St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-10-29
THROUGH THE SCALE WORKS.
Some Improvements the Business Men
Saw Last Thursday.

By invitation of Manager Turner about
70 of the business and professional men
of the town were taken through the scale
factory last Thursday morning and it
was a revelation to all to see the many
improvements that have been made
there. A few years ago there were 500
men employed there and today there are
almost a thousand, while the finished
product for 1902 will reach over 100000
scales of the smallest drug scale to the
200 ton railroad track scale. In addition
to the scales the corporation will manu-
facture this year large quantity Of
brass valves and injectors and the Fair
banks power hammers. Some idea o. the
raw material consumed tor such an out
put may be realized when it is stated
that it will take about 100000 pounds
ofcopper to supply this years demand and
so tons of iron are melted daily at the
foundry.
This increase in business has been ow-
ing in part to the general increase in our
national prosperity and also to large
foreign orders. There is not civilized
nation on the face OF the globe today
that does not use Fairbanks scales and
recent order from Russia calls for the
manufacture of scales of all kinds to the
amount of several hundred thousand
dollars.
To provide for thisrapid and gratifying
increase in business number of improve
ments have been made al the factory and
new buildings erected in some cases. At
the iron foundry three new cupolas have
been installed for melting the iron and
with the overhead crane system of trans
porting the molten metal 100000 pounds
of iron can be handled with ease as we'll
as economy that was hardly dreamed of
in former years.
The latest addition to the plant is the
brass foundry which is without doubt
the finest brass foundry in New England.
1t has ground dimensions OF so by $50
feet and is located east of the iron foun-
dry. On the east side is core room SO
by so feet and another room of the same
dimensions.
In the centre OF the room are located
the furnaces resting on large iron plat
form from which the ashes and debris
drop to the large cellar. BY the side of
the furnaces are three Schwartz furnaces,
the latest invention for melting brass.
To an outsider they look like huge tea
kettles and out of the snout comes the
forced draft which is carried up the Chin
ney. These furnaces use crude oil tor
fuel and the oil is heated by steam and
blown into the furnace by a fan. Though
the Schwartz furnaces have been in use
but few weeks they are giving great
satisfaction and doing a lot of work.
The molten brass is to be supplied to the
mouIders by an overhead track, the same
as in the iron foundry. Along the centre
of the room are five vats of water where
an interesting process is constantly
going on of blowing out the cores from
the valves. In the core room the girls
are busily engaged making sand cores
and after the brass has been poured
around the cores and thoroughly hard
ened the moulder punges the casting
into the water and with a loud explo-
sion the sand is all blown out OF the
valves Formerly this was done by
knife, but now the cold water does it all
The brass foundry is splendidly lighted
and the floor is concreted. At the south
end of the building are the rooms for the
workmen, and a balcony for the use of
the girls during the noon hour in warm
weather.
Between the two foundries is a solid
brick building for the boiler and engine
where hundred horse power boiler and
an engine of like capacity can furnish
power for all the shops below the bridge.
But this power will only be used in an
emergency as all the power for the foun-
dries and pattern shop is obtained from
the St. Johnsbury Electric Co. being
transmitted from the power house and
| die rihut ed thrnuuh M anv motors
The principal addition to the big ma
chine shop is the sight of number OF
finished and un6 nshed Fairbanks trip
hammers. This is the latest addition to
the corporations output and the firm
are making excellent hammers and plac-
ing them on the market as fast as the
demand can be supplied.
The changes in the rest of the shops
have been noted from time to time in the
columns of the CALIFORNIAN, though to
most of the men who were personally
escorted through the factory it was a
revelation that there had been so many
char ges and that SO much business was
being done. 1t is always matter o.
local pride that the town has within its
borders the largest scale factory in the
world and is especially gratifying that
the relations between the corporation
and the citizens have been so pleasant
A corporation whose plant, including
finished and unfinished product will in
ventory at over $2,000,000 and whost
! mont hly Day.rOll to its emnlOveS exceed,