The times-news., 1938-07-08

trough or hollow logs to where
the tectering beam. with its wa
ter box on one end and block on
the other was set up. When this
rudcly constructed trip hammer
mill was in place, the bowl OF
mortar was filled with corn. The
water pouring in a steady stream
from the trough filled the hollow
ed out end of the beam. and as
this was lowered, it lifted the pes
tie or beater on the other. Slow
ly. they became balanced, and the
continuing stream of water bore
the box down until it dumped its
load, thus allowing the suddenly
released weight to drop back on
the corn which had been placed
in the mortar.
Hour after hour, through the
day and all night long the thud,
thud of this pound mill kept up,
until the corn in the hollow block
was reduced to meal. When re-
moved. this was Sifted, the finest
used for making bread, and the
larger pieces cooked as hominy,
sometimes called samp.
These mills were simple, sturdy
and operated without stopping so
long as the flow of the stream was
uninterrupted. The interval be-
/ tween the raising and lowering of
the weight was sometimes long
enough to prove tempting to
ScarchcrS for supper easy to OBJ
tain. Occasionally. the owner 60
ing down for his meal would find
some thicving coon or Straying
sheep had ventured too far and
been beaten up under the weight
of the descending block. Now and
then. one of these "bcaterS" can
be found in use yet.
The corn cracker" or tub mill
was the first primitive method Of
of grinding corn by water power,
and came after the beater or
pound mill. This type of mill was
usually housed in tall open
structure built of logs. Water was
carried in flume or mill race,
which was long, not very large,
leaky trough. Elevated on foun-
/ datiOn or treStle work of logs,
I this ran from some small stream
! that picked its way through the
thicket far back on hillside, per-
hapS fifty or Seventy-tive yards
away.
The tub mill. the first rudimcn-
tary turbine, was made from a log
of large size followed out, but
with a portion of the centre left
standing to serve as a spindle.
. The tub was set up so water
brought in the trough would
strike against its side, to send it
spinning around. AS it rotated the
spindle turned also.
] A few puncheons laid loosely
for a walkway, and housed under
/ roof of split boards, the mill
was ready for grinding any time.
/ The farmer as ne started along
his way to work in the morning
would go by and pour buShel OF
grain into the hopper set above
/ its stones. Slowly it was fed from
this into the mill, a few grains
at a time, from daylight until the
last one had been reduced to
meal-from daylight to dark-or
even all night. The turning stones
ground slowly, but with a sure
ness that dropped few spoonfuls
at a time into the waiting sack.
When returning dusk brought the
owner back on his way home, his
meal would be ready, ground
while he was away busy with 9TH
er work. No mans eye was re-
uuired to watch operations of this
old mill. These mills were usually
built for private use, as their out
put was limited, and while they
continued to be used in the more
remote communities, improve
mentS were made to increase their
usefulness.
The Willis wheel, another rough
! turbine, seems to have been a
product of the more skilled artl-
sans among the Dutch colonists
/ and was not commonly known in
the other settlements. An improve
ment and enlargement of the tub
mill. it's wheel also moved horl-
zontally. This consisted of two
circles, one about three feet lar
ger in diameter than the other,
! nttcd on SpokeS that radlatcd
from hub, and in the space
formed between the two rims and
the spokeS, metal buckets were
. placed.
Water impounded in a forebay
was carried through trough fit
ted with metal bucket or spout.
! When discharged into the metal
basins of the wheel, it's force
caused the wheel to rotate. The
grinding with this mill was much
faster and in larger quantities
than was ever possible with the
tub mill.
The Willis wheel was shortly
succeeded by the picturesque
Overshot wheel, or where the flow
of the water was strong enough
the undcrShot. These wheels turn
ed vertically, and differed very
little. On one the wheel turned
forward. and on the other, which
required greater force, it turned
! backward. With either. the water
was impounded by a dam fitted
with a gate which could be raised
or lowered, and was then brought
in a flume made of hollow logs
or a boxllike race built of boards
to the wheel as needed. Many OF
these old mills. with their creak,
ing, mosS-covered buckets, arc
still in operation on mountain