The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-06-03
Flouring Mills.


The difference between the mills now
used for the manufacture of -four and
those OF half century ago are as marked
as those between the modern wooden
mill and the old-fashioned loom in which
homespun cloth was manufactured for
the purpose of providing stout and SER
viceable garments to clothe the hard
working farmer and his sons. In an
Gent times wheaton bread was the ex-
oeption the daily bread of the rural
household was made of rye and Indian
corn. Two or three bushels of wheat
was regarded as sufficient allowance
for moderate family, and that ground
into flour was kept for such state occa-
sions as cuttings, weddings, Thanks
giving and other holidays, when the
good wife was wont to exercise her Gull
nary skill in compromising sho1tcake to
grace the bountifully-spread table. It
was also considered the proper thing to
have loaf or two of wheat bread on
hand in the house should the clergyman
or other respected visitor come to take
tea. The grinding of the wheat was
usually matter of considerable solicit
tude on the part of the owner of the
grist. A bushel or two was measured up
in bag and thrown across the back of a
gentle and trusty farmhouse, and the
owner would wend his way to the grist
mill, where, while waiting for it to be
ground, he would have an opportunity
to indulge in little social gossip with
the dusty-coated miller, who was gen
orally well posted in all the local news.
The miller, having satisfied the farmer
that the run of stone was perfectly clean
and that there was no danger of an adj
mixture of rye flour or corn meal, the
wheat would be transferred to the hop
per and ground; and, when finished,
the farmer would ioyfully wend his way
homeward, knowing that the good wife
would test the -four on his arrival
and that his chances were favorable for
an excellent supper of shortcake and
golden butter. This was the grist mill
Of early days.
The modern Touring mill is huge
structure, employing many men, and the
wheat is turned into -four by the freight
train loaded daily. One of the monster
mills in Minneapolis, MINI, covers an
area of $50 by so feet, and is several
stories in height. Its capacity is 1920
bushels of wheat, or fifty carloads, to
keep the mill in operation. It does not
depend upon the old-fashioned burr mill
stones to convert the wheat into -four,
but the process of manufacture is to first
run the wheat through brushing ma
chine, the old-fashioned smut machines
having been discarded. After tho vU'hnat
has been cleaned by being run through
the brush machine, it is run through
corrugated iron rollers, which split the
crease of the berry open, thus iberating
the dust which lies in the crease, so that
it can be removed by boiling. 4 very
small percentage of low-grade -four is
made during this first reduction. The
grain then passes through a process
technically known as scalping reel, to
remove the dirt and flour, after which it
passes through q second set of corrugated
rollers, by which it is further broken.
Then it is passed through a second reel,
which removes the flour and middiings.
This operation is repeated successfully
until the -four portion of the berry is
entirely removed from the bran, the
necessary separations being made after
each reduction, sometimes requiring five
or six. The middlings from the several
operations are reduced to flour, after be-
ing run through the purifiers, by sue
cessive reductions, on smooth iron OF
porcelain rollers. One of the principal
objects sought by this system of grind
ing is to avoid all bruising Of the grain;
another, to extract all the dirt from the
crease Of the berry; and third, to thor
oughly free the bran from the -four, in
order to obtain as large yield as posi-
ble.-Albaaay Evening Times.