George W. Lorimer, president of the Lorimer Manufacturing Company of Troy, can lay claim to distinction in several widely divergent fields of activity, having been the inventor of the automatic telephone, a large and successful manufacturer of phonograph motors and an amateur marksman with the championship of the Grand American Handicap to his credit. He was born at Brantford, Ontario, Can., in 1874, a son of James and Harrie A. (Smith) Lorimer, and inherits his ingenuity, or a part thereof, from his father, who was a well-known inventor and manufacturer. Educated in the public schools of Brantford, Mr. Lorimer devoted much of his youth to electrical experimental and laboratory work, and eighteen years were consumed in the perfection of an automatic telephone, in the invention of which he was aided by his brothers, Hoyt and Egbert. When this was found to be successful, it was adopted by many cities in this and other countries, and the patents were finally, purchased by the American Bell Telephone Company, which concern controls them at this time. In 1897 Mr. Lorimer located at Piqua, and while there was engaged in telephone experimentation, but also interested himself in other matters, business and public, and in 1914 was elected mayor of that city. In 1915 he came to Troy, where he founded the Lorimer-Hicks Company, manufacturers of phonograph motors, which has since been succeeded by the Lorimer Manufacturing Company, with Mr. Lorimer as president., This company is doing a thriving business under the guidance of Mr. Lorimer and its product is meeting with an excellent reception in the various large cities. He is likewise the inventor of several other devices, the most important of which is a sand mixing machine, which is in general use. Aside from his business connections, Mr. Lorimer is widely known throughout the country as an expert marksman. From boyhood he has been familiar with the skilled use of firearms, and in August, 1919, won the national trapshooting championship, in the Grand American Handicap at Chicago, in a field of 860 entrants, from all over the United States and Canada. The prize was a handsome and valuable silver trophy. This was the twentieth annual event of this kind, and was held at the South Shore Country Club, from August 11 to 15. The contestants shot at inanimate targets, and a triple tie resulted among Mr. Lorimer, W. E. Gordon, of Mobile, Ala., and J. Edward Hellyer, of Alexandria, Pa., each having a score of ninety eight. In the shootoff, Mr. Lorimer, who shot from eighteen yards and used a Smith gun, broke eighteen targets; Gordon, shooting from nineteen yards, broke seventeen, and Hellyer, who shot from twenty-one yards, broke sixteen. Mr. Lorimer is a member of the Masons and the Elks. During the war, he enlisted in the ordnance department and was given a commission as captain. With his family he belongs to the Episcopal church. Mr. Lorimer married Miss Jennie A. Hunter, of Brantford, Can. and they are the parents of three children: Hoyt, a student at St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, Wis.; Genevieve, who is attending the National Cathedral Episcopal School, at Washington, D. C., and Harry, a pupil in the Troy public schools.