This photo was sent to Hopedale by a lady in Connecticut, who would like to know what it is. It was manufactured by the Dutcher Temple Company of Hopedale, which, of course, mainly made Dutcher temples. They also produced various other gizmos. This device has patent dates of 1884 and 1886.. It looks like when you'd turn the crank, the gear it's attached to would turn the small gear faster, and the belt would increase the speed even more, so the little wheel on the end would be spinning pretty fast. Could it be a grinding or sharpening stone? That's all I can think of.                             ************************    And we have an answer, found in a letter in the Hopedale Historical Commission files. The letter, sent in 1988, like the picture above, sent in 2007, came from Connecticut.                     Dutcher family                         HOME