The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-07-14
Ghe Sarmer.
The Finest Barn in the Country.

beck, New York, is the finest in this coun
try. The following description of it will
be of interets to many of our readers:
1t contains all the improvements that
have been invented to date, including fire
alarm system that it is believed will make
a recurrence of the burning of the place
next to an impossibility. The main barn
is 297 feet long by 65 feet wide, and there
is an L SO feet by 50 feet. 1t is built on
the foundation of the old barn, and is q
frame building 1t contains 100 common
and 46 box stalls on the ground floor and
the same number on the second floor, fur
nishing altogether accommodation for more
than $50 cattle.
These stalls are arranged in two rows
running the length of the building. They
are fitted with feed boxes, troughs fed by
pipes directly from hydrauts, insuring a
constant supply of fresh water, and bin
for hay and ensilage, The cows are fast
ened in the stalls by means Of chains.
These chains are secured by patented
device which consists of moving slot
operated throughout the stalls at the same
time by one lever. The end link of each
chain is slipped into the slot, and the lever
being pulled one way they are all locked.
Being pulled the other way the chains
fall to the floor and the animals are free.
1t is only an instants work to loosen every
animal in the place in case of fire or any
other emergency.
Back of the stable are long troughs for
sanitary purposes. These troughs are ar
ranged so that they drain the whole build
ing. They drain into huge cesspool,
which is so arranged that the contents can
be easily pumped into wagons and dis
tributed as fertilizer. The box stalls are
on either side of the building, and are built
TO accommodate two or three cows. The
interior arrangement is the same as that of
the common stalls. The ceiling of each OF
the two first floors is nineteen feet high.
The ventilation is secured by windows and
stationary ventilators.
The floors of the building are curiosities
in the way of floors. First there is layer
of spruce boards, then thick coat Of tar,
which is covered by tar paper, which is
covered by another coat Of tar, and over
all is another layer of spruce. 1t is all 81
inches thick and is watertight. There is
an overhead railroad in front of the stable,
and on this are cars in which all feed is
carried direct 10 the stall. In the rear of
the barn are three 500-ton silos, each
forty-seven feet deep, in which the ensil-
age is kept. There is tool room, an en-
CINE room, lavatory, and bathroom. The
grain bins are all on the third floor. There
is collection of feedcutters and the other
things that go to make up the equipment
of an ordinary barn. There are grain ele-
vators which will lift all the grain direct to
the bins and shutes from the bins to
the lower floors, so that one handling of
the grain is all that is ever necessary. The
bins will hold twenty car loads of grain.
The fire alarm system is unique. At
every fifteen feet the ceiling is fitted with
an alarm which is bound to sound the mo-
ment the temperature in the room reaches
$40. There are gongs at either end OF the
barn, two-foot gong in the yard near the
farmhouse, where all the men employed on
the place sleep, and gong with a sound
loud enough to wake the deadin the farm
house itself. If the wires are out of order
these gongs will all sound. If the wires
are cut they will all sound. They are ar
ranged on something like the principle that
the electric alarms attached to safe deposit
yanIts are arranged. If almost anything
out of the ordinary happens they go OFF and
alarm everybody about the place The
location of the trouble can be told instant
" by glance at the indicator near the
door. The barn is lit throughout by cleo
trio lights. What strengthens the theory
that the old barn was set on fire by defec-
tive electric apparatus is that in this barn
the wiring was done at first precisely as it
was done in the old barn. 1t was in-
spected after it was put in this time and was
pronounced extremely bad. The inspector
had it all removed and replaced according
to his own directions. Then he said there
was absolutely no danger from it. The
barn has cost about $4,000.
When the old barn was burned the hen
neries were burned with it. They have been
rebuilt, too. and are are said to be the larg-
est in the country now. They have been
placed further away from the barn than
thew were before the fire. There are SIX
hen houses to accommodate 900 laying
fowls. These are supplied with burglar
alarms which sound if you get within sew
eral feet of the building at night. The
ground under the houses is covered with
wire netting 50 that the buildings will
never be troubled by rats. The brood and
incubator houses are the largest in the
country. There are two, each 132 feet
long by IS feet wide. In each house there