The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1874-10-22
THE WICHITA CITY MILLS.
Tho Most Complete FIGURING Estab.
lishment in the State of Kansas.
Its Machinery, Capacity Cost and
it's Owners.

feed. Consequently, the enterprise is ont
which we are all more or less directly interest.
ed. The uniform success, too, attending the
growing OF Wheat in this section for the past
four years, but enhances our interest in
this mill. which we shall here attemptto de-
scribe, now tina; its machinery has been put
to work, and everything pronounced COM
ple;e:
The main building is i5X5o feet, four stories
high, and covered with an iron roof. The
walls are built OF white magnetism lime stone
and are five foot thick at the base, and two
| foot thick at the top The engine and boiler
room is 22xi5 feet, built of the same material.
TIE smoke stack or ilue i. of pressed ochre
brick. and seventy-six feet high. Such, in
brief, is the building.
If our readers viii follow us closely we will
attempt description Of the inside machinery.
Entering the boiler room which contains, be-
sides the large five fiued boiler, awater tank,
our attention YVES attracted 10 an attachment
ut the head OF the boiler consisting OF a small
indicator, with wire running back to the
| valve OF the water tank. Upon enquiry OF
Ia. Touhili, OF the Decatur Union Iron
works. who put up the engine, we learned
that this was Il new invention, which, by 4
floating copper bal. inside OF the boiler, which
ball is attached TO the Indicator and in turn
TO decatc..yalye nthe pipe of the water
tank. the water in the boiler i. always kept AT
the same beight-the process being automatic
al, the boiler becoming its own regulator. BY
this simple devise, the patent of which is own
ed by the Union Iron Works OF Decatur,
Ils.. and which can be attached to any boiler
for the sum OF fifty Goliars-a great saving of
fuel is had, besides doing away with the dam
ger or possibility OF bursting the boiler by
overheatiug. Those running stationary en-
gines would DO well TO go and examine the
butterfly valve and Indicator
Next, we enter the engine room, where We
lind finely finished, eighty horsepower en-
CINE, with brass heads and brass finishings,
clean and neat, turning driving wheel twen-
~ foot in diameter, and weighing 600
pounds The engine was built by the Union
Iron Works" of Decatur, Ills, and is unques-
tionably the most compact, simple and smooth
~ act ing piece OF machinery Of its size that
we ever saw. Its anchors, base, and fasten-
ings are all solid cast iron, and its movements
cannot be heard.
We next pass into the basement or lower
story of the main building, which contains the
beyil-moriised, speer and band gearing, at
taching directly TO the main shaft of the driy-
ing wheel--in other words, heavy cog and
band wheels, secured by heavy frames anchor
ed to heavy stone bases, which drive the buhrs
and the other machinery Of the mill. In this
story is the main receiving sink, into which
all the wheat from tn scales falls before being |
elevated Here, too, we find back in dark |
corner, another new and queer machine, cal |
led the Empire Grain Decorticator." This |
is the only machine of the kind in the state OF
Kansas and we can't describ it further than TO
say that ii is a stone cylinder. set on end, five
foot high. three foot thick, and made up OF
sections, hewn or cut out of a kind OF hard
stone. Inside of this stone cyiinner play a
number of ''beaters,' which not only takes |
out the smut of the wheat as it passes through, |
but actually scours OF the last restage OF
furze. This little affair cost five hundred
dollars In the basement we find power
corn-shecr, with large capacity. also two
large conveying coolers. Nine heavy piers OF
stone and wood, five foot square, upon which |
the second -four rests, stand here.
The second story or working flour contains |
four run OF buhrs. three pair OF four feet, and !
one pair of three feet stones. Two pair of
these are for grinding wheat, one for midings
and one for corn and chop. Upon this flour
is the -four and meal chests, receiving hopper.
scales and ilour-packcr. Here also is one OF
Barnard Il Lees wheat seperators, ma
chine provided with serious OF Zig-zag rid
dies, which separates all sticks, straws, oats
and other impurities from the wheat, before
it enters the suction blast which is near to it.
on this floor is the Office which is provided
with a fire proof safe, books, desk, etc.
The third story is SO jam tull Of machinery
and bins, that one can hardly get around.
Here is 4 four-recl merchant -four chest or
bolt the stock hoppers that furnish the burr-
with grain the wheat bins etc,
The fourth story is about as full as the third.
In il is set another bolt furnished with three
reels and called the separating chest. An
othci late improved machine is running upon
this floor called ''Thrope's wheat brush and |
finishing machine the only one in the state.
The wheat passes through this the last thing |
before going through the stones. 1t is full of !
tampico brushes which clear of the last YES
tage ordrt from each grain ofwheat. Close to |
the above machine stands an excelsior bran |
duster." 1t cleans bran with brstle brushes |
against a wire ease. OF to the west side of
the room is two large suction fans, one for |
cleaning grain 10y suction and the other keeps |
the heads of the elevators and wheat spouts |
clean, discharging the dirt into the dust room
which stands in the southwest corner. Upon !
this floor stands another oddly, called "Beafs |
mdling separator" which we couldn't describe |
il we would.
The attic or fifth floor, Immediately under |
the roof. contains the line gearing. 4. e., long
SHAFT with band wheels. and, the heads of Gle !
yators.
Having told our readers something of the
machinery inside. we VIII try and follow the |
wheat from the wagon standing at the north |
end OF the building until it comes ont NXXX |
-four: The wheat is received by an outside |
spout which conveys it into the weighing-hop |
per inside on the second floor; from thence il |
is discharged into the receiving sink in the |
basement; il is then elevated to the fourth |
floor and deposited in graded bins; from
thence il is drawn out and down 10 the sepa- |
rator on the second floor where II is cleaned /
of extraneous matter, and then right on into I
the cylindrical stone scourer in the basement /
thence back again to the fourth floor and into
the brush and finishing machine and from |
there to the '',lampner, "A process, by the /
way. patented by Shei,aharger & Co.. the first |
of the kind in the United States. the purposes
of which i to tougher the bran SO that il will /
not break and cut up in grinding and thus /
speck the Aour-:rom this it goes again TO the |
second floor and again through the separat-
ing machine, is re-eleyatcd TO the attic and /
comes down once more through the finishing |
and brush machine, and out into the stock
hoppcrs immediately above the stones: it now 1
gees down through the stones ami in a chop (
ped state into and through the coolers in the /
basement, after which ii goes back to the a.
tic and down through the merchant reels into I
the chests and packer-into sacks--into the |
our kitchens and upon our I
tables; and we hope every table in the county 1
may soon be Supplied by these same mills.
The entire cost of the mills varies bu; a
small sum from twenty-five thousand dollars. 4
Wm Bowers and II. :. Shcllabarser. OF De- .
ca;ur. H.. and G. +. Harsis and II. lmhoden. 1
of Wichita, are the proprietors. Shelabargcr /
aad Bowers own like establishment in ILL., 4
nois. which has big reputation for good /
work. They also are partners in the Shawnee /
comfy mills at Topeka. Messrs. Hargls and I
Imboden have become residents OF our city I
and Will hereafter be identified with our peo-
pie. The whole iirxl are honorable. upright. I
men, possessing plenty OF financial I