The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-02-23
Aromatic Spices.

Aromatic Spices.
ssDon't stand so near the wheel 1t |
weighs two tons and is making 600 revo-
lutions minute The suction is enough |
to draw you in.
So spoke the engineer as a New York !
Mail and Express 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 best equipped in
the country, and located right in the heart
of New York City.
Standing on the top floor the superin
tendent said "Here are the spices as
they come to us This bin contains mus
tard seed, this one is full of whole peppers
from Singapore, and here we have CHINA
mon 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
a pair of large steel rollers on the floor
below These crush it out into small
fakes. The first quality of mustard is
made by putting these flakes into a long
row of iron mortars. in which the flakes
are pounded to an impalpabe powder by
steam trip hammers
Twenty-Five of these hammers began
rising and falling at this moment and the
noise was SO great that all further words
were lost. The powdered mustard was
shovelled up into screens made of the finest
silk and placed in sets of eight on oscillating
tables The second grade of mustard,
after being crushed, is placed in bags
between hair mattresses in hydraulic
press and subjected to a pressure Of 5000
pounds to the square inch. This removes
large proportion of the oil, and leaves
dry, hard cake, which, when ground, is
sold for second grade mustard The oil Is
used by eonfectioners, and also 10 place OF
olive oil for packing sardines.
Long pipes connect with the pepper
bins on the top floor, and feed the whole
pepper seeds to the mills. These are SINH
lar to -four mills-revolving stones. The
pepper when ground is picked up by an
endless chain Of buckets and taken to
revolving screens; the coarse parts are
I returned to the mill, and the fine pepper
passes into bins in the packing room below
/ Cinnamon, allspice and cloves are ground
/ in a similar manner. Herbs, such as
/ thyme and sage, require special mill. 1t
/ is a pair of stone wheels that travel around
a centre, grinding substances on the stone
I floor They are enclosed in tight room
so that nothing escapes when they are at
I work
In the packing department of the mill
two dozen girls are at work making and
! filling boxes with the different spices. n
box-iolding machine does the work of tea
girls 1t takes the fat cardboard, folds
and pastes it and turns out box every
three seconds. The automatic weighing
machine is revolving marble table, on
4 which are four sets of scales The weights
are set at one pound on each Of the scales,
a cardboard box is placed on the scale and
a tube from above fills the box until It con-
taius Just one pound When the scale
reaches the balance point valve shuts of
the supply until an empty box takes the
place of the full one
Stepping into the Office the superintend-
ent explained that the best pepper Is the
.'shot" pepper as it is 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 as fiery it has not the flavor OF
the black pepper. Pepper IS often adul-
/ terated with charcoal and buekwheat The
best red pepper comes from Natal and
costs fifty cents pound. \ lower grade
comes from Zanzibar
Brown nutmegs from Penang, W. l.,
are the best. They are in their natural
state and are so full Of oil that il will ooze
cut if an incision be made. The nutmegs
1 kept by most groeers are the lower grades
that are put through sweating process
to remove the oil, and are rolled in lime to
cover up all the defects The best cloves
come from Penang and are sun dried
[ Cheaper grades come from Zanzibar, and
are Kindred, with much Of the oil extract
/ ed Ground cloves are adulterated BY
/ leaving in the stems Pimento, or all
spice, comes from Jamaica. The best
! ginger also comes from the same place, and
/ Is bleached white Borneo ginger is often
/ ehalked to make it look ike the bleaehed
article. African ginger is dark in color
aud poor in quality, but as it IS very much
cheaper than the other kind it is most
used. Ceylon cinnamon is worth 81 a
pound, and is very little used. Cassia,
the outside bark Of the tree, is the sub
stance in general use and costs about one
tenth of the genuine article.