St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-03-12
FAIRBANKS INN"
(continued from page -

lOr the purpose OF plONtuliASt pACop-
ant and comfortable quarters for
the men who choose to live there
He then explained thai the meeting
was one of the regular T''C nthly
meetings of the officials and headi
and superintendent Of the shops
| to discuss plans and suggest pos
sible improvements for the work.
He had hoped that the vice pres
| ident of the Company, Prof. Henry
Fairbanks, might be present tc
give some of his personal recoliec-
/ tons concerning the old boarding
| house, but his health did not per-
NIT his attendance and it was his
| pleasure to introduce a man VINO
had recently undergone a serious
| surgical operation and was now re
| dedicating himself to his youth and
usefulness. He presented the Rev
| Edward T.. Fairbanks who was
| greeted with rising demonstration
Rev. Edward T. Fairbanks
Mr.. Fairbanks said in part that
| if you want to know how sweet
life is and how many good friends
| you have and how many good peo-
! pie there are in the world, Just
have something like that varmlnt
| the appendix, taken out of you. he
| then spoke in a reminiscent strair
! regarding Fairbanks Village from
the years 1886 and 1S41 when he
lived there as a boy. He was born
| in a house which stood where the
| office building is now located and
! facetiously described an experience
! in which he had the end of one nm
! ger taken off in a straw cutter he
said that at that time across the
river were a pillow shop, and the
| counting room and store OF me
Fairbanks Company. The first build
| ing erected on the site OF
the present shop was saw
mill which was built on
tract of five acres of land Wh1ct
his father purchased with the water
right for the sum of three hundred
dollarsfi The following year grlsf
mill was built and Joseph Fair
banks had a carriage shop In the
upper part of the building. This
| building was carried away in the
great food of 1869 when $4,000
worth Of property belonging to the
plant was destroyed. He said the
only thought in the beginning OF
the scale industry was to furnish
/ scales for a few of the neighborins
towns for the weighing of hay ane
other heavy articles. Its success
was due to the fact that every dol
lars worth of property turned out
| from the Fairbanks shop was made
upon honor and it is known arount
the world that any work from the
| Fairbanks shop. can be depended
upon, not only when it is first pur-
| chased but for years of hard and
useful service:
DIR. C. A. CramtOn
DR.. c. A. Cramton said that he
| was proud to be a guest at the frst
| dinner to be served in Fairbanks
Inn and that, if that was sample
! of it's table, he should like to be
| made surgeon general of the dining
room. Men are known by theil
! character and their works and the
same is true of corporations. While
1 there has been much opposition tt
corporations, it is now beginning to
/ be realized that labor needs capita
and capital needs labor. There new
er was a time when they were more
dependent upon each other. Capital
demands reliable and industrious
men and labor demands healthful
surroundings, fair wages and q
square deal. This it has at tho
shop of E. and T. Fairbanks and
l
by paying a high tribute to the
ducts.
Rev. Paul ID. Moody
Rev. Paul D. Moody said that he
was pleased to find the new
hotel which had been discussed so
much in town so successfully To-
Gated in Fairbanks Village. He
still felt that he was more of
business man than a minister as ii
was only a year ago the preceding
| Saturday that he dropped his bust
ness career. He had found ST.
Johnsbury to be an ideal town, on
of those towns of which you read
but never expect to see. These
| ideal conditions are due almost en-
| tirely to one family who during al
these years has worked according
| to the rule of square deal. He
congratulated the workmen of the
| Company that they were able tt
| direct all their efforts in the con-
struction of articles that promote
| justice and fair play.
Postmaster Stone
Postmaster A. F. Stone was in
| troduced and spoke with interest
of the changes he had seen during
the last half century. He described
the devastation of the Fairbanks
plant in the flood of 1869, but out
of that destruction came\ better
shops and works, then came the
big fire and out of that came great
er achievements. The burning o
the old store had also been follow
ed by the erection of the Office
building and a larger and better
| building, now devoted to manufact
uring purposes. One remarkable
event in the history of ST. Johnsbury
was the visit of the Japanese EN-
bassy in the early seventies and
that visit marked the opening of thu
| great foreign trade of the E. and
T. Fairbanks and Co. He also tolC
how ST. Johnsbury barely escaped
entertaining the king of the Hawai-
ian Islands who had been invited
to come here by George T
4