrey Davy
in his Consultations Ia travel.n
"lhe beginning of civilization il the discov-
cry OF some useful art by which men acquire
property, comforts or luxurits
SO that in reality the origin as well rs the pro-
gross and improvement OF civil socsty are
founded in me chanical and chemical inven-
tious'
IL Is a most delightful charm, the essay
lot said which this great student of natures
laws attempts to throw about the creative
work Of man. 1t is certainly pleasing
task to attempt to rescue from objcurity,
or to bring to more prominent light, the
efforts Of citizens of ones own cnmmop-
wealth. In many respects our State has
been az fruitful in the development Of great
inventions us it has been unique in in tersst-
ing phases Of history. Tho earliest Yer
mont invention relating to the tilling of the
soil was that Of Elakin Spooner for q cul-
tivator in 1919. s. Hubbard Graves of
| Wilmington invented the next cutivator in
of several Nermonters but tho most i'm
portant invention of this family was the
swivel plow Of Frederick Holbrook OF Brat
| tleboru, which made n revolution in the
matter OF pulvorzin3 the soil, leveling the
earth and accomplishing what had hitherto
been impossible by single machine. c.
! Odds OF Mar boro invented a corn planter
and seed drill in 1871. Other inventions In
| the agricultural class, at different periods,
were machines for gathering ears OF corn
| from the stalks, husking corn and Smelling
| corn. A Mr., Baldwin OF Brattlebor in
vented a potato planter in 1868, aud G.. J.
Bundy of Lyndon potato digger in 1894.
Our space ooes not permit us to follow III
detail the many Vermont inventions enum-
Grated and briefly described by Gov Fuller.
In all they were more than 100 in number,
related largsly to the tillng OF the SOIL bar
vesting grain and hay, ougsr- akng, house
hold appliances, making WOODEN cloths and
to wood and iron working machinery.
The twino binder which has revolution
lied tue work Of harvesting grain, was in
ven tod by n \. Holmes, native Of North
| Hero. One OF the most interesting inveu-
| tons affecting farming and tbs carrying of
winter loads Is the traverse sled. In 1927
George w. Nichols OF Randolph, while on
his way to Boston with loaded team
broke 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
some length as the broken one, converted
his sled into traverse, and continued his
journey. The superiority of this form of
construction was evident, and the next
winter all the teams on thrt route changed
their sleds 10 traversss. Several Vermont
ers, among them James Fisk Of Brattleboro o,
invented contrivances for releasing runaway
horses from carriages In the general list
Of snw mill Inventions that of A. 7. Upper
Of Middlobury, or the Inserted tooth il
the most valuable. A. j. Fullum OF Spring
field invented, in 1864, a sheep shearing de-
vice which survives to-day in the modern
dipping shears, used for clipping horses,
and found in every BARRIERS shop. The
butter making churn, invented by o. r.
Fyler OF Bratulsboro, in 1852, is still in use.
To Vermont belongs the credit of produc-
ing the rotary snow pillow used on all the
great lines Of the far West. Joseph Wooey
OF Derby Line made the orig inal invention
in 1S4S, and developed it into its presen
form after removing to the West.
TIE PLATFORM SCALE.
An invention which was OF great import
ance to tho world was that of the platfor n
scale by Thaddeus Fairbanks in 1881
Johnsbury we're doing a general BUSH oss
In making plows, stoves, and dealing In
hemp, and it was to facilitate the weighing
OF their goods that Thaddsus inventsl the
scale whose distinguishing feature was the
knife edges to carry the movable parts.
great number Of other patents have sine,
been issued in the perfection and inn r I'VE
nent OF these scales, and to this day thsy
have retained their supremacy
In 1856 Frank NJ. Strong of Vergennes
a workman In the Sampson scale works o
that city, while engaged in the special study
of weighing machines, caught tho distin
gushing des Of what is now the Howe scale
by noticing that grape shot, which slipped
from HE hand and rolled upon the floor, re
bounded as it struck the wall To-de,
, there are in the country more than 70 di
ferent manu- fscturers of Weighing machines
but the two Vermont scale concerns out
: rank them ALL
During the summer OF 1861, when tn
war OF the rebellion was just beginning
Samuel S. Pike of Bratteboro invented {
small portable cannon which had in it tn
inception Of the idea now employed in tn
s rapid fire form Of construct ION, and Of tn
krupp wedge system of frmature. Mr.
, Pike was n gunsmith OF rare talent, and 1
| was he whom Samuel Colt solicited to max
I for him the first revolver, but tn ought Mr.
Pixies price of $500 too high and wsnt else
a where. His mistake he afterward confesse
to MIR. Pike.
; William Gould of Brattleboro was a maj
q OF peculiar fertility of mind in matters con
4. nected with water works and plumbing al
planes. While he made several other In
n vent!ons, his greatest Was that for making
lead pipe, and lead Pipe with tin lining
! THIS occurred between 1910 and 1850. Tn
mach ne was finally sold for old iron, tn ,ug
h parts of ii are still ia existence Although bot
n these inventions involved interests repre-
senting immense sums OF money, they move
r came to general public notice, and 1t 10 be
? leyed that Mr.. Gould's idea vas seized upo
= and developed by two strangers who wer
l., introduced to him by Brattleboro friend
I About lS45 patient at this Vermont asy
lum, named Willis, invented the looLin
. irons now universally used for fastenin
# the sides of bsdsteads. J. Dorr Bradle
d of Brattleboro invented, in 1853, a rotar
/. pump which worked SUCCESSFULLY, but who's
drawbe ok was the short life of the rubbs