The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-10-03

tors hcr tull cOWpicnl'nt ol NH'afi NvtH'
barley or oats could be poured into her
hold In an Incredibly short space Of
time.
An unusual figure OF workingman
Ii the grain handler Of New York No
picture or description can quite do
justice TO his appearance. About the
elevator. IN the canalboat and In the
ships hold particles Of grain are nying
everywhere. II iA this that makes the
thick scum on the water about Load
INK sl.ip. Il settles on the clothes. In
the hair, In the nostrils; !, sticks In
the throat--a nne. yellow whi1ish. al
most inpalpable dust that Is all pre-.
yading. An hours work In IL. unpro-
tec,ed. " one lA down In one OF these
steamer holds, would almost strange
man. The grain handler needs 10 BE-
In the midst OF this dust. Knee deep
In the mass OF the canal boats hold
he must shovel up the flaky substance
to the mouth Of the leg" In the ships
bowels he must. as scores Of bushels
come washing down upon him, toll
again with the shovel that the grain
may be stored away evenly and the
ship may be properly trimmed.
Thus he lresses for the part lie
wears u suit Of brown jeans, the trou-
scrs strapped tightly around the shoes,
which arr OF the brogan variety. on
head IL an old soft hat pulled tightly
down. over the lower part OF his face
is mask. In which Is placed wet
sponge. Through this latter he breathes
when down amid the grain dust. with
out the mask working In this atmos.
phere would be insupportable.
When canal boat or barge Is tied
alongside an elevator and the matches
are taken on, the elevators leg" by
mecha nlcal device perfect In It's auto
matic working. moves down into the
canal boat hold and buries It's nose, or
end. In the grain. The leg consists OF
two gigantic box-llke tubes OF wood
running side by side and joining at
the bottom and top Within them.
running on an endless chain. a rub
Der belt, are uncovered boxes OF steel
with sharp sides. known as bucket" :"
Each holds quarter Of bushel, and
they are about foot apart. The chain
carries them along at Il rapid rate, and
scopes up Its quota OF grain. The
men in the hold have only to heap up
the grain about the leg" and the
moving scoops take care Of Il. The
other end OF the leg is on the ele-
vators second story, where the buck
cts turn by the chain to make their
descent back to the canal boat drop
their loads into a vast hopper,
Here comes in one OF the prettiest
features OF elevator work, and one that
ls easily 20 be seen. The elevators sides
and interior partitions shroud much
~ It's operations In mysteries but the
Weighing is in full view. Directly un-
der the great hopper on the first floor.
| IN " AhkN HNtAANl w - RAA'
with a glass peek hole" The weigher
moves u lever OF wood There Is at
once q rush within. vast quantity or
grain comes tumbling down. In less
than moment. as can be seen by
liooklng through the glass, the bin is
full. II holds seventy-tve bushels, The
approximate weights OF each variety
OF grain that fall into II for this guam
uty are; Barley, 5000 poundsi corn,
1900 pounds; wheat $500 pounds.
An instant's moving of the weights
and the record of the binload Is made
The weigher marks few figures on a
sheet Of paper fastened ON the ma
chine. and then briskly moves another
lever. Presto! the mass Of grain inside
the bin is disappearing. II is sliding
out of sight; It is vanishing. In hall
a minute It Is no longer to be seen
and the weigher phlegmatically pulls
down the first lever and let's another
seventy-Hye bushels into the bin.
rhe weigher is a most important
. factor IN an elevator. 1t is he who
checks of the quantity of grain that
passes through the elevator and pro-
vldes the figures for the accountants
| and the billing. Woe betide him II HI
| makes an error or mlsfigures. In al
| hour one hundred blnfuls must pass
4 before his eyes.
The grain as It has disappeared ha!
4 dropped down into the elevators eel
lar. Thence II is carried up on another
, endless chain OF buckets, now known
slofters, each holding half bushel
| high into the interior of the tower, L
3 be dropped on the screens, Here th'
s dust and dirt are shaken off and away
and the grain. purged and purified, i
: now ready to be passed into the ship
hold.
I Another set OF lofters carry 1t uT
q this time to the elevators very tor
: From that point long pipe, a sue
Z eessIon OF pipes or "chutes," stretcl
( out they begin In this tower the!
e reach out Of the tower window, the!
e go through the air from elevator t
I ship, at last ending In the ships hold
I The grain rushes down in a golde
a stream. Men with shovels hurl It ava
y into corners, packing It WE'LL levelling
e out. Finally coating of bags file
n with the same food for man and beas