El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-08


/ river makes a drop Of 4S feet, as IL
rolls on down toward the gulf The
water is conducted into great turbines
] and altogether 1t developes about
+ $4,000 horsepower. This is almost all
i used for the mills. and the falls
4 themselves are nearly dry. They have
I been covered with planks 10 prevent
I the rocks from wearing away, and
+ the water pours over boards rather
} than stone The milling business has
grown so rapidly that there is not
/ enough water TO furnish the power,
and even greater power is being de-
I Veloped by steam.
3 This milling district consists OF
d enormous buildings OF limestone ris-
/ ing TO a height Of 100 to 200 feet
z Railroad tracks on trestles run here
F and there, high ab0Fe the ground, and
the trains bring the wheat to the
very doors of the mills In one large
T establishment the tracks 90 right into
the buildings, and the flour Is loaded
on the trains before It leaves the mill.
I There are a number Of elevators con-
. nected with the mills and the great
terminal elevators rise high above
the city in every direction.
I Minneapolis has about 80 OF these
T great grain bins with combined
3 capacity of 5000. 900 bushels. They
/ are Chockful Of wheat \ single one
/ contains 5000 600 bushels. A steady
I stream of grain flows out Of IL on
. =
] 10000 bushels per hour or $4,000
per day The cOnveyors carry the
wheat through tunnels to the mills.
Z and il does not stop until II comes out
: as flour and is loaded on the cars 10
/ be sent to the consumer.
Big MiIIH Carefully Guarded.
As [ walked about through the
mills I found men on guard every
3 where All of the buildings are as
carefully protected rs II they were
l. SCI r--aa --Hm
4 tered the war the government erected
a fence of wire, eight or TEN feet high.
about the milling district, and il has
! kept soldiers there day and night.
{ OF a network 50 fine that a mouse
could not squeeze through il, and IL
/ reaches high above your head Along
the top run three strands Of barbed
wire. so sharp that II would be i'm
possible to climb over them. At all
the entrances soldiers march up and
down with guns on their shoulders,
and they have instructions TO Shoo-
any one who attempts 10 get in with
out pass
the men 10 whom they have been
issued. and this is so Of the officials
as wen as the common laborers- Even
the presidents Of the various comps-
MES cannot get into their own mills
unless they show their passes The
danger OF having strangers in the
mills or those not thoroughly vouched
for is that a fire might be started or
an explosion occur which would
wreck the great plants. The ma
chinery might be ruined by iuterrs-
tional action, or poison put into the
food supply The millers as well
the government are thoroughly alive
TO the lecessir-- OF care and every PIE .
caution IS taken.
$1,000 Barrels - Flour Daily.
The LARGEST milk NsTw1 mol
means the largest mill in the world.
and the one / visited TO-DAY belongs d
TO company which Eriuds out over .
s., 600 barrels OF flour every = hours .
It takes about half a pound of four .
10 make q loaf of bread, so that the
output Of This company alone would .
give q loaf d DAY 20 1900 600 people .
or 10 more than the inhabitants OF I
Boston. Cleveland and Detroit com
bined- II handles every day IN the
neighbOrhood OF $4,000 bushels o.
wheat. or NJ = bushels per acre. S
much as you could raise on a 1000 .
acre wheat field In addition TO its
flour output. this mill produces thou-
sands OF sacks Of stock feed and
about 5000 barrels OF rye and corn
meal
The mills are exceedingly clean.
Before starting on my trip I put on
a buster and a miller's cap, but the
dust was not thick, and what there
was seemed to be carried away by r
dust catching machines scattered here
and there throughout the mill We
first went 10 the top o. the building
The wheat from the elevators Il 4
brought here on endless belt convey
ors- and II goes through the different
processes and departments by gravity. T
Each individual lot OF wheat is eT-
amined by experts and il is tested
again and again on its way through
the mill.
Wheat Is Pat Through Cleaners.
The first processes are those OF
cleaning the wheat The grain is
passed through machines which take
out every bit Of straw and remove
the oats and other seeds. This Is
done as the wheat is carried along
by tanning and vacuum processes.
The grains are scoUred and cleaned
again and again The kernels are
then broken four or five times and
the flour removed.
The wheat is put into great boilers
which are shaking cylinders standing
upright Each OF these is about eight
feet high. and four times as big
around as a hogshead The broken
grains come into these boilers and
pass over a series Of sleeves, through
which the -four falls Eight different
kinds Of meal are separated in each
boiler The first sitting is through
a mesh Of IS holes TO the square inch.
This yields a bran and coarse mid
dlings. The next sieve over which
the meal passes has perhaps so holes
to the square inch, and the meal from
this IS not so coarse The meal then
passes through sleeves OF 20, 70 and
IS holes. and it Is finally put through
one with 146 holes to the inch.
Ny guide through the mill had in his
hip pocket a little steel troEel much
like that with which the Eiazier presses
down his putty He rubbed this over the
-four 70 smooth Il and to show me its
texture. The best flour was not white but
Of rich ivory color. and the grains we're
so close together that Il looked Ike a
cream enamel paint There are three
grades % flour made here. and they all
have different hues- The second grade is
a lighter yellow and the third a reddish
brown Pure white flour 10 made by "A I
bleaching process which is said TO impair
its healthfuInesz
All Of the WORK * done by electricity. ]
The machinery OF milling Is simple and
not difficult 20 understand 4 great mill