The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-02-26
A LOST ART.
How the Milestone Has Been Relsgstsd
Ont of Csr.

A number of heavy white millsi0nes
were piled up on one OF the doci-s along
the river yesterday. They were con-
signed TO some interior town forty or
ifty miles from the city. and were of
the slyle. make. and finish so long in
! use. An old man. with u slouch hat
! pulled down so far over his face that
! his small. fast-blinking eyes were al
most hid from view. stood little way
4 back on The wharf and talked to 3
! vonng msn whom he had halted and
asked for u match. ..Millstones have
/ pretty nearly gone out Uf dale, said
he. with a hall nournful air, land with
| them has gone the occupation | have
| followed for thirty years. See here"
and the old man crowded his hat over.
on the back part of his head and lifted
his face for the first time into plain
! sight. 1t was pitted all over with num-
berless ugly dimples. depressions aud
! cuts, and looked as if he might some
day have had the smallpox.
do you know how that was doneP"
he asked. The young man did not
know. by picking millstones, was
the quickly volunteered information.
mo one who has ever followed the
business of giving those stones that
keen cut texture that enables them to
crush and grind grain can escape these
cuts and scars. Why my face is liter
| ally filled with the little particles of
steel and stone, and my eyes have sea-
sons of paining me terribly. But the
profession has about run its race. In
ten years the dictiOnary-makers, will
! put the stereotyped word obsolete af-
| TO ha SrnillSfnna hAdorn in
ventions have relegated the time-honor-
ed milestone into oblivion. New pro-
cesses have been discovered for ex-
tracing the wheat from flour, beside
| which the milestone has no show
The young man began to grow inter-
| ested. He drew his companion into
| the doorway of little switch shanty,
secured permission for the two to sit
down moment before the fire, and
asked him 10 continue.
"Nowadays, said the old man,
| ''wheat is crushed between rollers and
the flour produced is much superior to
the old make. Then, too, the bran
that was thought to be almost worth
less is now sifted by a new pro-
cess and a quality of flour is
separated that is worth forty or fifty
cents more per sack than the common
| variety. You have heard that the best
part of potato lay just beneath the
skin. Recent scientific experiments
have shown that it is true of all vege-
! tables. especially of wheat This sug-
gested the construction of a sieve that
would separate the little particles of
the kernel that cling to the shuck
when it has been broken up and ground
to pieces. Ii was successful. and the
| -four secured in this way. while small
in quantity, is of superb quality. This
latter process was only made possible
| by the new method of grinding wheat
that has been generally adopted by all
the large mills in the country. But in
! the meantime my occupation has been
| gradually undermined. Once in q
while have a call to go out in the
| country and dress stone, but it is very
seldom. Most of the millstones in use
| in this country are of French burr, .
silicious rock, containing many small.
rough cavities, and requiring less prep
| aration than perfectly plain stone. Itis
| quarried in the geological district
known as the Paris basin A quarry
has been worked for many years In tho
valley of the Savannah River, about
one hundred miles above the City OF
! aiit1 hHC VI SEOuCS DC
cured is said TO be almost equal to those
| produced in France. The lower stone
has generally a smooth grinding sur
face. The moving stone is followed
wards the center to allow the mater
ial ground TO flow freely between the
grinding surfaces. The face of both
-tones have TO be cut with straight
grooves in direction inclined radii. The
edges of the grooves are thus given q
cutting action somewhat resembling
that Of scissor blades. and tendency
to force the grain outward toward the
circumference is secured, thus acceler-
ating the feeding and avoiding choking.
To do this work perfectly requires an
enormous amount of practice, and an
apprentice must serve for four or five
years on cheap stones before he is al
lowed to touch the most valuable ones
| Machines were once invented TO do the
cutting but they were not success. 1t
was a hard business to learn. and in its
day was very profitable. Modern in
noyations, however, have no sympathy
for workinsmen, and in ten years it is
doubtful if there will be a milestone in
use in this country" = Ctereld1sd
| Leader.