The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1893-11-03
l4ow FLoua s MANuFAoruaEp.
Tie Various Processes Through which
wheat Passes IN this bGIH.


Wheat Passes IN this BIN.
The noises on the inside Of the min
are deafening, One who has never been
IN Touring mill Of the largest size cam
not realize what peculiar lot Of noises
are made by the machinery, Az soon
as the wheat enters the. machine from
the long spout which brings it down
from the upper floor 1t falls between two
rollers Of irOn--"chilled" iron they call
It, and very hard iron II Is too, One Of
these rollers reyolves rapidly, the other
moro slowly, In order that the separa-
ton Of the coat, or bran, from the ker-
mel may be moro easily accomplished.
The wheat first passes between rollers
separated Just enough to allow the coat
TO be crushed, 1t Ia then carried away
TO the top OF the mill again, to q room.
where the sun vainly tries 10 shine in
through the -four coated windows far
above the oity's roofs, II next passes
over a wire sieve which separates the
bran from the kernel proper,
This bran, which contains much OF the
-four material, again passes down and is
ground ones more, this process being re-
peated four times, making five grind
ings, each one finer than the one precedv
ing IL. Each time the hbrous OF bran
portions are more completely separated,
and at last the bran comes out clear,
brownish husk with every particle OF
-four removed,
The inside part Of the skernel hasmean.
while been going through an interesting
process. After the first grinding or
breaking Il passes TO q big elk sidsd re-
volving reel covered with q fine wire
netting or sieve. Through this reel the
fiher portions Of the kernels pasB, COM
ing out In. what are called "middlingaI
q grauulated mass which goea back 70
the rollers for another crushing, This
PROCESS is repeated through five reels, all
but the first being Of silk, Tbs last one
has 1870 threads to the uneal inch. The
-four which COMES out OF the fifth reel,
while white In hue, Ia yet not Of the hn-
est or "patent" grade, but Is classed %
''baker's" or second grade Aour.
The middlings above referred TO are
purified by an intersstingproaess They
are passed over fine wire sieve, through
the upper part of which q strong our
rent Of air ID passed, This holds In aus-
pense the tiny portions Of hbrops matter
which may have been In the h0Ry, and
at last, after this process Of middlinga
purifying has been very carefully car
| Tied out, the -four appears q spotiess
snowy white-ths ''patanf' -four, as II I
called. In the process Of grinding In thil
gradual and repeated way, the germ ol
the wheat, q tiny particle about the siz'
of q mustard seed, iB separated from thl
white flour, It is what one might cal
the life part of the wheat. II u wert
ground up, 1t would not leave the patent
| -four 80 white and poWdery, 80 II Is sep
arated in one Of the sieyinga and passes
into the darker or lower grade hcuF 4
contains, however, the best and mos
nutritious part Of the wheat,
The last thing that happens TO tho pnl
yerized kernel before II 70 ready 70
market Is the filing Of barrels On sacks
Down many stories Through smootl
tube comes the white oE ''patsntR hour
Under the tube is tho barrel or the sack
as the case may be, and, as II begins +
Gil, steel augur just the size Of the bar
rel bores down into the -four, packing
carefully and solidly beneath the broai
blades. st, Nicholas,