The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-07-21
IT'S WORTH YOUR TIME
VISITORS ON MILESTONE HILL
WILL FIND MANY THINGS no
INTEREST THEM.
Plant of Boutwell,, Milne and Narnum
Is Now Running Full Blast-Re-
porter's Impression Of Place He
Visited Saturday Afternoon.

Visited Saturday Afternoon.
The fact that there are no pas
scnger trains run tc the dua:r'os on
Milestone hill at Barre, prevelts 4
great many people from visiting this
place which is well worth a day of
anyone's time. Aside from the work
of cutting out the granite, there are
a large number Of men employed in
the auxiliary and repair work. Bout
well, Milne and varnum have one of
the best plants on the hill in many
ways, comprising air COMPRISING
plant, machine shop, foundry, store
houses, livery stable and lumber
yard.
A set of boilers furnishes steam for
large cross compound Corlfss en-
CINE, which is tandem connected to a
two stage Ingersoll-Sargent compress
sor while a smGier Sullivan compress
sor is also used These compress air
to 125 pounds, for use in the drills in
the pits. In connection with the COM
pressor is a clever device, the inven-
ton of r. R. Varnum, known as an
air-cooled air-cooler.
When air is compressed, water is
condensed and in winter causes a
great deal of trouble by freezing in
the mains or at the drill This cooler
is a series of 96 pipes standing in an
inverted V, IS feet high. These are
out of doors and remove the water by
condensation. In winter the action
is best and most needed, but on hot
day last week nearly a gallon of water
was let out of the apparatus. 1t was
tried out last winter and proved a
most efficient continuance, saving de-
lays from frozen pipes and drill
valves.
The foundry and machine shop are
used for making repairs and force
Of men is kept at work most Of the
time. The many engines, large and
small, derricks, cableways and drills
furnish work almost constantly. A
large stock of material is kept on
hand for use in repairs and replace
ments.
The cars Of stock have to be cleat-
ed and stalled to prevent the pieces
of stone from moving about or falling
off and this work requires large
amount Of lumber in the course of a
year. The cheaper forms of soft
wood are used for cleats, but the
stakes are of hardwood. The aver
age cost of stalking and Cheating
car is S1.25 which is dead loss. The
handling and storing of the lumber
also forms an apDreciable item of
cost with little or no returns.
One Of the interesting sights at the
quarry is a signal man, named Fred
Soucy. Fred is rated by his employ
ers as one of the best signal men on
the hill and his work is important
When a stone is being picked up in
the pit a man stands on the edge and
signals to the engineer. He must be
a judge of distance and faithful, else
mems lives and valuable stone will be
in danger Soucy is three feet ten in-
ches tall, weighs about Go pounds and
is p years of age. He comes of a
family of large, well developed boys
and girls.
One Of the men who work in the
Boutwell,, Milne and varnum quarries
has a record which no one is likely
to compete for, willingly. He fell
distance of some go feet, landed on
his side on a stone and reported for
work the next morning. When ask
ed why he was not killed, the reply
was, God knows, I don't
Several days might be spsue IN
looking over the various quarries on
the hill without a dull moment The
officers Of the companies are UNI
iformly corteous and ooliging and a
visitor is always welcome and made
to feel at home.
bailihf Of the county, was born in Chi
cago, H., in 1855, and came to Plain
field early in life, where he has since
resided He is a lumber dealer and
dealer in feeds, having a grist mill
located in Plainheld, and has a wide
acquaintance throughout the county
as a business man of ability.
Convention Notes.
That was certainly "tne glad hand
that Tracy received when he was
nominated for sheriff All the towns
in the county jumped over each Other
in he effort TO second the nomination
anyone might be proud of a send-on
like that said an enyious bystander
Chairman W. A. Lord had the bust
ness Of the convention at his finger
tips and the matter was handled most
expeditiously by the Montpelier man
Delay was not noticeable and Chair
man Lord announced in tn,
first place that they were there fol
business and then proceeded to prove
that he meant what he said
After the judicious way in which she
handled the State convention Mont