Wichita eagle., 1888-03-09
SPICES OF MANY KINDS.
HOW PEPPER, CINNAMON, ETC, ARE
PREPARED FOR MARKET.
Sights Seen in . Big Spice Mfll-Musf3rd
Pounded to Powder Under Steam Trip
Hammers Packing Departmsnt-Nut-
meg. Cloves, Ginger.

Pounded to Powder Under Steam Trip
Hammers Packing Deparsmsnt-Nut-
meg. Cloves, Ginger.
Don't stand so near the wheel II weighs
two tons and is making 600 revolutions
minute The suction is great enough to draw
you in
So spoke the engineer as reporter looked
at the machinery that operated long lines Of
shafting and betting. The engine works all
of the machinery in great spice mill, one OF
the largest and bsst equipped in the country,
and located RICH. in the heart Of New York
city.
Standing on the top floor, the superintend-
ent said: Here are the spices as they come
to US This bin contains mustard seed, this
one is full Of white peppers from Singapore,
and here we have cinnamon from Ceylon and
ginger from Jamaica. There are several bins
of each kind of spice, and each contains
different grades The mustard seed is fed
through pipes to pair Of large steel rollers
on the floor below. These crush it out into
small fakes. The irst quality Of mustard Is
made by putting these fakes into long row
of iron mortars, in which the fakes are
pounded to a. impsipable powder BY steam
trip hammers
THE HAMMERS At WORK
Twenty-Five of these hammers began rising
and falling at this moment and the noise was
80 great that all further words were lost.
The powdered mustard was shoveled up into
screens made Of the finest silk and placed in
Set, Of eight on oeciIIatinS tables Tho second
grade Of mustard, after being crushed, Is
placed in bags between hair mattresses in
hydraulic press and subjected to O pressure
of 5000 pounds to the square inch This re-
moves a large proportion Of the oil, and
leaves dry hard cake, which, when ground,
is sold for second grade mustard The oil IS
used by confectioneS, and also in place OF
olive oil for packing sardines.
Long pipes connect with tho pepper bins
on the top door, and feed the whole pepper
seeds to the mills These are similar 70 -four
mills-revolvins stones The pepper when
ground is picked up by an endless chain Of
buckets and taken to revolving screens: the
coarse parts are returned TO the mil and the
fine pepper passes into bins in the packing
rom below. Ciun,non, ailspice ard cloves
ere ground IN similar manner. Herbs. such
as th ymo snd sage, require special mill It
is pair of stone wheels that travel around q
center, grinding substances on the r.ous foor
They are inclosed in . tight room % that
nothing escapes when they are at work
In the packing departments Of the mill two
dozen girls are at work making and 1llinz
boxes with the different spices. A box fold
ing machine does the work Of ten girls 1t
takes the nas cardboard. folds and pastes il
and turns out box every three seconds.
The automatic weighing machine Is . revolv-
ing marble table, on which are four sets Of
scales. The weights are set at one pound 90
each of the scales, q cardboard box IL placed
on the scale and q tube from above 6lls the
box until it contains just one pound When
the scale reaches tho balance point . valve
shuts OF tbs supply until a. empty box
takes the place of the full one.
THE Bxsr rEprEA
Stepping into the Office the superintendent
explained that the best pepper il the shot
Pepper, as it il in heavier grains than the
Singapore pepper, which is the second grade,
but both kinds come from Singapore. A
still lower grade comes from the island Of
Sumatra White pepper is the kernel with
the shell removed, and though Just a. fiery it
has not the favor OF the black pepper Pep
per Is often adulte-ated with charcoal and
buckwheat- Ths best red pepper comes from
Natal and costs ffty cents . pound A
lower trade comes from Zanzibar
Brown nutmeSs from Penang, " est Indies,
are the best They are in their nasura n state,
and are 70 full Of oil tia. it viii oo1s cut II
An incilon Be made. Tho nutmegs Kept by
most groce1 are the bower grades tina: ars
put through a sweating process 70 remove
the oil, and are rpsled In hrne TO cover Up
al the defecA The best cloves come from
Penang and are Sun dried Cheaper grades
como from Zanzibar. and ara kiln dried,
with much Of the oil extracted Ground
cloves are adultsratsd by leaving in the
stems Pirneato, Or allspsce, comes from
Jamaica The best ginger also CONS from
the same piAoe, and Is bleached white Bsr-
neo giaSer Is often chalk.d 20 make IL look
Ike The blsaehsd article. African ginger ia
dazk IN color and poor In quality, bat as I: Is
very much cheaper than tie othr kind 1t is
most used. Ceylon cinnamon Is worth 81
q pound, md b very little used Cania,
The outxids lark Of The tree, II tie sub
stanoe In general Use and casts aboUt oce-
tenth Of the genuine artlciA Anew Yerk
NAL md Exprem