The Sun.
London, England, 1822-02-11 00:00:00

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ridge, where a thick bed of limestone fortnatheupper,straturn,
----with a sub-stratum Of alert, the miners, in their search, for
lead-ore, have inet . with the bulirstone at the depth of 1160,
yirds from the surface.
In Order to prove the T alkin buhrs, the diacoyerera hal
- some made into mill-stones, which they set Up in the neigh-
bottring mill in the borough of Flint ; some were had,by a.
millwright, and afterwards sent to a
mixed with French buhrS; and one large bohr was sliapedintO
a millstone, and put ut(at a thillat'Vizetfiog.
• -They considered, it
.would require /TA Sh time to prove the
real character of the bubtrt, anti-that it useless to
endeavour to make sates till -fitis'proof could be sadsfactorily
made, and therefore they took but little. trouble in cirenla.ting
the object of their discovery for nearly two years, When Bedding
that the stones -at Flint mill we're highly approved, atia found
to be a substitute for the French buhrs, they turned theiratten;
tion to the subject:
They were advised to layspetimens of tite-bulirs before the
Society of Arts,, &c. immediately; lest they might be e.ntici::
pated by some other person in- their pretensions to the pre:.
mium offered, and they accordingly ventured to do so, in
February 1820 (under the name of Flint Mahro, bttr not -
having then had sufficient trial-made of- them, they were not in
possession of certificates sufficiently extensive on which
.0 rest%
their-claims to the notice of the.Sbeiety. •

•
As, howeVer, they are now able to alcltice praota that the
Halkin buhrs are fully equal to the French, and in some
cases are declared to be actually superior to them., they trust
that the society, in looking to the'nationil importance of the
disc.overy„' will pass over the trouble that Was laSt year so • un-
intentionally occasioned, and again take the matter into their
consideration.' •

They iequest perthission to lay before the Society the aC-,
companying certificates and letters on• the stibject ; `and in ordei
to chew that they have not been selecting, a few, and With-
holding any less favourable to their hopes, they beg to state the
result of every sale made by them up to the end of the last
year, and to add a short review of ithe particular certificate
connected with each ease, observingat the same time that not
one unfavourable or unsatisfactory trial has yet occurred.

,
Some of the buhrs got on the discovery of the quarry were.
(as before stated) converted into .millstones, and put up about
three years ago at Mr: Evans's mill, in the borough of Flint,
who certifies that "he used them nearly two years occasionally
for wheat, but chiefly as.grey-stones, in which they excelled ;
that at first be used them seldom for, wheat, but afterwards
more and more frequently, as he found them answer the pur-
pose, and, by way of comparing them with the French stones,
he took six measures of wheat, and ground one-half on the
Halkin stones, and one-half on the, French stones ; there was
some Very slight difference in the flour, which was in favour of
the French ; but he did not consider it as a fair trial, as the
Halkin stones were not at •the time properly faced for wheat
grinding, and if the French stones had been faced as rough,
the flour from them would not have been :better than the
other. Bread was made from the two kinds offlonr, but no
one could distinguish between the two. He. then had the
Halkin stones regularly faced and cracked as French, and has
found them ever since equal to the. French atones in every re-
spect whatever."
Others of the buhrs, got about the same time, were used
more cautiously by a millwright, who made. a: large pair of
millstones of Halkin and French bultrs, fixed in alternately,
and these were set up inure than three years ago at the Horn-
mills, near •Danhain-'o'411"-Hill, in Cheshire. .Mr. John
Peers, the present tenant of this mill, ent-L•red on it nearly
three years ago, and he states that " the stones were in a
rough state, and required six months to get them to a proper
face, when they
.ground wheat as well as' the best French
stonaa, .and have ever since continued to do so ; that he pre-
fers the Halkin and French' stones mixed to thoie of French
hairs entirely, as they grind faster, and as well; and full as
cool as the French ; that he uses theth for all purposes, and
considers them equal in every .respect, and superior in some
respects, to the French buhrs."
A large buhr got about the same time, was sold to Mr. John
Edwards, the oeeupier of a small mill at 'l'aceiliag, in FlintAire;
he states " that from various causes the built was not used till
about twelve months ago, when he shaped it into a millstone of
three feet six inches diameter ; that he has no •Vrench stones,
but used this as a runner 'over a blue stone for grinding Wheat,
and found the flour of goad colour, and the bran broad and light ;
that the stone would bear the finest cracking, and 'continued to
improve and harden till he left the mill in November last."

• The next sale was to John Dumbell, Bag. of the Mersey
.hills, Warrington (said to be the lerg.est establishmentin the
kingdom, and containing twenty-two pair ofinillstones,) and he
certifies that " in March 1820, he received a quantity of Halkin
buhrs, which he had forthwith made into millstones; and these
were so' much approved, that in May P 320 he had buhrs for a
second pair ; that the two pair Of Halton -millstones have been
regularly at work ever inite,antl 'continue to give great satiSfae-
tioneo the bakers and flbur-dealers ; that he conceives they are
precisely the seine kind of stone as the French -huhre, and cut
the gram like them, and are like them in respect to oatmeal, in
which neither French nor Halkin stones are used to advantage ;
and he. considers the 'disiovery of great natiOnal•importance."
, Messrs: lintstfiehla and Passand (now the occupiers of some
large mills'at Limm, neat -Warrington; but who were lately
foremen to Mr pitmbell, and-here been pre'tticel millers nearly
thirty yearso 'stao " that 'they hiede the- lialkin stones which
were set up at the Mersey Mills, Wheie thete are nine pair of
French stbies at work ; f.hat they made an experiment with
sonic wheitte by gtinding some on the best French pair, and
some on-the flalltin, stones, in order to compare the flour, in
Which there was scarcely any perceptible difference, though the
preference was giten in favour of the Halkin stones by a 'corn
and flour dealer, to whom theaamples-were 'sheven' ; that bread
was made from each; but no difference could be perceived ; that
at first they thouht the Halkin stones not quite so hard and
tough as the Frenche but they found them continue to improve,
and to beeome as good as the 'French • that they have seen all
varieties of millstones; and made all sorts of millstones, but
never saw any buhrs 'to come in competition with the French,
except the Halkins, which they are satisfied will answer evety
purpose." • - , • .
In corroboration of theae' stateinenti; a sample of the bran
(sifted in its rough state out of 'the fidur;) is respectfully sub-
mitted to the Soeiety:
• In May 1820 a Halkin milleeene was sent to Mr. Pratt, of
Saredon -Mill (a large- concern near \Vela:ill, in Staffordshire))
and set to work in his mill at. Dudley. , his. Pratt has had e
=
very extensive practical experieace for ore than thirty years,
and in October last he wrote that "it had been applied for seate-
ral weeks in grinding wheat, and that it ground equal to French
atones, and.better than some of them ;
,but he had it for grind-
- ing barley, &c. and was so using it, and fotind it answer re-
markably well for that purpose ; :that
:the face and dress keep
good, and for a great length of ; and that in the Spring he
would have a pair of Halkin stones to grind •wheat." Upon
application to Mr. Pratt for ttt. reniit Of hi% fartlicr experience,
'he wiltes.again on the 2fith February, that ' be gave'a just re-
pOrt of the good qualities of one,
,Halltireinillatone in October
twist, and entertains the' same Opinion' to 'tlie 'present- day ; but
that it had' been grinding barley, Sec. -ever 'sliver; and he never
before met with any stones to lateen* grinding GO well, and
continue their dress solorig:" - '
In June 1820,.Mr, Stephens, the owner and occupier of a
• steam.mill in. Harrington., Liverpool, haviag 'a
desire to try the,
Ilallein buhrs, obtained a bah!, which he' terokeanto several
pieces, and. fixed them:into diffeecat parts of a pair of French
buhr millsionesa-and he certifie.aethat '6 they have since wOrked
to a good face, and•crack. as well 'as the rest of the stoneseand-
as far as his ()pillion can be fortnedhy such a circumstance, he
conaiderse the Halkins equal to the French-babas." He, states
'also 16 that he•has, at the reareest of the discoverers, taken out
lone of the•pieeca of Halkin buhr from
,his millstones," which
-they beg to offer to the attention of the Seciety as a convincing
proof of the toughness arid haleinesa, the. manifest after a few.
months' wear, being in this respect also like the French, buhrs,
In August 1820, ,a pair of .Malkin millstones, of five feet:
diameter,' were sent to Messrs—Pilling and Co 's large mills, at
Mirfield, near -Leeds,. who have not yet given any written re-
port-of the stones; but Mr..(ioeciwin of.• Liverpool,. (a mutual,
friend of 111 r. Pilling, and
.of the,. peoprietors of. the, quarry,)
statesethat he.-lately had a
.conversation on the... Object at Mir-.
'field with Mr.. Pilling, who stated " that- the stones were. not
.quite, so uniformly porous'as the-sample buhr, and had tathei•
.chipped in -facing tnat they mended, of this every time they
F were faced, and were evidently tougher the longer they worked.",.
• [N. B. It-is intended; to ;send: up elle: .afptirt,,
•by-way of supplement, ea sonn,as it can be proctfred.] •-•
In. September. 1820, a paie of Halkimnillstones- was put up.
at the ,Aughton neae Ormakirft; Larfcashire, ocsaa-:
pipzl.by Mr. Richard Ra,wstNeei, Se.P.! who„ 4;14 beer. a practical
-millgrellhis life, ands.74-yelliliolde-andihe states, that "'they
answer beeterathon ••VrOche for; they grind;cool; ,all4..make fine