The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-04-17
GOV. FULLER or VERMONT.

GOH. FULLER OF HERMOHT.
His Excellency Governor Levi X.
Fuller OF Vern ont paid Providence a
brief visit Friday afternoon. He was
the guest Of the Sons OF Vermont at their
annual banquet. He is In many ways q
very remarka bic man, and can entertain
lis tener with his expert ences In musical
mechanics. astronomy and general
science, and his researches In the by
ways OF Vermont history as few men
have the power to entertain. He is one
OF the two partners who now own the
great Estey Organ company at Brattle-
boro, which turns out an organ every
ten minutes. and has two large man
ufacturing branches and hume rous
agencies and salesrooms.
Governor Fuller Is what I should term
an all.round New England genius He
learned the machinist trade when
young and has very strong and acut ely
deve oEed taste for mechanics yet. He
was also 4 chemist at one period Of his
younger life. Then he took up civil en-
gineering and becan an EXPERT at that.
Perhaps that led him to study astronomy.
for he became an expert amateur OBJ
server of the heavens, and has a fine OBJ
sprvatory now. When he became part
OF the great Estey co cern he found rich
field for the exercise Of hi varied ta:ents.
and he has devoted himself to the build
ing up OF the business 10 such good pur-
pose that his is one Of the most success
full and widely-known musica l-instru-
ment concerns in the world.
I !
Governor Fuller knows great deal
about Providence Years ago he bought
an engine of the late George Ii. Corliss.
lie wanted it to replace one In constant
operation, and he wanted to put 1t in
with the least possible delay. Mr.. Cor
liss thought il could be done In ten days.
Mr. Fuller did it ia five days, by having
relays of men, bringing their fool to
them as they worked and having them
sleep on improvisel bunks In the facto ry.
Then he thought he could make the en-
CINE do more work. The Corlss peo Pile
told him it was impossible. He stu died
the machine, made some drawings for
castings TO sire igthsn the bed and frame,
readj sted somo parts and changed 9th
ers. and Eas for years been getting
horse power service far in excess OF the
makers rating of the engine.
I I I
Governor Fuller has recently be n look
Ing up the history OF inventions In Var
mont, and tells story more remarkable
than the Arabian Nights abou; what he
has discovered. Among many other
things he says that Vermont man had
a steamboat in successful operation be-
fore Fulton's was heard Of; that re-
vo yer almost exactly like Colts was in
vented by Vermonter fourteen years
prior to Colts; that the principle of the
Krupp rapid firing ordnsnce was worked
out in a practical way by Brattleboro
man in 1860; that telegraph was in
successful opera ion In Vermont before
More had even thought of the matter.
ana that Morse took his cue after exam
lining the Green Mountain inven tion,
merely substituting cole for the alpha
bet and thus being able To use one wire
ilstead OF the Vermonter's twenty-s K;
that electric dynamos and motors were
in successful operation years before the
inventors who supple those now in use
had received a gimmering OF the idea.
I ! I
Governor Fuller's greatest achievement,
however. was the bringing about of the
adoption of the international pitch" by
makers Of musical instruments. When
he became convinced of the practicability
aud desirability OF this great musical re-
form he began TO study sound, and he
became 50 expert In knowledge and ma
nipula;ion that he was able to construct
an argument that could only re ans wered
by an appeal to personal prejudice. He
told ne That sound had become to him n
concrete substance. and that he could
prod1c, articulated syIlables from
simple arrangement of bass-viol bows
and tuning forks
! I
These are buta few OF the many rem ark
able things G. vernon Fnller told me he
had discovered about Vermont inven-
tions through the 600 letters he has writ
ten in his search and the gre It amount
OF time he has devoted to it. But the
most remarkable Vermont product, am
sure. that old state ca at present show
is the governor who Is an astronomer, an
expert on sound AS applied TO music, u
practical machinist aud chemist, his
toran, aud withai as genial aud accom-