The mirror., 1923-02-08
cre-reduction plants, paint works, and a
number of other industries.

HuIIlDcT OI OtutI lIluuStIlCS.
Stones were used altogether as means
Of grinding grains to -four and meal until
the nineteenth century, when the idea of
cylindrical iron rolls came into vogue. At
first they were made corrugated (iron or
steeD for the purpose of breaking the
grain, the finishing being done on either
fine stones, or later on smooth porcelain
rolls. But these rolls did not stand up
under the heavy pressure required at the
reduction part, so that today we have the
chilled roll, both for breaks and reduction
work.
With the adoption of the Frank type of
mill, the Romans found a way to do away
with the laborious man-and- -beast-power
methods, and we have some excellent
woodcuts and paintings of some of their
mills, especially some that were located ON
the river Tiber; some of them being cf a
floating type while others were built upon
the shores, and with the outer bearing of the
water wheel resting on pier in the river.
These were what is known as the under
shot type of wheel. Next we find man,
because of certain local conditions adopt
ing the overshot method, whereby the wa
ter is conveyed in hume above the top
of the wheel and turns the wheel by fall
ing into the buckets on its outer rim. Just
when, or who, was the first to use the
c;r1a of
ton is not known, but that it was in use
in the sixteenth century, in what is now
California, by the earliest Spanish settlers
we have found proof positive. How
much longer the idea was known is not
certain, although there are drawings of
mills operating on the principle of jet di
rected against paddles fastened to a rotating
shaft as early as the thirteenth century.
Today all of our large hydro-electric
plants operate on the turbine plan, as
well as most of our hydro-power mills and
factories.
While operating modern, electric
power roller -four mill in Massachusetts,
tors built and operated the first mill men
toned in the early history of witch
town" Salem, he had an opportunity to
visit and did visit some of the sites of the
early New England mills The first "houer
mile to grind therein We meale and fine
fiouer" was built just outside of the city
of Lynn, on the Saugus river in 1886. The
cid mill was torn down only a few years
ago to make room for modern factory;
but the old piling are still in place, as is
the old wheel race. 1t was a Underwater"
mill operated by the in-and-out flow of the
tide, as were many of the coastal mills of
New England. He also visited one mill,
used up to recent times, that had belonged
in the family of our firms president since
1884. In the debris back of the mill
saw parts of the old milstones that had
been used; made of the native granite
from the slopes few hundred feet away.
The mill operated was using some mod
ern, Frencb-burrstones as foundations for
the posts supporting the modern roller type.
Because of the exacting demands of
present day conditions, for perfectly
white, even granulated, flour, the miller
uses the finest of chilled rolls; and when
you realize that variation of one-half of
the thickness of the finest hair of your
head will cause a roll to be rejected you
can sense the accuracy of modern mill
construction. And this is not only true of
rolls, but other machinery as well.
1t may look simple, and easy, for the
unintiated to step into -four mill and
watch the miller move about at his work.
Easy? Try it, and you will soon find that
it is quite an art in itself, and not so
quickly learned as some other trades.
Much depends on the sense of touch in the
finger tips, as we'll as of the sight. That
is why it is not well for miller to do
i