Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-13

nahDh III hiiiSs by the law OF @hO6e5 no
man YVES allowed TO take the neither or the
upper milestone to pledge or by distraint
in lieu of aug deb. 1t was customary to
grind enough flour or meal in the morning
for each days use. II was also habit Of
the women of the East TO sing some shrill
trilled ditty during their hours Of employ
ment at the mill. We are informed by tray
elers that such lively chants are still sung
by females in Persia. The heart OF
MuBgo Park in the African desert was
softened and reminded of home by the
chant OF the women grinding. The Gre
clan women had ditty called tho Song Of
tie Mill. The Romans seem to have in
vented larger class of mills, driven by
asses or oxen. The stones were much
more operose in their revolution and
effective 10 work. The first mill driven
by water was invented and set up by
Mithridatss, King of CappadOcia. Anti
pater, a poet of Syria, wrote the fOllOwing
epigram on water mills:
" Ye maids who toiIed 50 fzithfuI at the mill,
Now cease from work and from these tolls be
still,
Sleep nos till dawn and let the birds with glee
Sing to the ruddy morn from bush and tree.
roE Hn1b Soui n0nue Peii"AniOu 81 iVHs' :"
Ceres has charged the water nymphs to do.
They come the lympid sisters TO her call.
And on the wheel with dashiDg fury fall.
Impel the axle with whiriing sound,
Aud makes the massive mill wheels reel around
And bring the hOury heaps luxuriant to the
ground" r
Mills on large scale have been for ages
established in the European and other
=. l. ~ al
British Islands the custom Of bruising
corn in a mortar or Of grinding It
in a small hand mill ia not yet entirely
disused. Ia the highlands of Scotland
these rudeIy fashioned mills were called
querns. To our own country, the land of
the free and the home Of the brave, be.
longs the credit of carrying this most use
full species of industry to point almost
reaching perfection. In or about the year
1871, Oliver Evans, a native of Delaware,
was the inventor of improvements which
have completely reVolutionized the art of
milling. The elevator, conveyor, hopper
boy, the drill and the descender, we're
the results of his genius. The suction,
smut and separating machines, the bran
buster and many minor improvements, are
of more recent origin. A review Of the
various mills Of importance 10 the conn
try would extend this communication far
beyond its allotted space, and / will for
the present pass over them. Twenty-Five
years ago nearly every barrel of -four
used in this city was imported from other
points The mills on Red river were then
in their infancy, and from Sumner county
old man BrannOn would occasionally
emerge with few loads of -four. The
little water mills on the line Of Mill creek
being then as now almost wholly en-
ployed on eustom-work The first steam
Touring mill of any note built in this city,
was the old city mill, built by Thom-
as ]. Foster sRd Others, In the
extreme Northern portion of the
citv, The next was the Broadway
mills built by Mr.. Bradford, of Cinein-
Dati, and subsequently, improved upon by
D. D. Dickey. Numbers of small mills
we're continually going up through the
country, but we have not the space for the
honorable mention they deserve. 10 1856
| the magnificent Rock City Mills were
| built. In 1861 the Reservoir Mills we're
built, and in 1869 Mr.. Dickey's new mill
was built on the corner Of Church and
Front streets. The Rock City was burned
| down last winter, and trust Its place will
soon be supplied by another. These mills
are not excelled by any 10 the country,
and their brands Of -four are not excelled
| in any market, and are generally sought
| after for shipment to South America. The
| day is not distant when We will have direct
trade through Charleston with Rio Janiero
and our fours will be sent there 10 ex-
change for coffees and other products.
la eighteen hundred and fifty we did
not manufacture barrel Of -four here;
last season we manufactured over forty
thousand barrels, and beyond a doubt We
will manufacture this year from eighty 70
one hundred thousand barrels. The con-
sumption Of the city and its environs
does not exceed eighty TO one hundred
barrels per day. We will, therefore, be
compelled TO seek foreign market for oul
surplus, which will be very large. This
branch of trade now in its infancy bids
fair to become the leading feature Of trade
here. Large amounts Of grain are nov
bought and sold here, and quantities o
kiln dried meal are also shipped from
here. The -four, grain, and lumber trade
| of Chicago has built her up, and she
to-day owes not only her existence, bu
present vitality to these causes. Blu
| nnouestionably she is most indebted I,
her -four trade. In 1888 the total ship
ments of wheat from Chicago was but Y
bushels; in 1869 they reached the enor
nous amount of over 5000 600 barrels Q
lour, or 25,000,000 bushels Of wheat. i
addition to shipments Of wheat in il
crude state, the same may be said Of Mi
Yankee, st. Louis, Toledo and many othe
of the Northern cities Millers in Ter
nessee have to operate under greater dii
advantages than in any State of the Usior
Here we have no elevators, and such
thing as the shipment Of grain in bulk
unknown. The miller is compelled
have large capital invested in sacks, an
his losses in this department, sometimes
a season, will reach two or three thoussn'
dollars. The farmers might relieve theI
, | of this trouble, as there is no reason VII
they might not as we'll expect q wagon
,, | haul their wheat in as the sacks to hold
| Here, too, the miller has to carry the con
mission merchant on -four, and wait for q
money until il is disposed OF, while in oil
! er large Touring districts the mille
: are often carried by the merchants (
: hundreds of thousands of dollars. III
q cIas,i6cations of -four here are also high'
, than elsewhere, and much time is col
g sumed in explaining the difference to bu!
= era. Our capital is small, and the bull
of II is used in moving the cotton crol
: and thus paralyses the grain dealer. Aga
our crop comes in earlier and is ofte
shipued in the crude state, and the mill
has to accumulate q stock while il is to
had. and is thus forced to become a spec
a lstor against his will if be deals
: auy extent, some times entailing great 10
n on himself; but thanks to the more e
lightened era which is dawning upon u