Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-03-19
A Grain Elevator.

In order to begin at the beglnning-get to
the bottom, as It were, O. an elevator-one
must climb 20 the very top. The building is
perhaps one hundred and. ffty feet long by
seventy five feet Wide, and, like all OF It's class,
1t rises eighty feet or more TO the caves, above
Whlch a narrow top part forty or fifty feet
higher, Is perched upon the ridge-poie IL is
built OF wood, 'Sheathed with corrugated iron
little way up, and then slated the rest OF the
way.
Entering one end, where two railway tracks
run INTO the building, we IND narrow wooden
stairway, and begin our ascent The flights
are short ones, but eighteen are stepped over
before we emerge into the topmost attic.
Along side OF us, as we climbed, has been rum
ming the strong F2lt which carries the power
from the great engine on the ground-foor to
the gearing II the ro0f-a belt OF rubber can
vas -FOUR feet wide, and perhaps two hundred
and fifty feet long.
When grain is neutrality-suspicious. a hundred
carloads from the wash fields OF Dakota or the
wide farms between here and ST. Paui-the
train is backed right into the elevator, and
stands so that opposite each Car door IS q re-
ce1ver, which is kind or vat, or hopper In the
platform. By the help OF steam shoVels, oper-
attng almost automatically, Two men In each
car VIII In ten minutes less empty the whole
train.
As fast as the grain is dumped, the receiver
delivers it 10 iron buckets holding about peck
each, Which are attached TO endless belts. and
travel up sort Of chimney, called "leg, to
this roof chamber. These buckets will hoist
6,0O0 bushels an hour at their ordinary rate OF
speed. That Is equal to one bucket going up
$4,000 times, at the rate OF 400 times minute
:oierably lively work To-day up here In the
topmost loft there is nothing doing and we are
saved strangulation. The light hardly pene-
trates through the cooWee bed windows, and
the most pulyerouS OF dust lies everywhere half
an inch deep, showing the marks OF fey boot
Sole3, many footprints OF rats, and tbs lace
Ike tracks OF hundreds OF spiders ana Bugs.
You step over and under broaa horizontal aelts
as yoa make your way gingeIly from one end OF
the attic to the other. They rsa the fans Jnat
WlnnoW the grain as 1T comes Up in the buck
ets after which Ii is dropped into the hoppers
ten feet Wide, and twice as deep, shat open like
hatchwaJs every few feet In the center OF the
Hoor. NOW al Is perfectly quiet. wGare 50 high
that even the clamor OF the wharVes does not
reach U.s. But when the machinery starts In
motion, then fearful roarS, ana clash OF cog5,
and whipping OF slackened belts, assault the
garnet, untl this whole upper region rocks like
ship in gale, and Chan and dust loud the
eyes and stiiie the throat.
Descending enc story we find another garrett
with nothing n It but the square bodies Of the
hoppers. Going down q second flight shows us
that the hoppeTS are suspended not upon pill
lars but loosely on iron sttrrups, so as TO shake
little, and the ron gate which lets on or shuts
srifice at the bottom is operated by steam.
Thine are twelve OF these koppers. Sticking
Up Through the tioor underneath each one gape
tie 1lartng mouths OF twelve spouts or slulceS,
al OF which point directly at the gate ia the
hopper as though earnestly begging its bounty
OF grain. Every onS OF these la spouts leads
uJO a l6Ar UT dll are QuuDpT-
ed, so that the superintendent knows which
spout conducts to any one bin, and can distrtb.
ute his cargoes accordingly, the result OF his
choice being recorded N cabiltstic authorizations
upon blackboard close by. A movable con-
duotor is swung into place between the hopper
AND the spout, The gate pulled open, and down
slides the wheat, with q unsteady rushing noise.
into the grateful bin.
Tc see the bins we descend again, this time
reaching the top OF the wide part OF the build
ing. We walk very c.roumspectly. In the half
light, amid maze OF beams, stringerS, and
cross pieces OF wood and iron. The whole In
terror of The elevator below this level is now
seen to consist OF q series OF rooms between
which there is no communication. They are
ceilingless. and the only ext. from them is
through spout In the bottom. Peering over
the e1ges from the narrow foot-waiks, we can
only guess how for the person would fall who
should lose his balance for the eye cannot
reach the bottom it is sixty five feet below.
and hidden in darkness. or these deep
bins there are 14i. some twice the size OF Others.
Sometimes they are all full at once, and hold
eight ornire hundred thousand bushels, weigh
Ing fifty millions OF pounds, and good for over
TWO hundred thousand barrels OF hour--Er-
nest IntgerSoR, in Rdrper'S Magazine for
AprlE.